The London Knights are the premier recruiting machine in junior hockey.<\/p>\n
But there are still question marks and last-minute hopes and dreams of getting players onto the Canada Life Place stage. That was the case in the wooing of Swedish forward Marcus Nordmark, the Anaheim first-rounder who will wear the green-and-gold for the first time Friday against Owen Sound.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been an ongoing process where Marcus dropped out of the sky here,\u201d Knights GM Mark Hunter said. \u201cOne time, he wasn\u2019t coming and now he is. It\u2019s a positive. I played with (his dad) Robert Nordmark in St. Louis. There\u2019s a bond relationship there. It\u2019s special where I can see a young man, part of Robert\u2019s family, here and it will be exciting to watch him grow and get better as a hockey player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hunter and Robert Nordmark also worked together with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Marcus Nordmark\u2019s father vouched for the well-proven Hunter system of hockey development.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was telling me Mark is a great person,\u201d the 18-year-old Marcus said. \u201cI\u2019m really happy I get a chance to play here in London. I know it\u2019s a great team and the Hunters are doing a great job. I know they can probably take me to the NHL in a couple of years here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to be here and it\u2019s going to be a fun season.\u201d<\/p>\n
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That\u2019s the plan. Nordmark spent the past week-and-a-half at Ducks camp adjusting to the smaller North American ice and playing against older players.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder has a personal goal of winning a world junior gold medal with Sweden but counts a Memorial Cup as his one true wish for this season. He wants to lift it the way Matthew Tkachuk \u2013 the Florida Panthers star he models his game after \u2013 did a decade ago as a London legend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a player you want to play like and have on your team,\u201d Nordmark said. \u201cHe\u2019s always backing up people and I try to play like him. Sometimes, I can be hard on people and try to hit some guys. Brady and Matthew (Tkachuk), they\u2019re always fighting in the corners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re so good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both he and the Knights acknowledge there will be a learning curve. That\u2019s standard for all import players and Nordmark joins Russian Maksim Sokolovskii (Flyers) and 2027 NHL draft prospect Luca Santala of Finland as London\u2019s European players at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to be patient,\u201d Mark Hunter said. \u201cHe\u2019s coming from a big ice surface and a different style of game. It\u2019ll be good for him and that\u2019s why he\u2019s here. I talked to (Anaheim GM) Pat Verbeek a few times and he wants him here coached by Dale and Dylan (Hunter) and Ricky (Steadman) and the rest of our staff to understand what he needs to do to become a professional hockey player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nordmark knows Swedish defenceman Linus Funck, who was traded to Oshawa to make room for his London arrival. He is familiar with a few Knights already, which helps.<\/p>\n
\u201cI met (Senators first-rounder) Jaxon Cover and Maksim Sokolovskii and talked to them at the NHL draft combine,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know I was going to play for London at the time. I don\u2019t know so much (about the OHL) but I know it\u2019s a tough league and you have to be ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can take some time. I\u2019m just trying to do my best and am glad to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
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