Valdemar
Danish junior hockey
- Oct 6, 2007
- 481
- 116
It has been very difficult to follow Danish Junior hockey for the last 2 years because of Covid. The Danish junior Championships were cancelled 2 years in a row, and last year’s season for junior players (2020-2021) was terminated after only a couple of months of play. Therefore, I have not been able to compile a list of the most interesting Danish prospects for quite a while. Thankfully this season (2021-2022) has been very close to normal, with only a short Covid break with no games around Christmas time, and the Danish Championships in the junior categories were held without any problems.
It is no secret that the development of Danish junior players has not been as good as it used to. The output of talents has not been impressive for the last 4-5 years unfortunately. Loosing almost a complete season to Covid has also been a big blow, although I suppose that Covid has hit hard in other countries as well. But despite all that, I’m getting slightly more optimistic for the future of Danish junior hockey. The number of junior players in Denmark is rising steadily and in many clubs the training seems to have improved. There are now more than 6.100 registered hockey players in the Danish hockey association. For those interested here are the number of hockey players for each club: Odense (586), AaB (Aalborg) (576), Herning (469), KSF (Copenhagen) (425), Gentofte (421), Rungsted (412), Falcons (Copenhagen) (403), Rødovre (399), Frederikshavn (376), Hvidovre (373), Gladsaxe (287), Herlev (276), Esbjerg (272), Ama’r (Copenhagen) (271), Aarhus (220), Vojens (219), Silkeborg (140).
Another very interesting development is that the Danish hockey association has made a U12 league, and I’m sure that it will give a boost to the development of the players aged 11. The difference from playing in the U11 league to playing in the U13 league is huge, and it takes a lot of adjustment for the 11 year old players when they must move up because of age. I wasn’t fully aware of this until March this year when I streamed many of the games at the U12 and U13 Danish Championship. The Championships were held at the same time, and I changed between the games from both U12 and U13 according to which teams I would like to watch. The difference between the U12 and U13 games is staggering; the U13 games were much better organized, with much more passing and much less player errors. In the U12 games you seldom saw three passes in a row finding teammates, and you often had 2-3-4 players fighting for the puck at the middle of the ice. The new U12 league thus provide 11 year old players (and younger) an opportunity to slowly transform their game towards the more structured play older players is practicing, and furthermore without having to battle the physical differences playing against someone a year older than you.
Every time I make a list like this, I must notice that it is far from complete. I am just a hockey fan with limited knowledge of what’s going on. To compile it I have used information readily available on the internet, statistical data, reports, and articles. This year is somewhat different though regarding firsthand viewing. Automatic video cameras have been installed in most rinks in Denmark, and for a fee of around EUR 10 a month you can stream all hockey games played (except the best Danish league). That includes ALL junior games, even though the games played by the 6-10 years old probably exclusively are of interest of the VERY close relatives of the players
I have streamed a LOT of junior games and it has been a great experience. The video quality is surprisingly good and is easily worth the price, and furthermore most games are saved on a server, and many can be accessed even several months after they are played. If you are interested in Danish junior hockey, I highly recommend this solution. Danskishockeytv
The vast majority of the players on my list I have seen (streamed) at least a couple of times and especially the 14 years old (U15) and younger I have watched countless times. But I don’t have insider information, so I cannot evaluate if a player is hard working and dedicated at training, I can only see how he behaves in a game. I am sure that there are players outside this list that will have better careers than many on this list, so please take it for what it is; my take on who are the most promising Danish prospects at the moment.
The players mentioned are placed alphabetically according to the name of the team where they are playing, and not according to how I rank them. I will mention some of the players to look especially out for, and also give a short evaluation of how I view the general quality of the birth year.
There are no Goalies on the list, because I don’t feel qualified to give them a fair evaluation.
Birth-year 2004
I’ll start out with the prospects born in 2004 (U18 players).
It has never been considered a strong birth year especially considering the forwards, and there is not much depth in this birth year either. But actually - in a Danish context - there are a lot of good defenders. A couple of years ago I thought that maybe Anton Stenbakken or Anton Als could have a small chance of getting drafted to the NHL, but that will probably not happen. But all on the list have a shot at being regulars in the best Danish League at least.
Christopher Holm Mulberg, Frederikshavn D
Victor Gade, Herlev F
Anton Ibman Stenbakken, Malmö SWE D
Jonas S. Jakobsen, Odense D
Oliver Villadsen, IK Oskarshamn SWE D
Anton Mikkelsen Als, Rødovre D
Edvard Lundmark, Rødovre D
Sebastian Maddock Rasmussen, Växjö Lakers SWE F
Birth-year 2005
Traditionally the odd birth years have been stronger than the even birth years in Danish hockey for as long as I have been following it. The 2005 birth year also seems much stronger than the 2004 birth year. Here we have at least 2 forwards (Albert Schioldan and Oscar Mølgaard) with a shot at being drafted to the NHL next year. They are from Frederikshavn but now play in the Swedish junior system. Other promising forward prospects are Daniel Olsson, Zug SCH (the nephew of Kim Staal), and the best prospect still playing in Denmark Hjalte Kruse Thomsen, Herning, who has already played some games in the best Danish League. I also like that there seems to be a good depth in this birth year and several other players will probably go on to get a very successful career in hockey.
