Forget the “Greenland Derby” talk. It was just team spirit, hard work and plenty of heart.
That is how Denmark’s players say they took the fight to the US in hockey at the Winter Olympics.
Faced with gaps in skill and experience, Denmark responded with good old-fashioned hard work and took the lead twice. That alone was not enough in a 6-3 loss.
Photo: AFP
“I think that’s what represents Denmark, to always work hard,” said Nick Olesen, who scored the opening goal in a first period which ended 2-1 as Denmark threatened an upset.
“Everybody is playing with their heart and their feelings on the outside. You can really see that this national team means a lot for everybody,” captain Jesper Jensen Aabo said, praising his team for starting fast and blocking shots.
As for the strained relationship between the US and Denmark, “we didn’t even mention it” within the team, Jensen Aabo said. “We just wanted to win a hockey game against a world-class team. We didn’t need extra fire to fire us up. We were ready for the game even though there’s stuff going around in the real world, so that’s nothing that affected us at all.”
There was a Greenlandic flag in the stands — not that the Danish players noticed.
“I didn’t see it, but that was nice,” Jensen Aabo said. “So hopefully they supported us.”
Greenland’s complex ties to Denmark — it is self-governing and many locals favor independence — mean support is not always clear-cut. The fans holding the flag were not Greenlanders, either, but supporters of the Latvian team.
Denmark dressed just three NHL players for the game against the US, while Olesen plays in the Czech league, Jensen Aabo plays in Austria and others in Germany, Finland and Sweden.
Denmark’s most experienced NHL player, center Lars Eller of the Ottawa Senators, praised the “awesome” Danish fans and said the contest on the ice was a pure hockey game.
“Obviously we see the news and you’re aware of what’s going on, but I think today and the time we spent in the [Olympic] Village, it’s all about sports, it was all about hockey. Two hockey teams facing each other today,” he said.
After rolling over Latvia 5-1 in their opener on Thursday night behind two goals from Brock Nelson, the Americans have six points in the standings, the same as Canada, going into the final day of the preliminary round.
In Saturday’s other games, Dalibor Dvorsky’s goal with 39 seconds left sent Slovakia to the quarter-finals as the winner of the group in a tiebreaker, even after losing to Sweden 5-3. Slovakia won Group B when Finland crushed host Italy 11-0 later in the day because of goal differential among the three tied teams.
“It’s probably the best loss I ever had,” Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovsky said. “It’s crazy, but we take it.”
Dvorsky, who plays for the St Louis Blues in the NHL, also called it the best loss of his life. His goal on the power play after a penalty on Lucas Raymond made it happen.
Sweden, which played much better than it had in its 4-1 loss to archrival Finland on Friday, was left to lament a missed opportunity even after winning the game.
“Tough pill to swallow,” alternate captain Victor Hedman said. “But we will regroup. We’ll be ready for our next challenge.’’
Eduards Tralmaks and Renars Krastenbergs scored just over three minutes apart, and Latvia defeated Germany 4-3. Arturs Silovs of the Pittsburgh Penguins stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced.
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