Wings' Nielsen thrilled to play world championships in hometown

HERNING, DENMARK -- When Denmark was announced as the host of the 2018 IIHF World Championship back in May of 2014, Frans Nielsen couldn't believe it.

"There is no way I ever thought this was possible growing up," said Nielsen, the first Dane to be drafted into and subsequently play in the NHL. "They were in the C Group when I was growing up. We've come a long way and it's incredible to be a part of. I think we're all very proud of where we are today."
Nielsen was eight years old when Denmark advanced to the B Pool,16 when they advanced to Division I and 18 when they made it to the top division.
He was on that historic team and has been on six more world championship teams since then, but none more special than this one in his hometown of Herning.
"Growing up about five minutes from the rink we're playing the world championship in…it's pretty surreal," the 34-year-old explained. "I did not expect that would ever happen when I was a kid. First, that I'd be playing in the world championship, but also that we'd be hosting it. Never did I ever think that was possible.
"We didn't have any NHL players when I was growing up. Our heroes were in Sweden. You knew about the NHL so I guess you always dreamed about playing there, but really it was Sweden because you just didn't think you'd be good enough for the NHL. So Sweden was the realistic goal back then. It wasn't until I got drafted that I thought I might have a shot at the NHL."
Nielsen's father, Fritz, disagrees.
"His goals were always bigger," he said, shaking his head. "He wanted to play at a higher level and he did that when he left home and went to Malmo at 17. You knew he had it in his mind to make it to the NHL, but no Dane had ever done that before. He might not have told anyone else that he wanted to make it to the NHL, but you just had to watch him practice to know that's what he wanted."
Drafted by the New York Islanders in the third round of the 2002 NHL Draft, it would be another four years before Nielsen played hockey in North America and ultimately made his NHL debut on January 6, 2007.
"We knew he had a chance to be drafted, but that's just the first step," Fritz Nielsen said. "From there, it's still a long way. You can see how many players get drafted and never play in the NHL. It's a very low percentage of success, but for him it was a big source of motivation. He had worked hard to be drafted and he worked even harder to have the chance to play in the NHL."
Fritz was driving to Copenhagen when Frans called to tell him he was going to make his NHL debut the next night.
"I had to pull over and take a minute to enjoy the moment," he recalled. "I was just so proud of him and all the hard work that went into that."
Since then, 11 other Danes have played in the NHL. Seven are currently playing in the league, including Oliver Bjorkstrand (Columbus) and Frederik Andersen (Toronto), who are also from Herning.
"People say that he opened the door to the NHL and I don't know if that's true," his father said. "It's a fact that he's the first Danish player to play in the NHL and if he helped other players by doing that and inspired them to dream bigger then that's a good thing, but he didn't give them the opportunity. The players that followed him did all that hard work on their own.
"He just showed them that it was possible."
This year's world championship is split between Herning (population: 45,000) and Copenhagen (the capital of Denmark).
"Herning is small, but it's a hockey town," the younger Nielsen explained. "At first I was like, 'How is this gonna work? And, what are the players going to say?' We're used to being in big European cities at this tournament and Herning just has one street where all the shops and restaurants and bars are. That's it. You can walk it in ten minutes!
"But I knew they were going to do a good job with the fans and the fan zone and that it would be a big party and it seems like the players are having a good time here too," he continued. "Hopefully, they will all have a lot of good memories when they leave."
The Danes will go home with some fond memories as well.
With wins against Germany, Finland, Norway and Korea, there were plenty of proud moments for the home team and their fans as they sang their national anthem arm-in-arm.
"Hearing our national anthem and being able to sing it with 10,000 of our fans is something I know we've all dreamt about before this tournament and it was incredible," said Nielsen, who finished the tournament with three goals and three assists in seven games to lead the team.."The whole city has backed us up here and it's been so much fun playing in front of them. Just Incredible."
Although Denmark lost the most important game of the tournament - a 1-0 game against Latvia on the final night of the preliminary round to decide a berth in the quarterfinals - this tournament has been everything the Danish ice hockey federation hoped for.
They've sold out more than a handful of games with strong crowds from Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany and Latvia. The goal was to sell 300,000 tickets and they already sold more than 445,000 with eight games remaining.
The challenge now is deciding how the federation can best use that money to increase the interest and participation in the game in Denmark.
"Our big issue right now is not having enough rinks," Nielsen said. "We only have 25 in the entire country, so ice time is hard to come by and when they do get it, it's packed. So, we need more rinks. We won't make enough money off this tournament to build a rink, but hopefully they can use the money to support youth hockey and develop good players and afford to go to bigger and better tournaments and help give them that experience and higher level of competition and, by more kids participating and having success and creating that demand for more ice time, hopefully we can convince more cities to build a rink or add a second or even a third one."
As the party in Herning draws to a close with Thursday's quarterfinal match-ups and the medals are awarded on Sunday in Copenhagen, one thing is for sure - this is an experience Nielsen will take with him the rest of his life.
"I will say that it sucks going to the world championships. I'd definitely rather be playing for a Stanley Cup - and I don't think I'm the first person or the only player that will admit that," Nielsen said with a laugh. "But if I had to be available for any world championship, I'm glad it was this one. When I eventually retire, I will remember this tournament forever.
"To see Herning the way it's been here the past two weeks, it's been incredible. The fans have been great and it's just been one of those times in your career that you're never going to forget. It's just one big party and everyone is having fun. I'll always remember seeing and experiencing my hometown like this. Except for not making the quarterfinals, this tournament has been everything I could have hoped for, an absolute dream come true."