Denmark: World Championship 2015

[Bank]

Steffen Klarskov Nielsen, Matias Lassen and Mads Eller were on board for the game. Karlsson says 70 to 75 percent of the roster are WC-set. As it is 22 guys right now I'm guessing 4-6 additions. I've got Philip Larsen, Stefan Lassen, the Lauridsen brothers, Nichlas Hardt and Mads Christensen in mind.

The lines vs. Belarus were:

F. Storm-J. Jensen-P. Bjorkstrand
M. Madsen-J. Jakobsen-K. Starkov
M. Poulsen-M. Green-K. Staal
M. Bau Hansen-A. Poulsen-M. Eller
S. Klarskov Nielsen

J. B. Jensen-E. Kristensen
D. Nielsen-B. Uldall
P. Bruggisser-M. Lassen

S. Dahm
P. Galbraith

 

[Bank]

Philip Larsen won't be joining the team. Depth wise I don't think it's as vulnerable a spot as it has been, but as a top end talent on the Danish team this one is tough one to swallow.

http://sporten.tv2.dk/ishockey/2015-04-10-vm-chok-danmarks-bedste-ishockey-back-melder-afbud

 

[Jevo]

It's a big blow losing Larsen, especially now that it looks we won't get much help from our NA players this year.

 

[admire]

Says a little about his mentality. Worried about getting injured instead of looking at it as a shopping window and a opportunity.

 

[Bank]

It's mentality that's quite common among countries with a wide field of players to choose from. It's sneaking in on us to. We kinda saw something like it with Hardt last year(I believe there were some form of family-growth involved) and this year more clearly with Philip Larsen.

And looking at the expected D-line without him(Some combination of Lauridsen x2, Jesper B. Jensen, Emil Kristensen, Daniel Nielsen, perhaps Stefan Lassen) it's not as a bad a couple of years ago.

That said none of these D-men can be trusted with the same amount of minutes as Philip IMO. They're more role players in the sense that they have holes in the game where as Philip is more of a complete player. That and the lack of his transition game will hurt us IMO. Sucks.

I had discussion at work today(yes it's a saturday ) about this. Seeing as we're expecting 2 D-men from the AHL and 0 forwards from NA... Would you rather have Philip Larsen or Nikolaj Ehlers and Oliver Björkstrand. Personally I'd choose the first, but I can see the argument for the later.

 

[admire]

It's mentality that's quite common among countries with a wide field of players to choose from. It's sneaking in on us to. We kinda saw something like it with Hardt last year(I believe there were some form of family-growth involved) and this year more clearly with Philip Larsen.

And looking at the expected D-line without him(Some combination of Lauridsen x2, Jesper B. Jensen, Emil Kristensen, Daniel Nielsen, perhaps Stefan Lassen) it's not as a bad a couple of years ago.

That said none of these D-men can be trusted with the same amount of minutes as Philip IMO. They're more role players in the sense that they have holes in the game where as Philip is more of a complete player. That and the lack of his transition game will hurt us IMO. Sucks.

I had discussion at work today(yes it's a saturday ) about this. Seeing as we're expecting 2 D-men from the AHL and 0 forwards from NA... Would you rather have Philip Larsen or Nikolaj Ehlers and Oliver Björkstrand. Personally I'd choose the first, but I can see the argument for the later.

That is a very difficult question to answer....I would probably argue that Larsen would be more important than those two....

But my feelings right now is that Philip Larsen should not be allowed anywhere near the national team ever again no matter how important he would be.

Unless you are nursing a serious injury, or have some family excuse, then you have made a selfish choice and should not be found anywhere near this team ever again.

Janne sounded pissed too.

Philip is perfectly free to make this choice, but then he can retire. This picking and choosing when you play for the team should never be accepted.
Either you play for your country with pride, or you don't.


Back to some positive talk.

Denmark owned Belarus 6-1, and Patrick Galbraith almost had a goaliefight!


And its very clear that the Storm/Jensen/Bjorkstrand is flying again this year.

http://sporten.tv2.dk/ishockey/2015...kamp-hviderusser-vil-slaas-med-dansk-maalmand

 

[Bagge]

That is a very difficult question to answer....I would probably argue that Larsen would be more important than those two....

