With two games played by each team at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the tournament’s leading scorer is Swedish right winger Marcus Nordmark with six points. In Sweden’s opening 10-0 win over Germany, Nordmark tallied a goal and three assists. In the second game, in which the Swedes overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat the USA 5-3, he had a goal and an assist. “I love to score and I love to compete,” he said after an uninspired 8-4 pre-tournament loss to Finland. “I love to win. So if we lose a game, I need to get better the next game. I need to score.” Since that loss to Finland, Nordmark has been scoring and Sweden has been winning. Nordmark’s father is Robert Nordmark, a defenseman who played four years in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis] and Vancouver Canucks [http://thn.com/vancouver] and also won gold medals for Sweden at the 1981 IIHF World Junior Championship and the 1987 World Championship. Although a d-man, the elder Nordmark could put points on the board too, tallying 46 points in 87 regular-season and playoff games for the Canucks in 1988-89. “He taught me that you need to work on your game to get better every day,” said Nordmark. Swedish Prospect Elton Hermansson Looks Up To Peter Forsberg and Markus Näslund [https://us-central1-deweb-519a7.cloudfunctions.net/mediaService-api/videos/b22ee1de-9f4b-4490-b5f2-90b34872eec3/thumbnail] Swedish Prospect Elton Hermansson Looks Up To Peter Forsberg and Markus Näslund Elton Hermansson, a member of Sweden’s U-18 national team that is about to begin the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, scored two goals in the team’s pre-tournament game on Saturday against Finland in Piestany, Slovakia. However, that output seemed a bit lost in Sweden’s 8-4 loss. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/swedish-prospect-elton-hermansson-looks-up-to-peter-forsberg-and-markus-naslund] Nordmark along with Oscar Holmertz and Elton Hermansson [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/swedish-prospect-elton-hermansson-looks-up-to-peter-forsberg-and-markus-naslund] and expected to be the offensive leaders of this Swedish team [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/sweden-announces-solid-hlinka-gretzky-cup-roster] but the best 2008-born Swede of all isn’t at this tournament. Viggo Björck, Nordmark’s teammate with Djurgården and often his linemate on Swedish youth national teams, was instead deployed to play for Sweden’s U-20 team at the World Junior Summer Showcase. However, the pair appear destined to play together again with Djurgården in Sweden’s top U-20 league and again at the end of the year at the U-18 World Championship, back in Slovakia. “Yeah, it’s real disappointing,” Nordmark said about Björck’s absence. “He’s a real great player.” Björck and Nordmark are two of the latest prospects to come out of Djurgården. Like Anton Frondell [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/report-anton-frondell-will-sign-with-blackhawks-this-week-won-t-attend-training-camp] and Victor Eklund [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/islanders-sign-victor-eklund-but-he-s-probably-returning-to-sweden-too] in 2025, they’re projected to be first-round picks in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft – as are Holmertz and Hermansson. “I’m not focusing on that,” said Nordmark. “I’m focusing on the next game and next training. I need to play better.” Canada And Sweden Remain Group Front-Runners With Second Straight Wins [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/f9ba8ce7-776e-4b06-bacb-22293501275e.webp] Canada And Sweden Remain Group Front-Runners With Second Straight Wins To lead off Day 2 of the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Canada and Sweden stayed perfect. In Brno, Canada beat Switzerland 9-1 in a game that was 1-0 after two periods and Sweden overcame a 3-1 deficit against the USA and won 5-3 in Trenčín. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/canada-and-sweden-remain-group-front-runners-with-second-straight-wins]
