NHL teams have gathered for their training camps ahead of the season and star goalkeeper Linus Ullmark, 32 years old, has had a tough start to the Olympic Games season.
Ullmark, named NHL's best goalkeeper in 2023, let in three goals on eight shots in the first training match against Toronto (loss with 3–4) and already before the match, the Modo product had criticized himself. About his first two days at the training camp, Ullmark said the other day to Ottawa Citizen:
I think I've been pretty terrible.
At the same time, Ullmark is not worried about his form ahead of the season.
It's better to start like this in the first start than to save it until the regular season starts, he says according to the newspaper.
After being substituted after a period, Ullmark did not take a place on the bench, which created concern for a potential injury. But afterwards, he said:
It was an order from above. It was just a training match, so there was no reason to sit on the bench for two periods. I went to the gym and trained and took care of my body, he says.
Linus Ullmark is fighting to become Tre Kronor's first goalkeeper in February in Milan where NHL players are back in the Olympic Games for the first time since 2014.
The NHL season starts on October 7.
