Ljungblom is one of four PWHL players in the Women's National Team who will play the home tournament in Södertälje this week.
Matches against the Czech Republic (Wednesday), Switzerland (Friday), and Finland (Saturday) await.
PWHL is often referred to as the women's NHL and started last season.
Ljungblom makes her professional league debut after a dominant SDHL season last year with Modo, when she was awarded the Golden Helmet as the league's best player and was named Player of the Year by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association.
The season has not even started in PWHL. The training camp starts after the national team tournament and the league premiere is on November 30.
But for the past three weeks, she has been training in Montreal with teammates and players from other teams.
They have received me very well and I really like the environment. You can see why they are so good in the way they train. I believe and hope it will be good for me, says Ljungblom, who has a three-year contract with Montreal.
"Didn't exist"
The minimum salary in the league is just under 400,000 kronor per season, the average salary is around 600,000, and the top salaries are around 850,000 kronor.
A professional life in hockey was long an unattainable dream for Swedish women's hockey players. So, it's not surprising that little Lina Ljungblom dreamed of being a boy – something her mom told her – wasn't so strange.
It says a lot. Those dreams didn't exist. Little hockey-Lina would have thought this was huge and awesome. I think so too.
There has been discussion about the risk of PWHL eventually draining SDHL of star players, but Ljungblom only sees advantages:
This is great for Swedish women's hockey and for the whole world. That kids can see and can dream about it, just like the boys do, says the Skövde product.
"Special situation"
Since the PWHL season has not started, three of the players – goalkeeper Emma Söderberg, defender Anna Kjellbin, and Ljungblom – will be without any league play so far. Defender Maja Nylén Persson, who will play for New York, is the exception. She started the season in Brynäs.
A very special situation. Everyone has done everything they can to get training and match-like moments, but it's different, says national team coach Ulf Lundberg.
The Four Nations Tournament in Södertälje:
Wednesday: Finland–Switzerland (14.00), Czech Republic–Sweden (18.00).
Friday: Finland–Czech Republic (14.00), Sweden–Switzerland (18.00).
Saturday: Switzerland–Czech Republic (12.00), Sweden–Finland (16.00).
The Women's National Team finished second in the first Euro Hockey Tour tournament in Switzerland. Here's what the rest of the national team season looks like:
6-9/11: Euro Hockey Tour (Södertälje).
9-15/12: Euro Hockey Tour (Finland).
3-9/2 2025: Olympic Games qualification against Denmark, Norway, and one team from qualification stage 2 (Gävle).
9-20/4 World Championship (Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic).
