In the spirit of the NHL announcing quarter-century teams for each of its 30 franchises that have played since 2000, I thought I’d try a similar exercise by country – first and second teams. It’s not limited to NHL performance, although that carries a lot of weight. International play for the country also weighs heavily. To be eligible, a player needn’t have necessarily played for the country at a major tournament, but he had (or has) to be eligible.
Countries chosen have to have played in at least four major international tournaments (Olympic games, top-division IIHF World Championships or World Cups of Hockey) since 2000. Based on that arbitrary number, 20 countries qualify. Great Britain barely makes the cut with four top-level World Championships, while Hungary with three, South Korea and Poland each with two, and China with one do not.
I’m revealing them alphabetically starting with Austria, although the four teams in the 4 Nations Face-Off will be held back until the end, just before the start of the tournament. Scroll down for links to other teams published so far.
DENMARK
First Team
F: Nikolaj Ehlers
F: Frans Nielsen
F: Lars Eller
D: Philip Larsen
D: Jesper Damgaard
G: Frederik Andersen
Second Team
F: Mikkel Boedker
F: Oliver Bjorkstrand
F: Kim Staal
D: Oliver Lauridsen
D: Markus Lauridsen
G: Sebastian Dahm
Ever since Frans Nielsen debuted for the New York Islanders in 2006-07, Denmark has produced several talented forwards, with Nikolaj Ehlers, Lars Eller and Oliver Bjorkstrand still active.
It’s always difficult to balance a player’s NHL career against his international impact and decide between two players on that basis. Jannik Hansen had 256 points in 626 NHL games for the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks but Kim Staal and Morten Green were giants in Danish hockey in the early 2000s as the country strode to ascend in the world of hockey. Staal was a fourth-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 1996 but never went overseas. He did, however, have a solid 11-year career in the top Swedish league, which was then called the Elitserien. I therefore chose Staal over Hansen.
The top defensive pair features another giant of Danish hockey: Jesper Damgaard was captain of the national team from 1999 until 2010. The second pair features the Lauridsen brothers – offensive-minded Markus and 6-foot-6 stay-at-home D-man Oliver, who hasn’t scored a goal in 70 career World Championship games but his physical presence is an asset to the national team and helped him crack the Philadelphia Flyers lineup on a few occasions.
The choices in goal were pretty straightforward, with Frederik Andersen spending years as a starting goalie in the NHL and Sebastian Dahm being an absolute workhorse for the Danish national team, putting up very respectable numbers for a team that was overmatched in many games.
Agree or disagree with the selections? Comment below and check back daily as more international quarter-century teams are revealed.