Denmark: WC Roster 2013

[Bank]

On paper: Yikes. Without the last four additions it doesn't look good on paper. Luckily much can be done if the players buy into the system and work hard. It's been done before.

Green will give his spot to Mads Christensen. Question is will he replace Thor Dresler on the 4th line. Guessing he will. I'm more in doubt about who moves to give room for Boedker. The biggest candidate is Starkov IMO. I like the idea of Hardt-Christensen-Boedker. A line of players with different qualities but also with three players who plays in the same pace and with an edge.

The D-pairings could give Bäckman some headaches. Mads Boedker and Jesper Jensen together would be boys among men so I hope that's not gonna happen. That means the Lauridsen brothers should be on different pairings. So if they were to get a small partner I'm thinking Oliver-Jesper Jensen and Philip Larsen-Markus. Then Boedker is the 7th D/rotating with Jesper Jensen. Perhaps Markus is the odd guy out(Doesn't seem likely IMO).

But that would mean a forward more would have to be removed.... Jeez it's quite a puzzle.

 

[Justinov]

On paper: Yikes. Without the last four additions it doesn't look good on paper. Luckily much can be done if the players buy into the system and work hard. It's been done before.

Green will give his spot to Mads Christensen. Question is will he replace Thor Dresler on the 4th line. Guessing he will. I'm more in doubt about who moves to give room for Boedker. The biggest candidate is Starkov IMO. I like the idea of Hardt-Christensen-Boedker. A line of players with different qualities but also with three players who plays in the same pace and with an edge.

The D-pairings could give Bäckman some headaches. Mads Boedker and Jesper Jensen together would be boys among men so I hope that's not gonna happen. That means the Lauridsen brothers should be on different pairings. So if they were to get a small partner I'm thinking Oliver-Jesper Jensen and Philip Larsen-Markus. Then Boedker is the 7th D/rotating with Jesper Jensen. Perhaps Markus is the odd guy out(Doesn't seem likely IMO).

But that would mean a forward more would have to be removed.... Jeez it's quite a puzzle.

I totally agree that you should try to have a big+smaller mobile D-pair if it's possible. Someone regular are bound to be left out this year and so many of them are very equal in skill-level. Yeah it's a real puzzle.

Forward discussion:
Morten Green isn't good anymore to be 1'st line center, and not fast enough to team up with Bødker that needs speed-guys with him.
But neither of Hardt, Christensen & Bødker are really centers (Mads Christensen are really on the light side to play a center, right? - so maybe better on the left wing).
Jesper Jensen is a bit bigger not physical either. So Julian Jakobsen perhaps??

Could Christensen-Jacobsen-Bødker work to give some 1st line punch? (Christensen is in much better form than Hardt and could provide more speed for Bødker)
That leaves a Hardt-Green-Madsen "veteran" 2nd line?
Storm-Jensen-Poulsen has apparently played will together lately and could form a 3'rd line?
So that leaves perhaps a Staal-Dresler-Bjørkstrand 4'th line.

That would leave Lassen and Starkov out. Starkov has the problem that Bødker-Madsen-Poulsen really stacks the RW and that Starkov is really not a 4'th line player so that leaves the spot to Bjørkstrand?! Would take Staal over Lassen for a 4'th line because of his experience.

 

[Justinov]

The alternative is to play Morten Madsen as center on the first line:

Christensen-Madsen-Bødker (I actually like this combo).
Hardt-Jacobsen-Starkov (so that will open a offensive spot for Starkov)
Storm-Jensen-Poulsen
Staal/Lassen-Dresler-Green/Bjørkstrand

So Green had to take Bjørkstrand RW on the 4'th line or be out of the roster? Because Dresler has shown again and again he is the 4'th line center man for the NT.

 

[Bank]

My though is that Bäckman with his Boedker-as-a-forward-comment has laid the ground works for going 7 D and 3 Centers. I remember seeing it before, and I think we'll see it again. That kinda mutters the waters because Dresler would be the obvious guy out.

