Denmark: Danish League 2015-16

[Justinov]

This is absolutely great Justinov! Deserves recognition.

Re: the import goalie thing. Haven't thought about for some time but my initial thoughts are:

A) If Sebastian Feuk is anything like his short stint as a backup in Rødovre he'll come back down to earth. He had a terrible tracking and rebound control. Worked hard though.

B) Looking back at the goalies stats for the playoffs the last couple of years the only Danish keeper to put up nice stats over more than 2 or 3 games is Sebastian Dahm. Seeing as that's were you'd want your goalie to hit that top level, I don't blame teams for trying the lottery of the foreign goalies.

C) As a Rødovre-fan I was crushed after that first game seven versus Frederikshavn some years ago. Today I still believe that team was geared for the championship. Except in net where they rolled Michael Madsen and Simon Nielsen. Michael Madsen chocked that game seven. The next year Rødovre iced a worse team but had a prime Trevor Koenig in net and went on to the semifinals. Just goes to show the worth of a goalie.

D and conclusion) No I don't the Danish goalie crisis is solved by a rule change. My fear is also that the clubs with money would pry away the Sebastian Dahm, Frederik Andersen and George Sørensens of the world. So a rule where the foreign goalies counts twice or a forced percentage of games with a Danish goalies would only drive up the price of inferior goalies at the expense of the clubs with a bad economy. Now they either don't get their goalie stolen or have the shot at a cheap foreign goalie.

Actually I agree with you there Bank.
That the Danish backup goalies would probably not initially be able to handle long stretches of starts without ending up choking; BUT if they never get the opportunity for long periods of starts, they will never learn what it takes mentally.
Sebastian Dahm had his breakout year last year, so it has been a long development for him to be a real starting goalie......

My critique is mostly towards teams that let their import goalie plays most of the matches and only getting their Danish backup goalie a mere handful of games through the season.
If players like Sebastian Feuk and other young Danish should improve, they need matches.
Thats why it so good that George Sørensen escaped being a backup in Herning and that Frederikshavn was willing to bet on him.
When you look at the stats, some of the imports do very well and some do not. If your import doesn't put on stellar numbers, why not let your Danish backup goalie play more? That would give your import goalie some needed rest and rebooting mentally, and give a chance for the backup goalie to become a local hero by turning things around and then trying to cope with the initial success, which is part of the mental-toughness learning curve so important for goalies......

 

[Justinov]

Round 9-10:

Gentofte - Frederikshavn: 3-2 OT [Shots 23-28, Cody Kunyk 2G 1A].
Gentofte with a really impressive win. Their first line and especially Cody Kunyk is in "Nicolai Meyer" mode currently.
Frederikshavn comes back from a 0-2 to 2-2, but end losing it in OT, so close game....

Rungsted - Rødovre: 2-3 SO [Shots 29-34, Mikkel Højbjerg 1G 1A + penalty winner].
Rødovre keeps gathering point with their excellent defense and goaltending.
Rungsted still floundering near the bottom.

Herlev - Odense: 3-5 [Shots 23-25; Sean Wiles 2G for Odense].
Herlev actually scored some goals this game, but against Odense that often lets in a lot.
Odense keeps their scoring machine running, which equals all the best teams in the league. Their defense is only slightly better than Herlev and Aalborg.

Aalborg - Herning: 1-4 [Shots 16-17]
Very important win for Herning. Gets some distance to the bottom.
Tough one for Aalborg. A win would have made them catch up to Rungsted and Herning.

Esbjerg - SønderjydskE: 2-1 SO [Shots 36-30].
Good win for Esbjerg keeping up with SønderjydskE and Frederikshavn in the top.
SønderjydskE kept the defense tight this game, which is a good improvement.

 

[Justinov]

Round 10-11

Herning - Aalborg: 2-1 SO [Shots 20-15].
Herning puts some more distance to the bottom and Aalborg loses again a tight match, though at least gets a point.

SønderjydskE - Esbjerg: 3-2 [Shots 20-27; Cory Quirk 2G for SønderjydskE, Mario Lamoureux 2G Esbjerg]
SønderjydskE keeps the league lead, but Esbjerg shows they are a team to reckon with - outshooting SønderjydskE.