But my feelings right now is that Philip Larsen should not be allowed anywhere near the national team ever again no matter how important he would be.

Unless you are nursing a serious injury, or have some family excuse, then you have made a selfish choice and should not be found anywhere near this team ever again.

Janne sounded pissed too.

Philip is perfectly free to make this choice, but then he can retire. This picking and choosing when you play for the team should never be accepted.
Either you play for your country with pride, or you don't.


Back to some positive talk.

Denmark owned Belarus 6-1, and Patrick Galbraith almost had a goaliefight!


And its very clear that the Storm/Jensen/Bjorkstrand is flying again this year.

http://sporten.tv2.dk/ishockey/2015...kamp-hviderusser-vil-slaas-med-dansk-maalmand

Relax....we are not even sure the media tells the correct story. It wouldnt be the first time TV2 quotes someone in a twisted way. Philip Larsen has always been ready and done his duty on the NT, so I think you are overreacting a bit. Jannik Hansen has turned down the NT in the past as well. Do you also want to exclude him? And Hardt?

With olympic qualification coming up in august 2016 next year is going to be extremely hard on our star players. It will must likely mean no vacation during the summer to optimize preparations. If Larsen needs so time off, this is the only time he really can.

Luckily for us the blue line depth is better than ever and seems to improve every year.

 

[Bank]

Relax....we are not even sure the media tells the correct story. It wouldnt be the first time TV2 quotes someone in a twisted way. Philip Larsen has always been ready and done his duty on the NT, so I think you are overreacting a bit. Jannik Hansen has turned down the NT in the past as well. Do you also want to exclude him? And Hardt?

With olympic qualification coming up in august 2016 next year is going to be extremely hard on our star players. It will must likely mean no vacation during the summer to optimize preparations. If Larsen needs so time off, this is the only time he really can.

Luckily for us the blue line depth is better than ever and seems to improve every year.

And it's not an uncommon thing. In Denmark the WC is the most important international hockey event. That's a quite unique approach and it's not shared many places. So like a lot other team on the level we're at, we properly have to get used to this.

But it sucks - no doubt

 

[Bagge]

And it's not an uncommon thing. In Denmark the WC is the most important international hockey event. That's a quite unique approach and it's not shared many places. So like a lot other team on the level we're at, we properly have to get used to this.

But it sucks - no doubt

That is only because we have never had the opportunity to play OG. If we manage to qualify i 2018 I suspect the interest for WC will feint just as it have in all other countries.

 

[admire]

Relax....we are not even sure the media tells the correct story. It wouldnt be the first time TV2 quotes someone in a twisted way. Philip Larsen has always been ready and done his duty on the NT, so I think you are overreacting a bit. Jannik Hansen has turned down the NT in the past as well. Do you also want to exclude him? And Hardt?

With olympic qualification coming up in august 2016 next year is going to be extremely hard on our star players. It will must likely mean no vacation during the summer to optimize preparations. If Larsen needs so time off, this is the only time he really can.

Luckily for us the blue line depth is better than ever and seems to improve every year.

And it's not an uncommon thing. In Denmark the WC is the most important international hockey event. That's a quite unique approach and it's not shared many places. So like a lot other team on the level we're at, we properly have to get used to this.

But it sucks - no doubt

You are right that they could have "twisted" the words, but it was just quoting Janne. Larsen has been in Denmark for weeks, he is out of contract. I might have overreacted a little, but Hardt at least had a good reason. Was critical of Hansen when he said no. Im aware that it sounded a little over the top but I do feel that unless you have a good excuse, you should either be available for selection or not.

Larsen could have a good reason and that we just have not heard it but I think its perfectly legitimate to be critical of the decision. Especially in a year where we could be without a lot of NA backup.

Im aware that we are spoiled in this regard, but we are also a team with far lesser depth than most others. Most of the teams with similar situations usually have similar loyalty from their stars.

