After making their Olympic debuts in 2022 in Beijing, the Danes are favored to make a repeat Olympic appearance in 2026 as they bring a talent-laden roster into their final Olympic qualifying tournament on home ice in Aalborg.
This Danish team includes 12 returnees from Beijing and nearly 800 games of experience from the IIHF World Championships, including five players with at least 70 games – Frederik Storm, Jesper Jensen Aabo, Morten Poulsen, and Markus and Oliver Lauridsen.
The team also includes four full-time NHLers, led by Carolina Hurricanes starting netminder Frederik Andersen, followed by veteran forwards Lars Eller of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets and Jonas Røndbjerg of the Vegas Golden Knights. The roster also includes a number of ex-NHLers and a couple of prospects: 19-year-old Seattle Kraken draft pick Oscar Fisker Mølgaard and 23-year-old Ottawa Senators goaltending prospect Mads Søgaard.
Not surprisingly, Swedish and German clubs are the two biggest suppliers of players to this team, sending seven and five players, respectively.
“I am of course very satisfied with the squad,” said head coach Mikael Gath. “We are going into the tournament the strongest possible team, and I am super happy that we are getting such strong players from North America, Europe and the Danish League. There is no doubt that the players’ motivation is huge.”
Denmark’s opponents this weekend in Aalborg include Great Britain, Japan, and Scandinavian rival Norway, whom they face in the tournament’s final game on Sunday. While the Danes certainly don’t want to look past their first two opponents, most are anticipating that match-up with Norway will determine the Olympic qualifier. Three years ago in Oslo, Denmark beat the Norwegians on their home ice in a similar situation, and Norway would surely love to repay the favor.
In a pair of pre-tournament games against Group E favorite Latvia, Denmark won the first game 3-2 before falling 5-3 in the rematch.
Goaltenders: 31 Frederik Andersen (Carolina Hurricanes, NHL), 80 Frederik Dichow (HV71, SWE), 30 Mads Søgaard (Belleville Senators, AHL).
Defensemen: 41 Jesper Jensen Aabo (KAC Klagenfurt, AUT), 42 Philip Bruggisser (Fischtown Pinguins, GER), 22 Markus Lauridsen (Löwen Frankfurt, GER), 25 Oliver Lauridsen (TPS Turku, FIN), 48 Nicholas B Jensen (Fischtown Pinguins, GER), 40 Anders Koch (Kiekko-Espoo, FIN), 15 Matias Lassen (Malmö Redhawks, SWE).
Forwards: 29 Mikkel Aagaard (MoDo, SWE), 86 Joachim Blichfeld (Växjö Lakers, SWE), 24 Nikolaj Ehlers (Winnipeg Jets, NHL), 20 Lars Eller (Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL), 77 Mathias From (KAC Klagenfurt, AUT), 17 Nicklas Jensen (Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, SUI), 12 Oscar Fisker Mølgaard (HV71, SWE), 38 Morten Poulsen (Herning Blue Fox, DEN), 46 Jonas Røndbjerg (Vegas Golden Knights, NHL), 63 Patrick Russell (Linköping HC, SWE), 9 Frederik Storm (Kölner Haie, GER), 11 Alexander True (MoDo, SWE), 65 Christian Wejse (Fischtown Pinguins, GER).
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