Agree on your second line-up. Green with Madsen and Hardt might be a good shut-down/grinder line. That leaves some offensive responsibility to the third line that might now catch a lot of teams of guard.

Opportunities and limitations. A lot of different combinations possible.

 

[Justinov]

Denmark won the test match against Austria with 2-1 (Shots 40-20 to Denmark)
Goals by Jesper Jensen and Nichlas Hardt.
Not very impressive but at least they won and kept it tight with Galbraith only letting in one goal. The offense shows continuing problems scoring even though the dominates the game and have more shots than the opponents.

 

[Justinov]

My though is that Bäckman with his Boedker-as-a-forward-comment has laid the ground works for going 7 D and 3 Centers. I remember seeing it before, and I think we'll see it again. That kinda mutters the waters because Dresler would be the obvious guy out.

Agree on your second line-up. Green with Madsen and Hardt might be a good shut-down/grinder line. That leaves some offensive responsibility to the third line that might now catch a lot of teams of guard.

Opportunities and limitations. A lot of different combinations possible.

Yeah funny enough during the OQ it was the 3+4'th lines that really play well while the top line have had scoring problems all since and including WC 2012.

Storm-Jensen-Poulsen has shown it works well and Dresler centering fourth with whoever on the wings have been has done the job for Denmark over and over again.
Dresler knows his job - hard work and he is our biggest and most physical center- in 37 WC games since our promotion to the elite he has 0G 3A. He is not there for offense.

I would sacrifice Lassen, Bjørkstrand, Starkov and Staal before Dresler. We need to have veteran physical guys on the team.

 

[Bank]

Dresler knows his job - hard work and he is our biggest and most physical center- in 37 WC games since our promotion to the elite he has 0G 3A. He is not there for offense.

I would sacrifice Lassen, Bjørkstrand, Starkov and Staal before Dresler. We need to have veteran physical guys on the team.

With the exception of Lassen I agree and I totally see the argument for Dresler and it's a good one. He's proven his worth. But the times I have seen him this year(Only a couple of times) he looked slow and uninspired like who's age has caught up with him both in body and mind. The speed needed to make his physical play effective is slowly disappearing but who know what he can come up with when it's the NT.

He's one of those guys we need to find someone who can replace within a year or two IMO.

 

[Justinov]

With the exception of Lassen I agree and I totally see the argument for Dresler and it's a good one. He's proven his worth. But the times I have seen him this year(Only a couple of times) he looked slow and uninspired like who's age has caught up with him both in body and mind. The speed needed to make his physical play effective is slowly disappearing but who know what he can come up with when it's the NT.

He's one of those guys we need to find someone who can replace within a year or two IMO.

Yeah Dresler is at the end of his career and since he has been a Bäckman favourite then he will likely be on the 4'th line if he still has it in him. Even if aging he should be able to play a WC on full steam. But we really need to find a substitute - but who?

You are thinking Lassen would actually be the best of the mentioned guys? He was a big disappointment in Allsvenskan but have had an excellent season for Herning. But is he a longer term 4'th liner for Denmark? Him and Patrick Bjørkstrand are physically fairly equal and could be future wingers for this line until we found a center that can replace Dresler there?
Bäckman have had Bjarke Møller in and out of the NT.....can you see him in this role?

 

[QuietContrarian]

I don't really know what to say.. I don't see the same energy anymore from the team. And GOD are they inaffective in offense. Our D looks ok and G is average.

Im really hoping that they just survive. Without Eller and Nielsen we REALLY struggle at C..

Here's hoping for a somewhat succesful tourney.

 

[Justinov]

I don't really know what to say.. I don't see the same energy anymore from the team. And GOD are they inaffective in offense. Our D looks ok and G is average.

Im really hoping that they just survive. Without Eller and Nielsen we REALLY struggle at C..

Here's hoping for a somewhat succesful tourney.

Yeah they should play simply faster and more direct. Like Slovenia did against us. We don't have the finishing skills to play this kind possession game. We need that fighting energy back on the team!

 

[BalticWarrior]

What are Danish fans expectations and predicitons for the upcomming wc? Is 1/4 final possible?