Frederikshavn - Gentofte: 1-2 [Shots 30-22].
Gentofte is on a roll at the moment and beating Frederikshavn is a big accomplishment.
Frederikshavn loses some ground to SønderjydskE at the top of the league.

Rødovre - Rungsted: 4-1 [Shots 29-24, Jannik Karvinen 2G]
Rødovre rises to third place in the league, which is a lot better than expected before season start.
Rungsted is a huge disappointment so far and seems to have to fight with Aalborg for the 8th spot as things stands currently.

Odense - Herlev: 9-1 [Shots 34-33; Dale Mitchell 4G 1A, Sean Wiles 2G 2A, Ryan McDonough 2G 2A].
Herlev is a sinking ship. Awful defense and goal-tending and their forwards can't score goals.
The Odense goal machine just keeps rolling and they are the highest scoring team in the league.
4 of the top 10 point producers are from Odense!

 

[Bank]

Round 10-11

SønderjydskE - Esbjerg: 3-2 [Shots 20-27; Cory Quirk 2G for SønderjydskE, Mario Lamoureux 2G Esbjerg]
SønderjydskE keeps the league lead, but Esbjerg shows they are a team to reckon with - outshooting SønderjydskE.


Odense - Herlev: 9-1 [Shots 34-33; Dale Mitchell 4G 1A, Sean Wiles 2G 2A, Ryan McDonough 2G 2A].
Herlev is a sinking ship. Awful defense and goal-tending and their forwards can't score goals.
The Odense goal machine just keeps rolling and they are the highest scoring team in the league.
4 of the top 10 point producers are from Odense!

Two things I've learned...

A) Didn't know there was a fake Lemieux in the league this year.

B) Looking at the Herlev roster it leaves a lot to be desired. But Conny Strømberg is back!

 

[Justinov]

Two things I've learned...

A) Didn't know there was a fake Lemieux in the league this year.

B) Looking at the Herlev roster it leaves a lot to be desired. But Conny Strømberg is back!

The Herlev roster doesn't look that bad on paper (as the actual results has been), but for some reason they are just being smashed.
Aalborg loses most of their games, but are at least fighting and often quite close to get points!

Round 11-12:

Herlev - Rødovre: 4-5 [Shots 31-18; Antti Hölli 2G for Herlev].
A game where Herlev actually dominated, but still lost (letting in 5 of 18 shots is not good).
Rødovre continue their surprising streak.

Esbjerg - Aalborg: 7-5 [Shots 28-26; Nicolai Meyer 2G 1A for Aalborg, Mario Lamoureux 2G 2A for Esbjerg.
Aalborg loses a close tight game (as usual).

Rungsted - Frederikshavn: 3-5 [Shots 28-36, Tobias Kisum 2G Rungsted].
Frederikshavn back on track winning, while Rungsted has lost its last 4 games (only getting 1 point).

SønderjydskE - Odense: 5-3 [Shots 39-28, Cory Quirk 2G 1A for SønderjydskE].
SønderjydskE partly stops Odense's goal-scoring machine (again) and keeps the lead in the league.

Top Producers:
25P 1) Dale Mitchell (CAN) - Odense: 13G 12A
23P 2) Nicolai Meyer (DEN) - Aalborg: 10G 13A
21P 3) Mario Lamoureux (USA) - Esbjerg: 13G 8A
18P 4-5) Cory Quirk (USA) - SønderjydskE: 10G 8A
18P 4-5) Robin Bergman (SWE) - Frederikshavn: 8G 10A
17P 6-7) Sean Wiles (CAN) - Odense: 13G 4A
17P 6-7) Matthew Pistilli (CAN) - Esbjerg: 6G 11A
16P 8-10) Ryan McDonough (CAN) - Odense: 6G 10A
16P 8-10) Olle Liss (SWE) - Aalborg: 5G 11A
16P 8-10) John Armstrong (CAN) - Odense: 3G 13A

So 4 Odense players in the top 10 and also 2 Aalborg players - being the 6th and 9th team of the 10 teams in the league.
Leading three teams - SønderjydskE, Frederikshavn & Rødovre - has only 2 players in top 10. [2 Esbjerg players being 4th in the league].
Such a distribution seems quit unusual.
Odense is still the highest scoring team in the league reaching 50 goals in 11 games.

