Swedish forward Marcus Bergman (‘92, Hovas HC) took his career to Canada at age 18 with goals to develop with the Bradford Rattlers to follow professional path. After Championship winning season with the Rattlers, Bergman was invited to ECHL Camps, but decided to sign back in Sweden’s HockeyEttan to start professional career. After few successful seasons, he advanced to Allsvenskan. He now enters his 9th season of professional hockey with Vasteras IK.
Interview with Marcus Bergman
- Hello Marcus! Please tell us how you got started in hockey? How was your experience in youth hockey?
I started playing at 5 or 6 years old in hockey school. My brothers played so it was natural for me to start. My dad was coaching my older brothers team and to make it easier/fewer trips to the rink I played with them. So I was a little bit smaller than the other kids.
- At age 18, you decided to try yourself at hockey internationally, first in Europe and then Canada. What brought you to this decision?
I played in my youth team with J20 and A-team until I was 18. But the level was not so high and I started to grow a lot and wanted a new challenge. Fun to try something new and see if it could lead somewhere in my career.
- How was your experience in Canada? Was the hockey different compared to Sweden?
I was lucky enough to come to the Rattlers organization and join a great team that year. The rink was smaller so it suited me well in being a scoring kind of player. Like it a lot.