Denmark unveiled its roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Wednesday, headlined by Ottawa Senators forward Lars Eller and Carolina Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers.
This is just Denmark's second time participating in the Olympics in men's hockey. It finished seventh at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
"It's cool to see who made it," Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen said. "I see a lot of guys in Denmark who have been part of the national team for a few years, so it's exciting to see who gets to go and who gets the experience with us. We're not a lot of us over here (in the NHL), so it's cool to be able to share that experience.
"Obviously, it's been a longer road for Denmark to be part of it. We cherish the opportunity to be a part of it."
Ehlers said he's excited to share the experience with Andersen.
"I've never had a Danish teammate over here, so that's been really nice and really fun, especially coming to a new place for me. We've tried to get to the Olympics for 10 years now, him and I, and now it finally works, so that's going to be pretty special."
"It's a proud moment. It's going to be a lot of fun."
The tournament will feature all 12 teams playing three preliminary games in their respective groups.
“It's going to be a new experience," Eller said. "I've played a lot of NHL over the years and played a handful or so of world championships, but I've never really played on a national team, best on best, so it's going to be cool to check that off, cross that off the list as things you've been a part of and hopefully we can be competitive and make some waves.
"For me, I haven't always had the chance to go to world championships, so the ones, the chances you do have, they're special and I think all of them I've been a part of, they're very memorable, every single one. You remember each tournament, the camaraderie, some of the downs, but certainly a lot of the mostly ups and good experience winning together and the joy, a lot of those, at least a handful of guys, are guys I grew up playing with on junior national teams and had played world championships with, so there's a lot of past experiences that makes it special going with a national team group with a lot of familiar faces.”
The three group winners and the best second-place team will get a bye into the quarterfinals; the other eight teams will play single-elimination games to determine the other four quarterfinalists. The gold medal game will be held on Feb. 22.