Goaltending:
Primary Goalies:
Teemu Seppänen (FIN) - Gentofte: 93,1% (10 G)
George Sørensen (DEN) - Frederikshavn: 93,0% (9G)
Stefan Ridderwall (SWE) - Rødovre: 91,6% (11G)
Tadeas Galansky (CZE) - Odense: 90.2% (11G)
Mike Clemente (USA) - Rungsted: 90,2% (9G)
Lubos Pisar (SVK) - Herning: 89,9% (11G)
Joni Myllykoski (FIN) - SønderjydskE: 89,7% (11G)
Jeff Frazee (USA) - Esbjerg: 89,5% (8G)
Marcus Lundell (SWE) - Aalborg: 87,5% (12G)
Aaro Peltonen (FIN) - Herlev: 87,0% (11G)

Especially Teemu Seppänen has been very good lately, whereas George Sørensen keeps his high level.

Backup Goalies:
Sebastian Feuk (DEN) - Rungsted: 92,7% (3G)
Christian Larsen (DEN) - Frederikshavn: 92,4% (4G)
Nikolaj Henriksen (DEN) - Esbjerg: 90,1% (5G)
Jon Lee-Olsen (DEN) - SønderjydskE: 89,5% (1G)
Frederik Jakobsen (DEN) - Rødovre: 86,2% (5G)
Marc Schlaeger (DEN) - Herlev: 78,6% (3G)

Frederikshavn with by far best goalkeeping tandem with George Sørensen & Christian Larsen, both over 92%.

 

[Justinov]

Round 11-12-13

Odense + Esbjerg 3-4 OT [Shots 29-41]
Esbjerg takes the 4th spot currently in the league after this close match.
When Odense "only" scores 3 goals they lose; they generally win when they score 5.

Herning - Rungsted 3-2 [Shots 25-12].
Herning turns 0-2 into 3-2 in the 3rd period and secured a very important win putting good distance to the bottom three teams, which is now Herlev, Aalborg and Rungsted.

Frederikshavn - Herlev 11-2 [Shots 50-16 !!, Adam Miller 2G 4A, Mads Larsen 2G 2A, Mathias Bau Hansen 2G 2A, Thomas Søndergaard 2G 1A all for Frederikshavn; Anti Hölli 2G for Herlev].
Herlev really getting smashed here. They desperately need a success to boost their morale, but Aalborg and Rungsted also losing lately so spot number 8 is still "only" 7 points away.

Aalborg - Gentofte 2-4 [Shots 32-30, Yannick Vedel 2G for Gentofte].
Gentofte keeps winning, showing tight defense these last matches.

Rødovre - SønderjydskE 2-3 [Shots 27-24, Cory Quirk 2G 1A for SønderjydskE].
The top match of today ends with SønderjydskE strengthening their grip on the league.
Great effort by Rødovre to keep the game so tight .

 

[andersej]

Rødovre - SønderjydskE 2-3 [Shots 27-24, Cory Quirk 2G 1A for SønderjydskE].
The top match of today ends with SønderjydskE strengthening their grip on the league.
Great effort by Rødovre to keep the game so tight .

Easy to see why SønderjyskE is at the top of the table. They didn't play a great game, but took advantage of their PP opprtunities and were able to shut down Rødovre's offense in the third period while protecting the lead.

 

[Justinov]

Easy to see why SønderjyskE is at the top of the table. They didn't play a great game, but took advantage of their PP opprtunities and were able to shut down Rødovre's offense in the third period while protecting the lead.

Yeah that's why they are heavy favourites for the title again.
Probably the "champions hockey league" is good for them to grow some international experience, they can transfer to the "home marked".

 

[Bank]

The Herlev roster doesn't look that bad on paper (as the actual results has been), but for some reason they are just being smashed.
Aalborg loses most of their games, but are at least fighting and often quite close to get points!

I haven't kept up to date with the league as much as I used to so maybe I'm off base but when I checked I noticed the very few Danish players over 21.

It just seems like a team of youngster - with different pedigree and amount of talent - you'd throw out there with some foreigners and see what happens.

