Denmark missing out on NHL stars Frederik Andersen, Lars Eller and Oliver Bjorkstrand for home World Championships
NHL (via Getty Images)
Denmark
will miss its NHL stars Frederik Andersen, Lars Eller, and Oliver Bjorkstrand playing at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Herning and Malmö. This is a significant blow for the team since they are waiting to play at home. Not having these players is a marked difference from their 2018 home tournament, when some of the players returned to do national service. Denmark's chances will be influenced by injury or the NHL playoff series.
NHL obligations and injuries keep top Danish players out of action before home campaign
TOP SAVES FROM DAY 4 | 2025 #MensWorlds1B #IIHF
With the Washington Capitals progressing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, experienced forward Lars Eller is also devoted to his NHL team's playoff campaign and will not be participating with Denmark. Speaking in a statement with Danish media portal dr.dk, Eller stated, 'NHL players are only an option if their teams are not playing in the playoffs, so it is not relevant since we are still in it. I hope that Denmark will have a good tournament on home ice.'
Oliver Bjorkstrand, now with the Tampa Bay Lightning after a midseason trade from the Seattle Kraken, was also ruled out — but for purely different reasons. The 29-year-old had a thigh injury on the eve of the playoffs, leading to internal bleeding in the muscle.
'Due to the injury, I won't be able to play in the World Championships this year. I won't be ready to play until three or four weeks from now,' Bjorkstrand confirmed.
Tampa Bay was knocked out of the first round by the Florida Panthers, but the timing of the injury closed the door on any hope of the winger returning in May.
Goaltender Frederik Andersen, whose Carolina Hurricanes' playoff eligibility has not been officially ruled out yet, is also out. Winnipeg Jets left winger Nikolaj Ehlers is out because of the playoffs or chronic fitness problems, and Denmark has all four of its current NHL players out.
Denmark's May 9 World Championship opener in Herning
The Danish national team starts its World Championship campaign on May 9 in Herning, a city of importance from their previous home tournament in 2018. Then, Denmark featured four NHL players on the roster, including Andersen and Bjorkstrand, with now-retired veterans Frans Nielsen and Mikkel Bødker.
This time, the line-up will be based more on local league players and European-based talent. Despite the difficulties, the Danish Ice Hockey Union is confident of the environment and local support to be found on home ground.
Also read:
2025 NHL Playoffs Round 1 results: Colorado Avalanche force Game 7
Even though the absence of NHL talent is a blow to Denmark's chances of making a deep run in the tournament, the World Championship still offers a rare opportunity for up-and-coming stars to shine on home ice and leave their mark at the international level.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Satwik-Chirag Indonesia Open Badminton Quarterfinal 2025 Live Updates: SatChi in hunt for semifinal spot
Satwik-Chirag vs Wei Chong-Kai Wun, Indonesia Open Badminton Quarterfinal 2025 Live Scorecard Online Today Match: For the second straight week on the BWF World Tour, former world No 1 men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were the last standing Indian contenders. On Thursday, they came from behind yet again to advance to the quarterfinals at the Indonesia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament in Jakarta, the year's third badminton Major event. Satwik and Chirag, the 2023 champions, showed great temperament under pressure to register a hard-fought 16-21, 21-18, 22-20 win over world number 16 Danish pair of Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard in a 68-minute second-round clash. Satwik-Chirag, who had reached the semifinals of the Singapore Open Super 750 last week, face Malaysian seventh seeds Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee next. 'Today felt like one of those days where we just weren't at our best,' Satwik told BWF later. 'It wasn't about the strategy being wrong — it was more that we were giving away the points. If you look back, nearly 15 to 20 points came from our own mistakes. They didn't win those points — we handed them over.' Read more about their quarterfinal win here. Satwik-Chirag, who were only sporadically in action after their heartbreak at Paris Olympics last year, have hit some good form in the last week. After retiring hurt early at the All England Open, they hit the ground running in Singapore last week, beating the new World No 1 pair of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin on their way to the semifinal in Singapore where they eventually lost to their nemeses in Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik. Satwik-Chirag are now ranked at 22 in the world, up five places since last week. Satwik-Chirag scrape through to last 8 In a tense 68-minute cliffhanger at the Indonesia Open Super 1000, India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty secured a hard-fought 16-21, 21-18, 22-20 victory, propelling them into the quarterfinals. Their win over Denmark's Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard, who had upset World No. 3 Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, wasn't without a streak of struggles. The match saw ashare of jarring notes and iffy play from both sides. A particularly wincing moment for spectators was when the Indian duo clanged their racquets twice, a result of confused communication while going for the same shuttle. However, the final three minutes of the game proved to be nothing short of magical, turning the tide in their favor.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Imane Khelif skips upcoming boxing tournament after World Boxing's new sex testing policy