 

[Justinov]

What are Danish fans expectations and predicitons for the upcomming wc? Is 1/4 final possible?

Success if we avoid relegation
The matches against Slovenia and Belarus have to be won (Belarus can't go down so we have to have more points than Slovenia).
Maybe a little chance against Norway and Switzerland but i doubt it. Will lose to the big guns.

 

[BalticWarrior]

Success if we avoid relegation
The matches against Slovenia and Belarus have to be won (Belarus can't go down so we have to have more points than Slovenia).
Maybe a little chance against Norway and Switzerland but i doubt it. Will lose to the big guns.

Why are you so scared of norway? Honestly,in my eyes,they are one-hit wonder, i`d even go as far as to say they wont make quarters this year.

 

[Justinov]

Why are you so scared of norway? Honestly,in my eyes,they are one-hit wonder, i`d even go as far as to say they wont make quarters this year.

Well their team this WC are still way better than ours.
They have Thoresen (that is world class on big rink).
They have 8 SEL players (and we have if you count Morten Madsen 1). They can produce a wicked PP line even without Zuccarello: Skrøder, Thoresen (+ a substitute for Zuccarello) and Holøs and Ask as shooters.
They have basically everyone ready (beside Zuccarello) and they have confidence. They have one serious weakness.....only two good d-pairs, but otherwise the are solid.
Denmark has been pretty shaky the last year and we simply can't be efficient.

 

[BalticWarrior]

Well their team this WC are still way better than ours.
They have Thoresen (that is world class on big rink).
They have 8 SEL players (and we have if you count Morten Madsen 1). They can produce a wicked PP line even without Zuccarello: Skrøder, Thoresen (+ a substitute for Zuccarello) and Holøs and Ask as shooters.
They have basically everyone ready (beside Zuccarello) and they have confidence. They have one serious weakness.....only two good d-pairs, but otherwise the are solid.
Denmark has been pretty shaky the last year and we simply can't be efficient.

Well if WC`s were really best on best norway wouldnt have a shot i mean- Bodker,Eller,Jensen,Regin,Hansen etc vs Thoresen ,Zuccarello and Skroder. No chance.

 

[Justinov]

Well if WC`s were really best on best norway wouldnt have a shot i mean- Bodker,Eller,Jensen,Regin,Hansen etc vs Thoresen ,Zuccarello and Skroder. No chance.

In a short tournament you can get a long way by disciplined defense and very good special teams. Both Norway and Switzerland has shown that again and again.
Even with our better team last year our PP sucked....and that hurts on big ice. So it would more be 50-50 with fully stacked teams.

NB: basically the same Norwegian team beat Sweden 5-4 in shootout in WC 2011...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCvHPjwwPfI

 

[BalticWarrior]

In a short tournament you can get a long way by disciplined defense and very good special teams. Both Norway and Switzerland has shown that again and again.
Even with our better team last year our PP sucked....and that hurts on big ice. So it would more be 50-50 with fully stacked teams.

NB: basically the same Norwegian team beat Sweden 5-4 in OT in WC 2011...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCvHPjwwPfI

Yeah well you see the difference between say Latvia or Denmark and Norway is that we both have plenty of very good prospects to look up in next few years while Norway has only few good goalie prospects and one good forward prospect,i think when their todays best get older (especially Thoresen) Denmark and Latvia will have the clear upper-hand.
I mean our u-18 humilited Norways team like 6-1 or 7-1 cant exactly remmember and that was our least talented birth year in recent time.

 

[Justinov]

Yeah well you see the difference between say Latvia or Denmark and Norway is that we both have plenty of very good prospects to look up in next few years while Norway has only few good goalie prospects and one good forward prospect,i think when their todays best get older (especially Thoresen) Denmark and Latvia will have the clear upper-hand.
I mean our u-18 humilited Norways team like 6-1 or 7-1 cant exactly remmember and that was our least talented birth year in recent time.

