There is not necessarily a logical connection between the number of members and a federation\u2019s sporting results. Danish ice hockey is an excellent example of these facts. The Danish Ice Hockey Union (DIU) has only registered a little more than 6,000 members in 17 clubs. In comparison, team sports such as football have registered 310,000 members (DBU), the Danish Handball Association (DHF) has registered 105,000 members, the Danish Basketball Association (DBF) has registered 17,000 members, while Volleyball Denmark has registered 16,000 members. Despite the modest number of players, Danish ice hockey has qualified both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s national teams for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing \u2013 one of the biggest surprises of the year in Danish elite sports.<\/p>\n
It was not until the 1970\u2019s with the construction of indoor ice rinks in many municipalities that ice hockey became a popular sport in Denmark. It happened at the same time as several clubs began to \u201cimport\u201d players and coaches from Canada, USA, Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Sweden. However, the development did not have much of an impact on the national team\u2019s results, which only led to an anonymous existence in the C-group or the bottom of the B-group. However, that changed radically in 2002, when the men\u2019s national team very surprisingly secured promotion to the A-group among 16 best nations. The debut at the A-WC 2003 in Finland resulted in a sensational 5-2 victory over the United States and 2-2 against the later world champions from Canada. Subsequently, the men\u2019s national team has continuously managed to maintain status in the A-group with World Championship quarter-finals against Sweden in 2010 and Finland in 2016 as sporting highlights. The A-WC 2018 at home in Herning and Copenhagen was also a sporting highlight, where many enthusiastic spectators gave great media attention, both in Denmark and internationally. Likewise, the number of children under the age of 12 in several ice hockey clubs increased significantly after the A-WC in 2018.<\/p>\n
The vast majority \u2013 5,200 players or more than 85% of the registered members of DIU \u2013 are boys under 18 or male senior players. The number of girls under the age of 18 who play ice hockey is a modest 600 and only a little more than 200 female senior players have been registered. Despite these facts, the women\u2019s national team has achieved very good results, especially in the last two seasons. After a number of years in the B-group, in 2020 the women\u2019s national team succeeds in qualifying for the A-WC 2021 in Canada, where, however, it was a defeat in all matches. The bottom two teams at A-WC 2021 would normally relegate to Group B, but relegation was suspended as the B-WC 2021 was not held due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This means that Denmark will host the A-WC 2022, which only consists of 10 nations, in the period August 26 \u2013 September 4 , where Frederikshavn is home to Denmark\u2019s preliminary matches. The promotion to the A-WC was followed by a very surprising Olympic qualifier ahead of Germany (No. 8 in the world rankings), Austria and Italy in early November 2021. The Danish women\u2019s national team is of course expecting some difficult Olympic matches against strong ice hockey nations like the Czech Republic (February 7) and Sweden (February 8), whereas the opening match against the host nation China (February 4) and Japan (February 5) in advance resembles equal matches.<\/p>\n
Several of the player profiles on the women\u2019s national team, such as Josefine Jakobsen (Djurg\u00e5rdens IF), Nicole S\u00f8ndergaard Jensen (Lule\u00e5 HF) and Josefine Persson (Lule\u00e5 HF) have for a number of years played for Swedish top clubs. Similarly, the vast majority of male players who have achieved a career as NHL players have had a shorter or longer period as youth players in Sweden. This applies i.a. the 37-year-old Frans Nielsen, who made his NHL debut in 2007 and scored more than 900 NHL appearances for New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings. Nielsen received a large part of his education as a hockey player in Malm\u00f6 Redhawks and Timr\u00e5 IK. Also Danish top players like Mikkel B\u00f8dker, who played more than 700 NHL matches for i.a. Phoenix Coyotes and Ottawa Senators, Lars Eller, who in 2018 became the first Danish Stanley Cup winner with Washington Capitals and Frederik Andersen (Carolina Hurricanes), who today are among the NHL\u2019s best goalkeepers, have benefited greatly from a stay as junior players at Fr\u00f6lunda HC in Gothenburg \u2013 the club that has developed the most NHL players in the world.<\/p>\n
There are many different reasons why a nation with as few registered players as Denmark can achieve such great success. Morten Green, who for a number of years played for Swedish elite league clubs such as Leksand IF, MODO Hockey and Malm\u00f6 Redhawks and who so far has played the most national team matches \u2013 316 \u2013 for Denmark, has the following explanations for the Danish national team\u2019s success: \u201cBoth the Danish Ice Hockey Union and more Danish top clubs developed and implemented in the early 00\u2019s targeted talent strategies, which were very useful for the development of the individual youth players, both physically, technically and tactically. There was also a really good team spirit, both on the U18, U20 and senior national team, where we liked to be together, both on and off the ice. There were not 80-100 potential players to choose from for the individual national teams as in big hockey nations like Sweden, Finland and Russia. It was maybe only 20-25, so we had to fight and work hard for each other. Finally, we had great pleasure from experienced head coaches from Sweden such as. Jim Brith\u00e9n (1996-2001), Mikael Lundstr\u00f6m (2001-2006), Per B\u00e4ckman (2008-2013) and Janne Karlsson (2013-2018), who all emphasized a solid organization in the defensive game and with room for individual attacking performances . Many of us knew the \u201cSwedish\u201d style of play and at the same time our \u201cSwedish\u201d head coaches had some really good human qualities that fit well with the mentality of Danish players \u201c, says the captain, who played 19 World Championships in a row (1999 \u2013 2017) \u2013 a record, which will probably never be surpassed.<\/p>\n
For all Danish hockey players \u2013 both Nielsen, B\u00f8dker, Ellers, Andersen and current NHL profiles such as 25-year-old Nikolaj Ehlers \u2013 who have already played almost 400 NHL games for the Winnipig Jets \u2013 and peers Oliver Bjorkstrand (Columbus Blue Jackets) it is a dream come true when the puck is thrown in the first Olympic match against the Czech Republic (February 9). The Czech Republic is of course \u2013 like Denmark\u2019s two other opponents in the preliminary Olympic group: Russia (February 11) and Switzerland (February 12) \u2013 favorites against the Olympic debutants. Also for the female national team players in ice hockey, the Olympics is a dream come true \u2013 and which may also be a unique event for most athletes. But in elite sports \u2013 also in ice hockey \u2013 there will always be surprises. And the Danish \u201clions\u201d can (perhaps) also reach far at the 2022 Winter Olympics through a strong team spirit.<\/p>\n
You can read more about the 2022 Winter Olympics here:<\/p>\n
Danmarks Ishockey Union<\/a><\/p>\n IIHF \u2013 Home 2022 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES WOMEN\u2019S ICE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT<\/a><\/p>\n