 

[Justinov]

I haven't kept up to date with the league as much as I used to so maybe I'm off base but when I checked I noticed the very few Danish players over 21.

It just seems like a team of youngster - with different pedigree and amount of talent - you'd throw out there with some foreigners and see what happens.

This perhaps even more signify Aalborg and even though they also lose a lot, at least they basically go down fighting a every game. Herlev is to often slaughtered.
Only 4 teams have a higher average age than Herlev (for all players though).
Herlev, Rødovre and Gentofte basically have the same age average.

Gentofte's Danish core is not that impressive either, but they have certainly hit the import jackpot!

 

[Justinov]

Round 12-13-14:

We start with the top meeting:
SønderjydskE - Frederikshavn 4-3 OT [Shots 29-28; Thomas Spelling 2G 1A for SønderjydskE].
SønderjydskE comes back from behind 1-3 and secures their lead even further.

Odense - Rødovre 4-5 SO [Shots 28-28, Matthias Asperup 2G & Rasmus Astrup 3A for Rødovre; Sean Wiles 1G 2A for Odense].
So Odense can also lose when they score 4!
Rødovre keeps their surprising third place spot, but now joint with Esbjerg.

Esbjerg - Gentofte 4-1 [Shots 41-19 (!)].
Esbjerg ends Gentofte's long winning streak!

So going to the important bottom matches:

Aalborg - Rungsted 0-1 [Shots 27-28, Jonas Røndbjerg scored the winner].
Two teams with defensive problems and then it ends up with only 1 goal. Didn't see that coming.
Rungsted moves away from Aalborg - 6 points between them now.
Sounding like a broken record - but Aalborg again again again lost a close match.

Herlev - Herning 4-2 [Shots 14-26, Mikkel Ankjær 2G & Conny Strömberg 3A for Herlev].
Important win for Herlev. Is this the change for them. Antti Hölli & Conny Strömberg has been hugely important lately to set their offense going and finally their defense kept it closed - after letting in 20 goals the former two matches. Now Herlev is only 1 point after Aalborg and 7 after Rungsted.
Herning loses even though they outshot Herlev significantly. Losing to Herlev can't be acceptable for them.

 

[Justinov]

Rødovre have shown a surprising Danish forward depth (and Chistyakov is Danish hockey schooled after all).
That is a big difference to many other teams, that are very top-heavy production-wise and dependent on imports.

They have 9 forwards over 0,5 PPG !
1) Jannik Karvinen (13M) - 9G 7A =16P
2) Rasmus Astrup (13M) - 3G 11A = 14P
3) Phillip Bruggisser (13M) - 3G 9A = 12P - their leading d-man.
4) Martin Højbjerg (12M) - 5G 4A = 9P
5) Nicklas Beyer Carlsen (13M) - 5G 4A = 9P
6) Andrei Chistyakov (13M) - 4G 5A = 9P
7) Mikael T. Christensen (13M) - 3G 5A = 8P
8) Matthias Asperup (13M) - 3G 5A = 8P
9) Jonas Sass (13M) - 2G 5A = 7P
10) Mikkel Højbjerg (8M) - 2G 4A = 6P

NB: Metalligaen's homepage have goalie statistics now up and running!

 

[Bagge]

Rødovre have shown a surprising Danish forward depth (and Chistyakov is Danish hockey schooled after all).
That is a big difference to many other teams, that are very top-heavy production-wise and dependent on imports.

They have 9 forwards over 0,5 PPG !
1) Jannik Karvinen (13M) - 9G 7A =16P
2) Rasmus Astrup (13M) - 3G 11A = 14P
3) Phillip Bruggisser (13M) - 3G 9A = 12P - their leading d-man.
4) Martin Højbjerg (12M) - 5G 4A = 9P
5) Nicklas Beyer Carlsen (13M) - 5G 4A = 9P
6) Andrei Chistyakov (13M) - 4G 5A = 9P
7) Mikael T. Christensen (13M) - 3G 5A = 8P
8) Matthias Asperup (13M) - 3G 5A = 8P
9) Jonas Sass (13M) - 2G 5A = 7P
10) Mikkel Højbjerg (8M) - 2G 4A = 6P

NB: Metalligaen's homepage have goalie statistics now up and running!

