Danish stars Frederik Andersen and Nikolaj Ehlers reflect on representing their nation, embracing team pride, and forging a new Olympic legacy.
The Carolina Hurricanes had five players participate in the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics this month, with two of those players being Frederik Andersen and Nikolaj Ehlers, who played on just the second ever Olympic men's ice hockey team for Denmark.
Team Denmark finished with a 1-3-0 record overall, losing to both Germany and the USA before pulling out a win over Latvia in the round-robin match.
They were matched up then with Team Czechia in the knockout round, and despite a close contest, they ultimately saw their Olympic run come to an end with a 3-2 loss.
Both players have since returned to North America and spoke with the media on their experiences. Here's what they had to say:
Frederik Andersen
On the experience: It was cool. Obviously it was something I hadn't experienced before and I enjoyed it as much as I could. Short tournament, obviously. We probably look back at the Germany game, but also the Latvia game, we had some chances to put us in a better spot in the knockout stage, which obviously made it a tough go to kind of do any sort of advancement in that, but overall, it was a very fun experience. Really cool.
On what his lasting impression will be: I don't know. It's pretty fresh still. Still have to digest it a little bit, but I'm sure I'll be looking back it it with just tons of pride for the way we played for each other and represented Denmark. It was very cool. One of the pillars of why Denmark's had success and has had growing success in the previous decades is just the way we play as a team. We were obviously proud to build on that and leave it in a better spot for the next generation. Just overall pride.
On being one of the few players to represent Denmark on the Olympic stage: It goes back to just even qualifying. It's not a guarantee to be there and we earned that a year and a half ago, but it was still something we had to do to be there and get that experience. Like I said, you earn it and putting yourself in a spot to represent your country is pretty special.
On interacting with other athletes in the Olympic village: We had a speedskater on our floor that was from Denmark too. Other than that, saw some old teammates, different hockey players that we run into on a daily basis over here. It was fun to say hi to them even though it was pretty quick. We obviously had to prioritize time with our own countrymen and what we had to do, but other than that, that other type of stuff was cool. Just to see that many athletes from around the world confined to one area.
On missing out on the opening ceremony: I know some people got to go, but obviously we didn't. Maybe down the line, you hope you could have been there. I did the research to try and get there as soon as possible, but I don't think we would have made it. Just the way it worked out, but just overall, it was all very cool to experience.
Nikolaj Ehlers
On the experience: It was a really cool experience to get this with the Denmark team. We've been fighting for this. We qualified two summers ago and so it was like a full-circle moment for me in a way.
On the games: You could see that it was best-on-best throughout the tournament. That these were the best players in the world playing and that was obviously exciting. We were hoping for some better results, but overall I think we played really well. You saw it in the gold medal game. It was really best-on-best, so that was pretty exciting.
On the gold medal game: Canada obviously played better and had more chances, but on the other hand, that's part of hockey. You can play really well and still lose hockey games. The U.S. found a way to stick with it and had some great goaltending and were able to get away with the win.
On if he was able to interact with any of the other Danish athletes: The Danish speedskater [Viktor Hald Thorup] was at the village at Milan as well and was on our floor, so we saw him pretty much every day. We talked to him about how he works and for him, this is the tournament that he's worked hard for for four years and he was able to get the first medal in 28 years in Danish Winter Olympic history, so that was pretty cool to see.
On if the win over Latvia was the highlight of the tournament for him: For me, no. Because we played really bad in that game. I'm more proud of... the first game [against Germany] is what it is. I thought, like the game yesterday, we were the better team, but we weren't able to put the puck in the net and we lost. Then, I think, for me, the two last games against the U.S. and the Czechs were the ones that I was most proud of. With the U.S., we lost 6-3, but at the end of the day, we were right there until about 10 minutes left in the game. And then against the Czechs, we lost 3-2 and were again right there. Those ones I'm really proud of.
On the pride he felt being able to represent Denmark: It's something I dreamed of doing since I was a kid and I hadn't been able to go to the last two Olympics. So to finally be in Milan and get the clothing that Team Denmark was wearing and just be there, it was an incredible feeling and something that I'm going to talk about for quite a while really.
On if he felt like he had to be "The Guy" for Team Denmark: At the end of the day, I can't do anything by myself. The games that we played, I thought our line was actually really good and created a lot of chances together, but we just weren't able to put them in the net enough. But no, I don't think so. I've played on the national team for three Olympic Qualifiers and five World Championships and now one Olympics and I've never felt that way, because it's never going to work.
*Ehlers also said that his mom, dad, sister and a few friends were able to make it down to see him play. Another fun fact is that his centerman for the games, Alexander True, is his cousin.
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