Less than a week after World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes, Olympic champion Imane Khelif will be skipping the upcoming Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands. The Algerian was caught up in controversy last year when she won gold at the Paris Olympics over her eligibility. The boxer reportedly did not register for the upcoming event in time, and applications closed on Thursday. According to AP, tournament media director Dirk Renders, 'The decision of Imane's exclusion is not ours. We regret it.' Meanwhile, Eindhoven mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem criticised World Boxing's latest policy. In a letter to the Dutch Boxing Federation and Inter Boxing Federation, he said, 'As far as we are concerned, all athletes are welcome in Eindhoven. Excluding athletes based on controversial 'gender tests' certainly does not fit in with that.' 'We are expressing our disapproval of this decision today and are calling on the organisation to admit Imane Khelif after all.' Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by the Russian-dominated IBA, who claimed that the pair failed unspecified eligibility tests. But the IBA has been banished for decades of controversy. The IOC conducted the last two Olympic boxing tournaments instead, using sex eligibility rules used in previous Olympics. Khelif and Lin were eligible, in accordance with IOC rules. Meanwhile in a letter, Algerian Federation president said, 'I am writing to you following the recent World Boxing statement referencing Imane Khelif being excluded from competing in the forthcoming Eindhoven Box Cup 5-10 June 2025.' 'As part of World Boxing's communications activity around this decision, Imane was identified by name. I am writing to you all personally to offer a formal and sincere apology for this and acknowledge that her privacy should have been protected. To offer some broader context on this, the statement was intended as part of a wider announcement relating to the planned introduction of mandatory sex testing as part of a new policy on 'Sex Age and Weight' that World Boxing is in process of finalising. 'This policy is intended to apply universally to all male and female athletes and is designed to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for all men and women.'
Indian Express
5 hours ago
- Indian Express
Magnus Carlsen says Gukesh won't be favourite in World Championship match vs Hikaru, Caruana, Nepomniachtchi
Magnus Carlsen believes that recently-anointed world chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju will not be a favourite to retain the crown next year if one of the old-timers like Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana or Ian Nepomniachtchi earn the right to challenge the Indian teenager in the next World Championship. After defeating Caruana in round 9 to surge into the lead in the Norway Chess standings on Friday morning, Carlsen was asked if Hikaru could win the Candidates and beat Gukesh (in the World Championship)? 'I think if Hikaru or Fabi (Caruana) — or probably Nepo (Ian Nepomniachtchi) for that matter — win the Candidates they would be, at the moment, they would be a favorite in a match against Gukesh. Hikaru's come close twice. He's still extremely good so there's no reason why he couldn't, Carlsen told Chess24 in an interview. Carlsen has excused himself from the race to earn a shot at the world champion's crown. He won the world championship five times without losing once, starting from 2013, but then walked away from the throne without fighting for it. ALSO READ: Magnus Carlsen says loss to Gukesh ended his dream of playing really good tournament Since he left, Ding Liren and Gukesh have claimed the crown. Now Carlsen believes that his contemporaries like Nakamura, Caruana and Nepomniachtchi will be favourites against Gukesh. In one of the only tournaments he plays in classical chess — Norway Chess — Carlsen finds himself one game away from winning the title after Thursday's round 9. His closest competitor is Gukesh, who beat Carlsen recently which led to the irate World No 1 to smash the table in anger. Carlsen had since apologised but the incident has made headlines globally. On Friday, Carlsen plays another member of India's golden generation, Arjun Erigaisi. 'Arjun will always want to fight. So I am prepared for a fight for sure,' Carlsen told Chess24. When asked how he was going to prepare for game against Arjun, Carlsen said: 'It's hard to say. Playing Arjun is a little bit like playing even Ivanchuk back in the day. It's just somebody who doesn't really play for a lot of draws. Just is out to get you. So playing with black, I'm sure we'll get some sort of complicated game and I'll try and do my best from there.'