That is only because we have never had the opportunity to play OG. If we manage to qualify i 2018 I suspect the interest for WC will feint just as it have in all other countries.

For some it probably will....But it will always be special for me. But I know that everybody doesn't same my enthusiasm of the tournament. For me it was the real start of my interest in hockey and it holds so many good memories.

I would be absolutely crushed if/when we go down one year.

 

[Bank]

Okay dokey so... Mads Christensen, Stefan Lassen and Mikkel Bødker is officially not going. With the rest going to the playoffs Oliver and Markus Lauridsen are - for now - the only realistic additions to the team above. Yikes. Although nice to see Hardt joining. He's gonna be needed.

Mads Bødker and Thomas Spelling won't make it for the game on Thursday against the Swiss. Hence the 9 D's and 13 F's. I'm guessing they'll cut it down to 3 G, 7 D and 13 F. That leaves two spots open and lets be honest. It's not like we got 25 guys who is locked-and-loaded for WC-level hockey

 

[admire]

Okay dokey so... Mads Christensen, Stefan Lassen and Mikkel Bødker is officially not going. With the rest going to the playoffs Oliver and Markus Lauridsen are - for now - the only realistic additions to the team above. Yikes. Although nice to see Hardt joining. He's gonna be needed.

Mads Bødker and Thomas Spelling won't make it for the game on Thursday against the Swiss. Hence the 9 D's and 13 F's. I'm guessing they'll cut it down to 3 G, 7 D and 13 F. That leaves two spots open and lets be honest. It's not like we got 25 guys who is locked-and-loaded for WC-level hockey

And if janne Karlsson insists on ehlers or bjørkstrand playing in the Germany games to be considered, we could end up not having them either. Halifax is surprisingly leading their series vs moncton and Portland is tied. If they both advance we could miss out on both. I'm getting very worried at this point.

 

[Jevo]

And if janne Karlsson insists on ehlers or bjørkstrand playing in the Germany games to be considered, we could end up not having them either. Halifax is surprisingly leading their series vs moncton and Portland is tied. If they both advance we could miss out on both. I'm getting very worried at this point.

Ehlers will likely get called up the Jets when Halifax are out. So if the Jets win a couple against Anaheim that series won't end until it's almost May anyway. I don't have much hope for him coming, sadly.

 

[Bank]

Jets taking on Ehlers is a fear I share. Bjørkstrand could be possible if he would only stop scoring freaking game winning goals

To be honest I'm also more concerned with the blue line. I really, really, really need to hear the Lauridsen brothers say they'll come. I'm not comfortable with having to choose between giving big minutes to Bjørn Uldall, Philip Bruggisser, Mads Bødker anno 2015 or Rasmus Nielsen. They're third pair/7th D at this level.

At least up front we can make do with Storm-Jesper Jensen-Bjørkstrand and line of Morten Madsen, Nichlas Hardt and Julian Jakobsen working hard and hopefully getting some result from it.

 

[Justinov]

Jets taking on Ehlers is a fear I share. Bjørkstrand could be possible if he would only stop scoring freaking game winning goals

To be honest I'm also more concerned with the blue line. I really, really, really need to hear the Lauridsen brothers say they'll come. I'm not comfortable with having to choose between giving big minutes to Bjørn Uldall, Philip Bruggisser, Mads Bødker anno 2015 or Rasmus Nielsen. They're third pair/7th D at this level.

At least up front we can make do with Storm-Jesper Jensen-Bjørkstrand and line of Morten Madsen, Nichlas Hardt and Julian Jakobsen working hard and hopefully getting some result from it.

Agreed: With Philip Larsen and Stefan Lassen out, if then also without the Lauridsen brothers, our defense looks weak skill- and experience-wise for big games and also seriously underweight.
I agree that this two possible hard working forward lines should be up to the challenge, but our survival this year will hang on our goalkeepers doing extraordinary things as the defense probably will be overrun in many matches.

 

[admire]

Ehlers will likely get called up the Jets when Halifax are out. So if the Jets win a couple against Anaheim that series won't end until it's almost May anyway. I don't have much hope for him coming, sadly.