Yeah maybe the can get in trouble in 5-10 years, but they could close the hole with some good prospects coming soon (and it's not all that problematic yet). Many of them might not end up in NHL, but if they stay in Europe it's good for their NT.

and they have the wonder kid coming up.....Mathias Emilio Pettersen in 5 years or so.

 

[Justinov]

Denmark just need to find back to a more grinding defensive player style and be more efficient....like in the 2000's when we fought for survival.
I think they are perhaps too ambitious wanting puck possession, when we lack snipers.......

 

[BalticWarrior]

Yeah maybe the can get in trouble in 5-10 years, but they could close the hole with some good prospects coming soon (and it's not all that problematic yet). Many of them might not end up in NHL, but if they stay in Europe it's good for their NT.

and they have the wonder kid coming up.....Mathias Emilio Pettersen in 5 years or so.

I really dont think we will be talking about norway in 5 years,they will just not be relevant.

 

[Justinov]

You`re kidding right?

well you never know what will happen. All this hype might spurn him to actually become an elite player. Having early skills doesn't prevent you from becoming elite.
But off course you can find many "wonder-kids" in small clubs around the world

 

[Bank]

Yeah Dresler is at the end of his career and since he has been a Bäckman favourite then he will likely be on the 4'th line if he still has it in him. Even if aging he should be able to play a WC on full steam. But we really need to find a substitute - but who?

You are thinking Lassen would actually be the best of the mentioned guys? He was a big disappointment in Allsvenskan but have had an excellent season for Herning. But is he a longer term 4'th liner for Denmark? Him and Patrick Bjørkstrand are physically fairly equal and could be future wingers for this line until we found a center that can replace Dresler there?
Bäckman have had Bjarke Møller in and out of the NT.....can you see him in this role?

Well considered mentioning Bjørkstrand along with Lassen - but haven't seen him as of late. I'm not gonna judge Lassen on his trip to Sweden alone. He played well the times I saw him this year and his numbers in Herning is fine.

But it seems Bäckman agrees with you

http://www.sporten.dk/ishockey/her-er-danmarks-24-vm-spillere

About the Dresler-thing... Bjarke Møller and Morten Andreasen is the only names I can come up with.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Norway are better than Danmark, Period! Doesn't matter if we don't have a full team or not, they would probably still beat us.. They have what we lack, propper winning mentality!

5-10 years from now, will probably be the same, even though we might produce more NHL players, they will probably produce more SEL and KHL, and that will get them more succes at a national level. Simply put.

Also a QF is long ways away!!! Ill be happy to just survive this and not go down. The national team has been a disaster the last 1.5 years.

At Jr. Level we look strong, but still far from the top.

 

[Justinov]

Well considered mentioning Bjørkstrand along with Lassen - but haven't seen him as of late. I'm not gonna judge Lassen on his trip to Sweden alone. He played well the times I saw him this year and his numbers in Herning is fine.

But it seems Bäckman agrees with you

http://www.sporten.dk/ishockey/her-er-danmarks-24-vm-spillere

About the Dresler-thing... Bjarke Møller and Morten Andreasen is the only names I can come up with.

I think you are right about Bjarke Møller and Morten Andreasen really being the only two right now that can take Dresler's place.

So Bäckman agreed with me and took Lassen out of the roster....damn maybe I'm turning swedish in my old days
But feel really sorry about Emil Kristensen being left out. It was probably between him and Rasmus Nielsen. Both with two unproven Lauridsen brothers it perhaps got to be a rookie to many, so Rasmus Nielsen got it on experience....
Hersby apparently blew it in the Austria match.....

 

[QuietContrarian]

I think you are right about Bjarke Møller and Morten Andreasen really being the only two right now that can take Dresler's place.

So Bäckman agreed with me and took Lassen out of the roster....damn maybe I'm turning swedish in my old days
But feel really sorry about Emil Kristensen being left out. It was probably between him and Rasmus Nielsen. Both with two unproven Lauridsen brothers it perhaps got to be a rookie to many, so Rasmus Nielsen got it on experience....
Hersby apparently blew it in the Austria match.....

To be fair, he did cost us a goal, and had an overall bad game.