In 2016, the Danish men’s ice hockey team collapsed in the deciding game against Norway to miss out on yet another Winter Olympic Games.
Yesterday, five years later, Denmark faced their Nordic nemesis once again in a bid to qualify for their first Winter Olympics in history. And this time, there were no mistakes.
Denmark will lace up in Beijing 2022 after beating the Norwegians 2-0 in Oslo thanks to goals from Frederik Storm and NHL star Nikolaj Ehlers, who struck late in the game to seal it.
Earlier, Denmark and Norway had both beaten South Korea and Slovenia, so it was winner takes it all.
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Underdogs again
No NHL players participated at the most recent Winter Games in Pyeongchang, but the Danes hope that won’t be the case next year.
“I am quite confident that an agreement will be reached so we can get our NHL players to Beijing,” Kim Pedersen, the Danish general manager, told TV2 News.
“I think a decision will be made in the next couple of weeks. Maybe even next week.”
And judging by the group Denmark is in, they will require all their top players to be able to participate in order to spring a surprise in Beijing.
The Danes have been drawn in Group B against teams that all rank higher on the IIHF World Rankings.
Russia is third in the world, while the Czech Republic (6th) and Switzerland (8th) will all fancy themselves against Denmark (12th).
The Winter Games in Beijing will take place from February 4-20.
