Frans Nielsen made no bones about it -- he would much rather have been playing for the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup playoffs this past May.
But with the Wings missing postseason play for the second straight season, it offered Nielsen a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in the IIHF World Championship in his home country of Denmark.
Many of the games were played in Nielsen's hometown of Herning.
Although Denmark did not win a medal, it did create more buzz about the sport of hockey in Denmark, something that is important to Nielsen.
Only 13 players that have played in the NHL were born in Denmark and none has played more games (764) or has more points (423) than Nielsen.
In his illustrious career, Nielsen has only played in 24 playoff games, something he hopes will change with the Wings this season.
1 -- When it comes to the shootout, there's no one better than Nielsen. After recording four shootout goals last season, Nielsen took the league lead in all-time shootout goals with 48, three ahead of Radim Vrbata, who just retired. Minnesota's Zach Parise and Chicago's Jonathan Toews are tied for third with 42. Minnesota's Mikko Koivu has 41. Nielsen also has the lead in all-time shootout-deciding goals with 22. Washington's T.J. Oshie is second with 20. Chicago's Patrick Kane and Koivu have 17.
2 -- Nielsen is also pretty good at killing penalties, both defensively and offensively. He was tied for the team lead with two shorthanded goals last season. Dylan Larkin, Darren Helm and Luke Glendening also each had two shorthanded goals.
700-- On Nov. 5 at Edmonton, Nielsen played in his 700th career NHL game. Nielsen got the first goal in the 4-0 victory, finishing with two shots and 14:33 of ice time. Nielsen finished the season with 764 games played.
100 -- Nielsen spent the first 10 seasons of his NHL career with the New York Islanders, but celebrated his 100th game with the Red Wings on Nov. 19 against the Colorado Avalanche. Nielsen had three shots on goal in the 4-3 overtime loss and finished with 20:13 of ice time.
400 -- It was a milestone kind of season for Nielsen, who registered his 400th career point on Nov. 28 against the Los Angeles Kings. The Wings lost, 4-1, but Nielsen assisted on Detroit's only goal. Nielsen had the primary assist on Mike Green's goal at 14:12 of the first period, which gave the Wings a short-lived 1-0 lead. Nielsen had two shots and played 16:07.
150 -- On March 6 at Boston, Nielsen scored his 150th career NHL goal. It came on the power play at 2:16 of the first period and helped cut the Bruins' lead to 2-1. Captain Henrik Zetterberg had the lone assist on the goal. The Wings fell in overtime, 6-5. Nielsen only played 5:22 in that game as he had to leave after David Backes hit him in the head along the boards with 11.2 seconds left in the first period.
3 -- Because of that hit by Backes, Nielsen missed the next three games - at home against the Vegas Golden Knights, at Columbus and at San Jose. Nielsen returned to the lineup on March 15 at Los Angeles. Those were the only three games Nielsen missed all season. Nielsen also finished tied for third on the team with three game-winning goals.