Victor Schmidt Nielsen, Borås SWE D
Tobias Ebener, Esbjerg F
Philip Rubin, Esbjerg F
Matias Ingemann Larsen, Herlev F
Hjalte Kruse Thomsen, Herning F
Albert Uggerhøj Schioldan, HV71 SWE F
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, HV71 SWE F
Lucas Riis Bach, Jonstorps SWE D
Oskar Grossmann, Odense D
Marius Kring Andersen, Rødovre D
Lukas Jarlgaard, Rødovre F
Jens Zion, Vojens F
Mathias Jensen, Vojens F
Daniel Olsson, Zug SCH F
It is no secret that the development of Danish junior players has not been as good as it used to. The output of talents has not been impressive for the last 4-5 years unfortunately. Loosing almost a complete season to Covid has also been a big blow, although I suppose that Covid has hit hard in other countries as well. But despite all that, I’m getting slightly more optimistic for the future of Danish junior hockey. The number of junior players in Denmark is rising steadily and in many clubs the training seems to have improved. There are now more than 6.100 registered hockey players in the Danish hockey association. For those interested here are the number of hockey players for each club: Odense (586), AaB (Aalborg) (576), Herning (469), KSF (Copenhagen) (425), Gentofte (421), Rungsted (412), Falcons (Copenhagen) (403), Rødovre (399), Frederikshavn (376), Hvidovre (373), Gladsaxe (287), Herlev (276), Esbjerg (272), Ama’r (Copenhagen) (271), Aarhus (220), Vojens (219), Silkeborg (140).
Another very interesting development is that the Danish hockey association has made a U12 league, and I’m sure that it will give a boost to the development of the players aged 11. The difference from playing in the U11 league to playing in the U13 league is huge, and it takes a lot of adjustment for the 11 year old players when they must move up because of age. I wasn’t fully aware of this until March this year when I streamed many of the games at the U12 and U13 Danish Championship. The Championships were held at the same time, and I changed between the games from both U12 and U13 according to which teams I would like to watch. The difference between the U12 and U13 games is staggering; the U13 games were much better organized, with much more passing and much less player errors. In the U12 games you seldom saw three passes in a row finding teammates, and you often had 2-3-4 players fighting for the puck at the middle of the ice. The new U12 league thus provide 11 year old players (and younger) an opportunity to slowly transform their game towards the more structured play older players is practicing, and furthermore without having to battle the physical differences playing against someone a year older than you.
Every time I make a list like this, I must notice that it is far from complete. I am just a hockey fan with limited knowledge of what’s going on. To compile it I have used information readily available on the internet, statistical data, reports, and articles. This year is somewhat different though regarding firsthand viewing. Automatic video cameras have been installed in most rinks in Denmark, and for a fee of around EUR 10 a month you can stream all hockey games played (except the best Danish league). That includes ALL junior games, even though the games played by the 6-10 years old probably exclusively are of interest of the VERY close relatives of the players
I have streamed a LOT of junior games and it has been a great experience. The video quality is surprisingly good and is easily worth the price, and furthermore most games are saved on a server, and many can be accessed even several months after they are played. If you are interested in Danish junior hockey, I highly recommend this solution. Danskishockeytv
The vast majority of the players on my list I have seen (streamed) at least a couple of times and especially the 14 years old (U15) and younger I have watched countless times. But I don’t have insider information, so I cannot evaluate if a player is hard working and dedicated at training, I can only see how he behaves in a game. I am sure that there are players outside this list that will have better careers than many on this list, so please take it for what it is; my take on who are the most promising Danish prospects at the moment.
The players mentioned are placed alphabetically according to the name of the team where they are playing, and not according to how I rank them. I will mention some of the players to look especially out for, and also give a short evaluation of how I view the general quality of the birth year.
There are no Goalies on the list, because I don’t feel qualified to give them a fair evaluation.
Birth-year 2004
I’ll start out with the prospects born in 2004 (U18 players).
It has never been considered a strong birth year especially considering the forwards, and there is not much depth in this birth year either. But actually - in a Danish context - there are a lot of good defenders. A couple of years ago I thought that maybe Anton Stenbakken or Anton Als could have a small chance of getting drafted to the NHL, but that will probably not happen. But all on the list have a shot at being regulars in the best Danish League at least.
Christopher Holm Mulberg, Frederikshavn D
Victor Gade, Herlev F
Anton Ibman Stenbakken, Malmö SWE D
Jonas S. Jakobsen, Odense D
Oliver Villadsen, IK Oskarshamn SWE D
Anton Mikkelsen Als, Rødovre D
Edvard Lundmark, Rødovre D
Sebastian Maddock Rasmussen, Växjö Lakers SWE F
Birth-year 2005
Traditionally the odd birth years have been stronger than the even birth years in Danish hockey for as long as I have been following it. The 2005 birth year also seems much stronger than the 2004 birth year. Here we have at least 2 forwards (Albert Schioldan and Oscar Mølgaard) with a shot at being drafted to the NHL next year. They are from Frederikshavn but now play in the Swedish junior system. Other promising forward prospects are Daniel Olsson, Zug SCH (the nephew of Kim Staal), and the best prospect still playing in Denmark Hjalte Kruse Thomsen, Herning, who has already played some games in the best Danish League. I also like that there seems to be a good depth in this birth year and several other players will probably go on to get a very successful career in hockey.
Victor Schmidt Nielsen, Borås SWE D
Tobias Ebener, Esbjerg F
Philip Rubin, Esbjerg F
Matias Ingemann Larsen, Herlev F
Hjalte Kruse Thomsen, Herning F
Albert Uggerhøj Schioldan, HV71 SWE F
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, HV71 SWE F
Lucas Riis Bach, Jonstorps SWE D
Oskar Grossmann, Odense D
Marius Kring Andersen, Rødovre D
Lukas Jarlgaard, Rødovre F
Jens Zion, Vojens F
Mathias Jensen, Vojens F
Daniel Olsson, Zug SCH F
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