As a former player in their youth system it is a thrill to watch Rødovre compete on a high level with so few imports. As far as I know it is only the goalie that is from outside Denmark. I think a few clubs in Denmark could learn something from that. I am aware that it is also from an economical view, given the history in Rødovre, but I'm all for giving the young guns a shot before renting some expensive (and often very poor) player on the european market.

 

[Justinov]

As a former player in their youth system it is a thrill to watch Rødovre compete on a high level with so few imports. As far as I know it is only the goalie that is from outside Denmark. I think a few clubs in Denmark could learn something from that. I am aware that it is also from an economical view, given the history in Rødovre, but I'm all for giving the young guns a shot before renting some expensive (and often very poor) player on the european market.

Stefan Ridderwall is their only import and a good choice to take over from Sebastian Dahm.
(Mike Rådde is Swedish, but after 6 season in Rødovre he is a Rødovre man and Chistyakov has just returned "home" to Denmark).

Whether Danish teams could learn from the Rødovre model?
Besides Herning it's probably not really feasible as the other Danish teams haven't had the traditional youth depth as these two talent factories.
Herning has lost a lot of their key Danish forwards the last couple of years (Patrick & Oliver Bjørkstrand, Morten & Anders Poulsen, Lasse Lassen, Thomas Spelling), and is struggling currently because of that - but shows they are a talent factory.

Most other teams win or loss based on their import choices (and their amount of money to get them).....

SønderjydskE has managed to make strong team based both on Danish and key import players (quality over quantity).
On the contrary the top 6 producers in Esbjerg are imports and top 5 in Odense and Frederikshavn.

As you yourself Bagge is a product of their youth system can you enlighten us what is special with Rødovre?
I have heard rumours of the magic of Heikki Karvinen.

"There is only ONE good excuse for missing practice in Rødovre" (according to Heikki Karvinen) - "your own death/funeral"!
11 year birthday's doesn't count.....
Source (with interview): http://jyllands-posten.dk/livsstil/...for+at+misse+træningen:+ens+egen+begravelse”/

 

[Justinov]

Round 13-14-15.

Frederikshavn - Gentofte 4-1 [Shots 34-26, Rasmus Søndergaard 2G for Frederikshavn]
Frederikshavn got back from their painful loss against SønderjydskE and back up goalie Christian Larsen played a great match.
Gentofte loses 4-1 for the second match in a row to a top team.

Todays shocker: A confidence boost was all that Herlev needed !

Herlev - Odense 6-5 [Shots 23-25, Sonny Hertzberg 2G 2A - Victor Backman 2G 1A - Andreas Søgaard Jensen 3A for Herlev + Ryan McDonough 2G & Sean Wiles 1G 3A for Odense.]
So Odense can also lose when they score 5 ! If you want to see goals, go watch Odense-games. The game they have played with the fewest goals is a 1-4 loss to Herning.
Herlev comes from behind 1-3 to a 6-3 lead and then almost loses it, but holds on. They pass Aalborg and is for the first time no longer last this season.

PS: So many goals with shots only as high as 23-25 shows lack of defense and good goalkeeper.
Peltonen gets away with a win with moderate 80,0% saves for Herlev and Galansky fares even worse with 73,9% for Odense.

 

[Bagge]

As you yourself Bagge is a product of their youth system can you enlighten us what is special with Rødovre?
I have heard rumours of the magic of Heikki Karvinen.

Karvinen now and a couple of russians in the past build up the youth system during the late 70's and the 80's. A system that still exists today and involves a lot of money finding its way into the development of young players. And of course last but not least, mayors in Rødovre that knows how important icehockey is to the locals.

 

[Justinov]

Karvinen now and a couple of russians in the past build up the youth system during the late 70's and the 80's. A system that still exists today and involves a lot of money finding its way into the development of young players. And of course last but not least, mayors in Rødovre that knows how important icehockey is to the locals.

Thanks for the reply and sorry if I was unclear.
What I meant is more the specifics on how the youth training actually was and is performed?

What I could discern from the Karvinen interview is that
1) You don't play in Rødovre for "fun", but being willing to "sacrifice".
2) Focus from an early age on "Russian"-like discipline.
3) Attention to minute details, that perhaps is not corrected traditionally in other clubs.