Jets taking on Ehlers is a fear I share. Bjørkstrand could be possible if he would only stop scoring freaking game winning goals

To be honest I'm also more concerned with the blue line. I really, really, really need to hear the Lauridsen brothers say they'll come. I'm not comfortable with having to choose between giving big minutes to Bjørn Uldall, Philip Bruggisser, Mads Bødker anno 2015 or Rasmus Nielsen. They're third pair/7th D at this level.

At least up front we can make do with Storm-Jesper Jensen-Bjørkstrand and line of Morten Madsen, Nichlas Hardt and Julian Jakobsen working hard and hopefully getting some result from it.

If we don't get any reinforcements, maybe Janne would consider Ehlers or Bjorkstrand even if they come late.
Lets be positive before we all get depressed, so we can at least dream about getting either Andersen or Ehlers depending on the playoffs....

But that would ofcourse depend on Janne, and the NHL teams and the players themselves.

I can't even think about the lauridsen brothers not coming. We are going to be weak on the blue line no matter what, but we would at least have a little size with them.

 

[andersej]

I'm staying positive for now as well. The NHL'ers will be missed for sure, but NHL'ers who are burned out following a long season are often not as big of an upgrade as one hopes.

Also, I think Galbraith and Dahm have looked pretty solid so far in the warm up games - with the possible exception of Galbraith in Thursday's game vs the Swiss. In fact, I'd say Dahm has closed the gap on Galbraith to such a degree, that while Galbraith is probably still the starter, Karlsson should have no hesitation throwing in Dahm if Galbraith struggles even a little.

 

[Bank]

Per Peter Fredberg(Who totally misses the big news here?) Markus Lauridsen joins the team for the two Germany-games, while Oliver Lauridsen will get one. But by Monday they'll confirm, they're joining the team.

That's good news to say the least although more reliving than surprising.

This means the game of musical chairs can begin. Matias Lassen and Nicholas B. Jensen are the best bets to leave the team. But that still leaves two D-men to go. I'm guessing Daniel Nielsen, Emil Kristensen, Jesper B. Jensen, Markus and Oliver are safe bets. So Rasmus Nielsen, Mads Bødker, Bjørn Uldall and Philip Bruggisser will fight it out for two spots IMO.

The 13 forwards are given atm. That leaves room for two additions.

Note: It might be interesting to check if Portland wins in the AHL tonight. If they don't Bjørkstrand could be AHL-bound.

 

[admire]

Per Peter Fredberg(Who totally misses the big news here?) Markus Lauridsen joins the team for the two Germany-games, while Oliver Lauridsen will get one. But by Monday they'll confirm, they're joining the team.

That's good news to say the least although more reliving than surprising.

This means the game of musical chairs can begin. Matias Lassen and Nicholas B. Jensen are the best bets to leave the team. But that still leaves two D-men to go. I'm guessing Daniel Nielsen, Emil Kristensen, Jesper B. Jensen, Markus and Oliver are safe bets. So Rasmus Nielsen, Mads Bødker, Bjørn Uldall and Philip Bruggisser will fight it out for two spots IMO.

The 13 forwards are given atm. That leaves room for two additions.

Note: It might be interesting to check if Portland wins in the AHL tonight. If they don't Bjørkstrand could be AHL-bound.

Great news about the Lauridsen brothers....
NHL playoffs doesn't look too good yet.....I know its just 2-3 games but still fun to follow....Vancouver is tied so we might get Hansen and Jensen....Chicago is tied too, so maybe regin.,

Is he in AHL playoffs?

 

[Bank]

Both Utica(1st in the West) and Nicklas Jensen and Rockford(4th in the West) and Peter Regin are the AHL playoffs. Springfield isn't however after a Portland win tonight. That eliminates the small threat of Bjørkstrand going to the AHL playoffs.

 

[andersej]

Halifax and Ehlers are finished in the QMJHL playoffs. Last hurdle is that Winnipeg doesn't decide to bring him in to the Stanley Cup playoffs. I don't think they will, unless they see him as a potential saviour already this season. Given that they are down 3-0, he would have to do more than walk on water to take Winnipeg to the next round.

