Danish hockey is on the rise
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The national team’s early elimination at its first world championships on home ice can hardly overshadow the boost the tournament has given the sport in the country.
”I hope it spreads awareness of hockey in Denmark for a lot of families and hopefully they’ll try to get their kids to play hockey,” Columbus Blue Jackets forward Oliver Bjorkstrand said. ”Hopefully it gets more hockey kids involved and more media attention on hockey, of course. It’s something we’re hoping for at this tournament.”
The progress has been obvious.
In 2003, Denmark advanced to the top international division for the first time in 54 years and has not been relegated since. The country reached the quarterfinals twice and managed to beat big teams, including the United States.
Center Frans Nielsen then opened a new era in 2007 by joining the New York Islanders. Currently with the Detroit Red Wings, Nielsen has 423 points in the NHL with 152 goals and 271 assists in 764 games.
Others soon followed.
Denmark currently has seven players in the NHL, and five of them played for their country at this year’s worlds, including Nielsen and Bjorkstrand. The others were Toronto Maple Leafs No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen and two San Jose Sharks forwards, Jannik Hansen and Mikkel Boedker.
In 2011, Hansen became the first Dane to play the Stanley Cup finals with the Vancouver Canucks.
At the world championships, Denmark beat Germany
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Perhaps the absence of two Danish forwards currently busy in the NHL playoffs played a role in that.
Lars Eller has five goals and seven assists in 15 playoff games for the Washington Capitals, who lead their Eastern Conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1. Nikolaj Ehlers had a 60-point regular season with 29 goals and 31 assists for the Winnipeg Jets and has seven assists in the Western Conference final against the Vegas Golden Knights. That series is tied 1-1.
”That’s been a long way (for Danish hockey),” Nielsen said. ”It’s been incredible and we’re proud of where we are today.”
At this year’s worlds, Denmark enjoyed huge support from the roaring home fans mostly wearing red and white jerseys at their games in Herning. After the victories, the crowd and players sang the Danish national anthem together.
”The whole city backs us up here,” said Nielsen, who is from Herning. ”It’s been incredible.”
Kyrie Irving doesn’t have to worry about free agency until next summer, though he’s got plenty to keep him busy for now.
There’s a movie to promote and a knee to mend. He hopes he’s good on screen, but wants to be better than ever on the court.
”Now becomes the real climb to Mount Everest, back to the top
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The Boston Celtics All-Star is hoping he can start playing again in a couple weeks. But he’s staying patient in his rehab from late-season surgery because of an infection in his knee, figuring the extra time can only help after he played deep into June the previous two years with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He was traded to the Celtics last summer while filming ”Uncle Drew.” The movie, in which he plays an old playground basketball legend who started as a character in Pepsi commercials, premieres in New York on Tuesday and opens nationwide Friday.
The Cavaliers gave Irving’s former jersey number to Collin Sexton, drafted last week with the No. 8 pick that Cleveland acquired from Boston in the trade. But Irving wasn’t upset, saying he already gave away the only Cavs’ No. 2 that matters to him – the one he wore while hitting the biggest shot in the franchise’s history.
That was on Father’s Day in 2016, the night Irving nailed the 3-pointer that helped the Cavaliers beat the Warriors in Game 7 of the NBA Finals for the franchise’s first championship.
”The history, it’s already captured, man,” Irving said. ”I was on one of the best teams in NBA history in my opinion, just accomplishing something that was that much bigger than ourselves. A feat that was
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Though Irving asked to be traded – a request LeBron James hoped the Cavs wouldn’t honor – he looks back fondly on his time in what’s now Sexton’s number.
”I gave a lot of commitment and sacrifice to being there from Day 1, so to have that six-year span of doing some unbelievable things, I’m definitely happy about it,” he said. ”I never shy away from that in terms of Cleveland giving me the opportunity to a 19-year-old kid of wearing No. 2. Now, it’s just a transition in the league.
”There’s no hard feelings from my end. But now he has to start from kind of the chopping block just like everyone else did, so I’m excited for him.”
And he’s excited for ”Uncle Drew,” in which Irving rounds up his old teammates to play in a tournament at New York’s Rucker Park. Shaquille O’Neal
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”Once it happened, the dancing just got a little better,” Irving said.
Irving needed three hours of makeup daily to look like a senior citizen before the 14 hours a day of filming. He believes his love of basketball shows up through his role of wise old sage who hangs around the courts – though Irving himself hasn’t played on outdoor playgrounds in years.
His game is indoors now, and he plans on being back there this summer before dealing with his own free agency next summer.
”Not just the same way but also a lot better,” Irving said. ”That’s where the focus has to be. If you leave any room for doubt or uncertainly, I mean you might as well get out of the game.”
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