Is this a correct assessment?

With the upcoming prospects from many other clubs, is it the Rødovre model that has been spreading?
Anyone know if the talent work in the other talent-factory - Herning - differed??

The Mayor of Rødovre certainly is VERY important for building the club to the level it has been - made the club able to acquire excellent coaches.

 

[admire]

I have to admit to not following the danish league at all..just dont have the time. So its nice to get theses reviews and status reports.

Exciting to have George Sørensen do so well. If he keeps this up, he will be in real contention come WC time....

Although we might end up having Andersen, and it won't matter. If thats the case, the backup goalie spot would probably be Dahms to lose after last year.

 

[Justinov]

I have to admit to not following the danish league at all..just dont have the time. So its nice to get theses reviews and status reports.

Exciting to have George Sørensen do so well. If he keeps this up, he will be in real contention come WC time....

Although we might end up having Andersen, and it won't matter. If thats the case, the backup goalie spot would probably be Dahms to lose after last year.

Thanks for the appreciation
Sørensen is the "new Dahm" - lone Danish first-goalie in the Danish League.

The Danish goalie ranking must be something like this right now:
1) Frederik Andersen [Great season so far in NHL]
2) Sebastian Dahm [Great season so far in EBEL]
3) Patrick Galbraith [Struggling in SHL, but play for the weakest team]
4) George Sørensen [Great in the Danish League]
5) Simon Nielsen hasn't played this season, so whether he is 5th or even lower is an unknown at this point (but he has NT experience).
6) Thomas Lillie (big talent, and since other Danish goalies are backups, then I'll place him here currently - Great season in Swedish U20 and might get SHL debut this season).

 

[Bank]

Thanks for the reply and sorry if I was unclear.
What I meant is more the specifics on how the youth training actually was and is performed?

What I could discern from the Karvinen interview is that
1) You don't play in Rødovre for "fun", but being willing to "sacrifice".
2) Focus from an early age on "Russian"-like discipline.
3) Attention to minute details, that perhaps is not corrected traditionally in other clubs.

Is this a correct assessment?

With the upcoming prospects from many other clubs, is it the Rødovre model that has been spreading?
Anyone know if the talent work in the other talent-factory - Herning - differed??

The Mayor of Rødovre certainly is VERY important for building the club to the level it has been - made the club able to acquire excellent coaches.

I'm 99 % sure that the mayor - Erik Nielsen - is a former hockey player. And I can't remember any other mayor in my lifetime. So that properly goes for some of the current Rødovre players as well.

 

[admire]

Thanks for the appreciation
Sørensen is the "new Dahm" - lone Danish first-goalie in the Danish League.

The Danish goalie ranking must be something like this right now:
1) Frederik Andersen [Great season so far in NHL]
2) Sebastian Dahm [Great season so far in EBEL]
3) Patrick Galbraith [Struggling in SHL, but play for the weakest team]
4) George Sørensen [Great in the Danish League]
5) Simon Nielsen hasn't played this season, so whether he is 5th or even lower is an unknown at this point (but he has NT experience).
6) Thomas Lillie (big talent, and since other Danish goalies are backups, then I'll place him here currently - Great season in Swedish U20 and might get SHL debut this season).

Kinda hope that we give the 3rd goalie spot to a younger goalie no matter if freddy goes to the wc or not. If he doesn't go, then I don't see the sense of giving Simon Nielsen the 3rd spotover the young boys. I have confidence in Galbraith as a backup to Dahm almost no matter what kind of season he has. He has given good performances before for the national team even after bad seasons.

But Simon Nielsen should really not be ahead of even Lillie in this conversation right now.

If Andersen goes to the WC, I doubt that we will see rotation like we seen before. Dahm will backup and will get 1-2 games max and Sørensen or Lillie would get the expirience or being with the team.
And it would be Sørensen unless something major happens with Lillie...Lillie could have a good world juniors too ofcourse.

 

[Justinov]

I'm 99 % sure that the mayor - Erik Nielsen - is a former hockey player. And I can't remember any other mayor in my lifetime. So that properly goes for some of the current Rødovre players as well.

