WC: Team Denmark 2019 roster talk

[ThaiTanicDK]

Lars Eller has left the Danish camp due to an injury. Huge loss that will cribble any remaining hopes of a quarterfinal.

Apparently he had a "secret" agreement with team Denmark that he would only play 3 games due to injuries. So it was planned for.

Gotta applaud Eller for wanting to support Team Denmark, especially playing with an injury.

 

[Nexon]

Lars Eller has left the Danish camp due to an injury. Huge loss that will cribble any remaining hopes of a quarterfinal.

I read they had agreement with Ehlers before tournament, he will play just few matches to save Danes from relegation. He wasnt fully healthy coming here.

 

[Nexon]

Apparently he had a "secret" agreement with team Denmark that he would only play 3 games due to injuries. So it was planned for.

Gotta applaud Eller for wanting to support Team Denmark, especially playing with an injury.

You were 30 second quicker

 

[Sofaw]

But kinda strange that he played 18 min against GB. Denmark was leading 4-0 after 25 mins.

 

[AstrophysicalJet]

I am even more disapointed that guys like Bjork and Philip Larsen are not here now...

Weird reason Bjork gave btw, family issues?

 

[SoundAndFury]

Yeah, I'm not especially buying into that "injury" thing. Maybe he had some previous arrangements. Nobody rides their injured star center for 18 minutes in a game which was won in the first period. Of course there are different kinds of injuries but still.

 

[Bagge]

Patrick Russell has arrived in Slovakia and is expected to play tonight. Mathias From has been added to the squad and Blichfeld and Røndbjerg has been sent on vacation.

Would have loved to see what Blichfeld could do, but I guess he is not quite ready for senior hockey yet.

 

[Vinther]

Yeah, I'm not especially buying into that "injury" thing. Maybe he had some previous arrangements. Nobody rides their injured star center for 18 minutes in a game which was won in the first period. Of course there are different kinds of injuries but still.

My guess is that there was 2 things to consider. First there was the injury status, so Eller could play when he felt it was safe. This was something that they looked into before each game. Second they took into account how like it would be to reach the quarter final, and after the last game neither relegation nor a spot in the quarter final are particular likely to happen.

So if we had won the game against Germany and had been more likely to reach the quarter final Eller perhaps would have stayed. So some sort of previous arrangement depending on both health and the results of the first 3 games.

 

[Valdemar]

My guess is that there was 2 things to consider. First there was the injury status, so Eller could play when he felt it was safe. This was something that they looked into before each game. Second they took into account how like it would be to reach the quarter final, and after the last game neither relegation nor a spot in the quarter final are particular likely to happen.

So if we had won the game against Germany and had been more likely to reach the quarter final Eller perhaps would have stayed. So some sort of previous arrangement depending on both health and the results of the first 3 games.

That is exactly my impression also. Well said!

 

[Sofaw]

Before Denmark's last match it could be interesting to evaluate a little on team Denmark and Ehlers. Seems the following questions could be addressed:

• Can you see Ehlers' "new system" at all? Does it work?
• Is Ehlers the man for the job? I think he often looks very serious and angry. What does it mean for the player's joy and spirit - and not least the desire to return next year? On the other hand, I think he has great knowledge and skills.
• Has Denmark brought the necessary energy and fighting spirit?
• Is rank 12 just what we can expect?

 

[Valdemar]

Yes, to me the key word here is; "what can we expect". I believe our play in the current tournament reflects our rank. Of course we could/would expect more, but with a rather decimated roster I believe we have achieved most of what could be expected.
The most disappointing game for me has been against Germany. We didn't play well enough to deserve the victory, and that was the most important game in regard to qualify for the quarter final. They also played sloppy against France, but at least the won.
I like Ehlers as a coach, but he will need some more time with the players before his game-plan can be fully implemented. That he looks serious on the bench is not a problem for me, and I doubt that it is a problem for the players (but we may know more when the tournament is over).
It has been an OK tournament for me with some good games (GB and Finland) and some bad ones (specially against Germany and USA), I believe that is more or less as much as we deserve.

 

[Bagge]

Before Denmark's last match it could be interesting to evaluate a little on team Denmark and Ehlers. Seems the following questions could be addressed:

• Can you see Ehlers' "new system" at all? Does it work?
• Is Ehlers the man for the job? I think he often looks very serious and angry. What does it mean for the player's joy and spirit - and not least the desire to return next year? On the other hand, I think he has great knowledge and skills.
• Has Denmark brought the necessary energy and fighting spirit?
• Is rank 12 just what we can expect?

I think we have done pretty much what can be expected. The game against Germany were abysmal. The first two periods we didnt have much and then in the third period we suddenly showed up with 10 minutes left, making it interesting. It showed that we actually can play well, but also that we can play really bad.

Ehlers should get a couple of years to fully implement his system. If we see improvement, then give him a new contract. If not, then lets look for another Swede

We should strive for a higher ranking, but we must also admit that we are still to dependent on our best players. If we had all our players available we probably win against Slovakia and Germany and perhaps Finland also and then this would have been a huge success. Looking at the final tables we end up as the 11th if Im not mistaken, so the tournament is approved for my part. Still room for improvement, but overall is ok.

 

[Vinther]

The sloppy play in the first 2 games, and only 2 points from France and Germany followed by a larger than expected win against GB. Made the rest of the games almost meaningless. Both relegation and the quarter final was very unlikely, so there was something missing the rest of the way, that make it difficult to judge the performance for me.

As for Ehlers, I would also wait and see.

It would have been nice if there wasn't a few NHL players missing due to family related situations and if Eller hadn't been "injured" after the first 3 games.

The overall issue this year for me have been easy goals. We had difficulties scoring and quite a few times it just seemed to easy for our opponents. If you ignore the game against GB the PP and PK both looked horrible. I think Ehlers was the coach of last years amazing PP, so that was a negative surprise this year