Looking at the updated Danish team, he'd have to knock off probably either Mathias Bau, Kirill Starkov or Kim Staal.

It doesn't look that bad actually:

Goalies: Sebastian Dahm, Patrick Galbraith og Simon Nielsen.

D-men: Jesper B. Jensen, Daniel Nielsen, Bjørn Uldall, Mads Bødker, Oliver Lauridsen, Markus Lauridsen, Emil Kristensen, Phillip Bruggisser og Nicholas B. Jensen.

Forwards: Morten Green, Nichlas Hardt, Frederik Storm, Jesper 'Zlatan' Jensen, Patrick Bjorkstrand, Morten Madsen, Julian Jakobsen, Kim Staal, Morten Poulsen, Anders Poulsen, Kirill Starkov, Thomas Spelling og Mathias Bau Hansen.

 

[admire]

Halifax and Ehlers are finished in the QMJHL playoffs. Last hurdle is that Winnipeg doesn't decide to bring him in to the Stanley Cup playoffs. I don't think they will, unless they see him as a potential saviour already this season. Given that they are down 3-0, he would have to do more than walk on water to take Winnipeg to the next round.

Looking at the updated Danish team, he'd have to knock off probably either Mathias Bau, Kirill Starkov or Kim Staal.

It doesn't look that bad actually:

Goalies: Sebastian Dahm, Patrick Galbraith og Simon Nielsen.

D-men: Jesper B. Jensen, Daniel Nielsen, Bjørn Uldall, Mads Bødker, Oliver Lauridsen, Markus Lauridsen, Emil Kristensen, Phillip Bruggisser og Nicholas B. Jensen.

Forwards: Morten Green, Nichlas Hardt, Frederik Storm, Jesper 'Zlatan' Jensen, Patrick Bjorkstrand, Morten Madsen, Julian Jakobsen, Kim Staal, Morten Poulsen, Anders Poulsen, Kirill Starkov, Thomas Spelling og Mathias Bau Hansen.

Yeah, I think we will have Hansen and Ehlers as the two extra...

 

[Valdemar]

Looking at the updated Danish team, he'd have to knock off probably either Mathias Bau, Kirill Starkov or Kim Staal.

No way that Kim Staal is not on the final roster, he has been one of the best players on the Danish team the last two IHWCs, and he has had a great year playing in Asia. I would also be surprised if Mathias Bau is left out of the final roster, since he has been one of the best players in the pre-tournament games. To me Anders H. Poulsen is more in danger to be left of the roster that any of the 3 above mentioned players. After all Kirill Starkov has a lot of IHWC experience and has had a good season in Switzerland. But of cause if there has to be cut 2-3 players from the initial roster because of NA players being able to participate, Kirill will be in the danger zone.

 

[andersej]

No way that Kim Staal is not on the final roster, he has been one of the best players on the Danish team the last two IHWCs, and he has had a great year playing in Asia. I would also be surprised if Mathias Bau is left out of the final roster, since he has been one of the best players in the pre-tournament games. To me Anders H. Poulsen is more in danger to be left of the roster that any of the 3 above mentioned players. After all Kirill Starkov has a lot of IHWC experience and has had a good season in Switzerland. But of cause if there has to be cut 2-3 players from the initial roster because of NA players being able to participate, Kirill will be in the danger zone.

You could definitely make the case for keeping all 3...

Staal would be kept around just as much for his off-ice presence. Yes, he's had a good year in the Asian league, but that must be the lowest level of any of the leagues we have players in.

I like what Bau has shown so far as well and if he could play a little more physical, that would be an important contribution to a NT where big physical players are in short supply. But, he'd probably still need a little more experience to be a lock on the team.

AH Poulsen would be another candidate, especially if Jannik Hansen becomes available too.

 

[Bagge]

Yeah, I think we will have Hansen and Ehlers as the two extra...

What about Frans? I am not sure Islanders are going to win overall against Caps. They didnt look too good the last game.

I was a bit afraid two weeks ago, but now our roster is starting to take shape into a very good group of players.