Erik Nielsen is former goalie in Rødovre and social-democratic mayor since 1994.
He is Danish Champion for Rødovre 1977-78.
Source: http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=292120

 

[Justinov]

Kinda hope that we give the 3rd goalie spot to a younger goalie no matter if freddy goes to the wc or not. If he doesn't go, then I don't see the sense of giving Simon Nielsen the 3rd spotover the young boys. I have confidence in Galbraith as a backup to Dahm almost no matter what kind of season he has. He has given good performances before for the national team even after bad seasons.

But Simon Nielsen should really not be ahead of even Lillie in this conversation right now.

If Andersen goes to the WC, I doubt that we will see rotation like we seen before. Dahm will backup and will get 1-2 games max and Sørensen or Lillie would get the expirience or being with the team.
And it would be Sørensen unless something major happens with Lillie...Lillie could have a good world juniors too ofcourse.

I can only agree. Simon Nielsen has been really struggling the last couple of years and played very little, so unless he bounces back, the spot after Dahm and Galbraith should go to "the future" - either Sørensen and Lillie.
Back in 2011 Simon Nielsen was second best after Andersen (having a good season as backup at Lukko in Liiga), so it has been sad to see his career go to pieces lately.

 

[Justinov]

Round 14-15-16:

Starting with the important bottom fight:
Aalborg - Herlev 6-2 [Shots 32-18, Olle Liss 5G (!!!!!), Lars Lundin 1G 3A, Nicolaj Meyer 3A for Aalborg & Mikkel Ankjær 2G for Herlev].
Aalborg changes places with Herlev in the bottom. Olle Liss doubled his season-scoring in 1 match!!!!

Gentofte - Rungsted 4-5 OT [Shots 38-25, Anthony Aquino 2G, Antti Kangasniemi 1G 3A for Rungsted]
With this win Rungsted is 5 points before Aalborg and 6 points before Herlev.
Gentofte has hit a slump.

Frederikshavn-Herning 4-2 [Shots 22-34, Mathias Bau Hansen 2G for Frederikshavn]
Herning's scoring troubles continues and not a stellar debut from Simon Nielsen in the Herning goal.
Frederikshavn keeps points level with SønderjydskE in the top of the league (though SønderjydskE has played two matches less).
Mathias Bau Hansen is on fire lately with 4G 5A in 5 matches!

Rødovre- Esbjerg 5-3 [Shots 28-27, Matthew Pistilli 2G 1A for Esbjerg].
Rødovre keeps surprising and having very broad point production on their team. They turned around 1-3 to 5-3 in the third period.
They are now clear third, while Esbjerg is in 4th place.

 

[Justinov]

Round 15-16-17:

Esbjerg - Rungsted 4-1 [Shots 51-27, Mario Lamoureux 2G 1A for Esbjerg].
Esbjerg has been dominant on home ice this season.
Rungsted missed the chance to get some "air" to the bottom two teams.

The difference between top and bottom:
SønderjydskE - Aalborg 9-1 [Shots 28-8 (!), Thomas Spelling 3G 1A, Cory Quirk 2G 3A, Tyler Gotto 3A for SønderjydskE]
So SønderjydskE's defense totally neutralized Aalborg, whereas Aalborg was letting in way to many goals [9 out of 28 shots].

Herlev - Gentofte 3-5 [Shots 25-26, Roberts Jekimovs 1G 2A for Gentofte & Antti Hölli 2G for Herlev].
Gentofte ended their slump, whereas Herlev couldn't continue their streak and failed to decrease the distance to Rungsted in the standings.

Odense - Herning 2-5 [Shots 16-24, Kristoffer Lauridsen 2G, Kyle Essery 1G 2A for Herning].
A rare instance where Odense's offense failed.
Herning has put some real distance to the bottom teams and has catched up with Odense.

Rødovre - Frederikshavn 5-4 SO [Shots 31-40, Marcus Olsson 2G, Robin Bergman 1G 2A for Frederikshavn].
The first period was a pure goal orgy. Rødovre took a very fast 3-0 lead in the first half of the first period (Frederikshavn changing goalie as George Sørensen left and Christian Larsen was brought in) , but Frederikshavn got back and it was 4-3. Then it settled down with only one more goal before the shootout.
Rødovre keeps being 3rd and Frederikshavn loses ground to SønderjydskE in the top.