Denmark-ing the Occasion

Prospect Oscar Fisker Molgaard is currently enjoying his third call-up stint with the Kraken this season. He is eager to impress his coaches and teammates every game shift and ditto for practice drills. Even so, the just turned 21-year-old does take a moment here and there to appreciate this hockey year, including Monday when he spotted a family watching practice with handmade signs plus the dad wearing a Kraken jersey bearing the Fisker Molgaard name and number 78.  

It turns out the Klingenberg Enevoldsen family is in town this week, traveling from Copenhagen, with hopes of seeing the Kraken forward and fellow Denmark native Fisker Molgaard on the ice. The family of four with two daughters have tickets to Saturday’s home game against Chicago, but took a flyer on attending practice Monday morning before the Kraken departed for Tuesday’s divisional matchup with the Oilers at Edmonton. 

Most practices are open to the public – and always well attended by loyal Kraken fans – but logistics of a just-finished road trip and a quick turnaround before departing for Alberta kept the business-like practice unattended. But Kraken Hockey Network analyst Alison Lukan, always one to connect with fans, was introduced to Rasmus Klingenberg Enevoldsen, the father, in the Kraken Community Iceplex lobby. He explained his family, wife Patricia and daughters, Nika, 11, and Felicia, eight, next week, were hoping to watch practice. Lukan asked and was granted permission to accompany the family to sit in the designated media section for practice.    

Patricia Klingenberg Enevoldsen said the family trip is a “mixture” of visiting Seattle for a vacation and hoping to see Fisker Molgaard play for the Kraken. The idea was conjured when Molgaard was up with the Kraken right before the young forward starred for Team Denmark at February’s Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.  

“We just live at the rink at home,” said mom Patricia, noting both girls play in youth hockey programs, plus Rasmus plays rec hockey. “We were like, ‘If Oscar is playing here in Seattle, maybe we could go watch a game.’ ” 

Like any fan, it’s natural to refer to Kraken players by their first names or nicknames. For Nika and Felicia, talking to this tall, undeniably handsome and personable young NHL player from their country was an even better connection. Big smiles all around as Fisker Molgaard asked questions and the daughters happily answered, if somewhat shyly at first, all in Danish. 

A fun touch: Both girls were wearing all-pink Kraken jerseys that now have Fisker Molgaard’s autograph on the backs thanks to the Kraken center offering to sign. Esteemed colleague Lukan wisely located a permanent marker instead of Fisker Molgaard having to opt for this reporter’s offering of a liquid gel ink pen (wonderful for note taking but not optimal for signing jerseys).

“I think Felicia was overwhelmed by everything yesterday, but so, so happy to meet Oscar and seeing the guys on the ice during practice,” said Patricia Tuesday afternoon.  “Nika is still over the moon getting to meet Oscar and that she was able to talk to him. That meant everything to her. Now Nika is just so ready for it to be Saturday already!” 

Fisker Molgaard Humbled by the Support 

For his part, Fisker Molgaard was happy to meet the family and didn’t even change out of his skates or practice gear before heading back out to the rink to meet them. The 2023 second-round draft choice was touched by the family traveling to the Pacific Northwest with him in mind. It’s a quarter-hour none of the parties on hand will forget.  

“We appreciate everything and how Oscar went above and beyond for the girls to meet him,” said Patricia. “That means so much to us. He was just so nice and welcoming toward them. It’s made their whole vacation. It will be one thing they will keep with them forever.” 

No doubt, the Danish get-together will be discussed with both girls’ hockey teammates back in Copenhagen. And the same for dad’s adult hockey squad.  

“Rasmus always wanted to play hockey growing up,” said Patricia about her husband, whose cousin is married to 34-year-old Team Denmark defenseman Jesper Jensen.  “But Rasmus’ mom was like, ‘No, that's too dangerous. You're not allowed to do that.’ Then when we had two girls, he thought, ‘Go for it’ for both the girls and him. Nika has been playing since she was five years old. Felicia started at three-and-a-half.” 

Denmark Hockey Participation Growing 

There are an estimated 8,000 registered hockey players in Denmark with 25 to 30 percent females.  Molgaard and his Team Denmark mates have fueled an increase in participation with recent successes in international competition, most especially an all-time best fourth-place finish at last spring’s International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship highlighted by a quarterfinal upset over Team Canada. One further proof case: Younger Felicia’s age group has significantly more girls than older sister Nika’s level. 

Fittingly for the Kraken organization, Denmark’s first big jump in hockey participation occurred in 2002 and 2003 when former near-1,000-game NHLer and current Kraken player development consultant Frans Nielsen was part of the first-ever Danish team to advance to the top tier of international men’s hockey competition. Nielsen was named to the IIHF Hall of Fame last spring, concurrent with Fisker Molgaard (with whom Nielsen worked extensively upon being drafted by Seattle) and the Danes advancing to the medal round for the first time.  

Early NHL Impressions All Positive 

For his part, Molgaard has played in six Kraken games this season, including Tuesday’s 3-0 loss against Edmonton. He has contributed a couple of assists on key goals in wins along with solid play in all three zones. This is effectively his fourth pro hockey season given he logged three years in Sweden’s top professional league – and his poise on the ice shows it. That’s both for Seattle and American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley (10 goals, 22 assists for 32 points in 46 games as an AHL rookie, tied at 12th most points among rookies).

“For me, it’s about being a guy the coaches can rely on and trust in certain different situations out there on the ice,” said Molgaard.  

While Fisker Molgaard exceeded the expectations of the Klingenberg Enevoldsen family, the Kraken prospect is approaching a similar rise with the Kraken coaching staff. Head coach Lane Lambert has clearly trusted the Danish forward in recent games, inserting him as the third-line center.  

“He’s about where I think he can contribute,” said Lambert. “I do think he's very, very close to exceeding [expectations]. I like what I see in him, skating, quickness, intelligence. You can tell he's played the game at a high level.”