Sweden’s Lova Blom is projected to be her country’s next superstar – for both women’s hockey, and hockey in general. Having just turned 16 years old on Jul. 15, Blom will be making her SDHL (Svenska damhockeyligan) debut this coming 2019-20 season for Djurgårdens IF.
The 5-foot-7, 140-pound center should have an immediate impact for both her hockey club and for the league. While it is far too early to tell how Djurgårdens will assemble their forward lines, it could make for a very deadly combination to have Blom on a line with high-scoring Canadian Jennifer Wakefield and captain Andrea Dalen. The trio would easily make for one of the most potent offensive forces that the league has ever seen.
Wakefield and Dalen individually already are elite scorers. Puting the two of them onto the starboard and port sides of Blom is a rather stirring option to consider, and the numbers that they would generate.
No matter who she is ultimately teamed-up with, Blom is very excited for her first go-round for Djurgårdens.
“I am looking forward to it very much,” she told THW. “I know it’s going to be very tough and a big challenge, but it’s the challenges that I like. It’s a very great team – both on the ice and off the ice. I think it’s going to be an amazing season, but also a hard one. But like I said, I’m looking forward to it.”
Blom spoke at length with THW, and dicussed where she is at in her career. She welcomes the opportunity to reach expectations and exceed them, and she looks to emulate her own “hockey heroes” as well.
Blom’s International Success for Sweden
Blom has already competed for Sweden at two different IIHF Women’s U18 World Championships. Born in the summer of 2003, she will have two more opportunities to partake in this particular tournament.
In 10 games at U18 competition, Blom has scored a single goal. She helped Sweden to a most unexpected silver medal victory at the 2018 tourney in Dmitrov, Russia, playing in all five of Sweden’s games. Blom and the Swedes even pushed the gold medal-winning USA to overtime in their first game of the prelims.
She followed that up with an impressive showing the very next year.
Blom’s lone U18 goal thus far was a critical one during 2019’s event in Obihiro, Japan. Facing the possibility of a sixth place finish, she put home the game-winning goal against Switzerland’s Saskia Maurer to ensure a 2-1 victory for the Swedes.
“It’s an honor to represent my country,” Blom stated with a considerable amount of pride in her voice. “It has been a goal since I started play, so that means everything. My favorite moment so far was when the Swedish U18 team was in Russia, and we stood on the blue line and heard the Swedish national song. It was an incredible feeling!”
Here Is What Is Most Impressive About Blom
Believe it or not, Lova Blom does not play most of her competitive games against girls or women. A considerable amount of her hockey experience has been battling alongside and against U16 boys. Blom played seasons of 12 and 11 games in 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively for Nyköpings HF’s male U16 squad.
In both seasons she was better than a point-per-game player.
At just 14 years of age, she scored five goals and nine assists for 14 points in 2017-18, and finished as one of the top-10 scorers on the team. Blom followed that up with six goals, 12 assists and 18 points in 11 contests during 2018-19 to be seventh.
In many instances, she literally skated circles around the boys, and that is not to sound cheeky or over-the-top. Blom is a very talented player, and she thinks the game in a way that is well-advanced for someone so young. Truth be told, her hockey sense is likely beyond that of many professional players.
“I think my speed and my play intelligence are my strengths,” Blom explained. “I will always say that my brother is my role model. He always fights and never gives up.”
Blom expanded further:
“When we were younger he helped me with the training. Every morning on the weekends, he did extra practices with me. But two great hockey players that I have always been looking up to are Maria Rooth and “Foppa”, Peter Forsberg.
A big brother, and two of the greater players that hockey has ever seen? Certainly ideal heroes for Blom to have. Rooth is a 3-time NCAA champion, and an Olympic silver and bronze medalist. Forsberg is a Hockey Hall of Famer, a 2-time Stanley Cup champion, and 2-time Olympic gold and World Championship gold medalist.
Blom Is Only Going to Get Better and Better
Also at 14 years old, Blom played for Hammarby IF in Sweden’s second-tier league – Division 1 – for the 2017-18 season. Her performance was quite staggering. Playing in less than half of the season’s games, Blom still finished seventh on the team in scoring with 12 goals in 12 games and eight assists as well.
Many of her teammates and her competition were twice her age. Imagine if Blom had been with the team for the entire season. She likely would have been Hammerby’s top scorer and would have ran roughshod over the Division-I stats columns.
It is performances such as these that have followers so excited to see Blom play in the SDHL, and for many seasons to come. Even though she is so highly regarded, she possesses the humility to be a better person than she is a hockey player – and she is a hell of a hockey player already.
When asked about the speculations and sentiments about her talent, Blom smiled and responded:
“It’s very fun to hear that. I really hope that in the future I can be an important and a very good player. That’s my goal, and I will work hard to get there. It is important to work together as a team and have fun. Also I have learned to work hard to reach my goal.”
Hockey aside, Blom is also just a typical 16-year-old girl.
“My favorite animal is a dog,” she told us as a fun fact about herself. “Since I was little I have always loved dogs. It feels like the dogs can understand us. The dogs are like a human, and that’s why I like (them) so much.”