2005 Denmark National Team Jesper Damgaard Jersey

On this date in 2003, Denmark pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Championships with a shocking 5-2 win over the United States.

Making it's return to the Top Division for the first time in 54 years, Denmark immediately scored it's biggest hockey victory ever in the opening game of the tournament, which was held in Tampere, Finland.

Kim Staal, who had seven years of professional experience in the Swedish Elitserien, led the Danes with two goals and two assists.

The Americans, with 12 NHLers on it's roster, outshot Denmark 55-22 but could not solve goaltender Peter Hirsch, who made several outstanding saves.

Peter Hirsch in the Dane's goal

Bo Nordby-Anderson and Staal both scored on breakaways, putting backhanders past American goaltender Ryan Miller 3:42 apart to give Denmark a 2-0 lead in under 10 minutes of the opening period. Jesper Damgaard increased the Danish lead with a one-timer slapshot from the point at 12:21.

Jim Fahey got the United States on the board with a power-play goal at 16:06 of the first period.

At the start of the second period, Chris Rogles, who played in Germany for the Cologne Sharks replaced Miller in the American goal only to have Ronny Larsen score high on the glove side at 3:09 on yet another breakaway.

Mike Grey crashes the US goal

Kelly Fairchild cut the deficit to 2 with a goal at 2:24 of the third period to give the United States hope, but Hirsch stood strong in goal as the Danes killed of multiple penalties in the period to hold off the Americans despite the huge shot advantage they held.

At the final buzzer, hundreds of rowdy, flag-waving Danish fans celebrated in the stands, with some even brought to tears.

Denmark celebrates the finest moment in their hockey history

"We didn't feel the pressure," said Denmark head coach Mikael Lundstrom. "We're not here on vacation. We're not here just to learn, but to play some good games. We know that we have some forwards who can score goals, Kim Staal for instance. We didn't say that we should go out and win, but we said we would do our best ad try to play a good game."

Denmark would lose its next two group games to Russia 6-1 and Switzerland 6-2. Based on their win over the US, the Danes advanced to the next round of group play, where they would tie eventual 2003 World Champions Canada 2-2, as surprising a result as their win over the United States.

Losses to Sweden (7-1) and Latvia (4-2) would end the fun for Denmark, but they had to consider their tournament a success, having avoided relegation in their long-awaited return to the Top Division.

Denmark currently ranks 15th in the IIHF Men's World Rankings and has played at the top level of the World Championships since 2003, finishing as high as 8th in 2010. While finding themselves in the Relegation Round three out of their first seven years in the Top Division, the Danes successfully avoided the drop each time. Starting in 2012, a new format has been in place which has done away with the Relegation Round and Denmark has finished high enough in the Qualification Round standings to remain in the Top Division.

Current Danes in the NHL include the Canucks Jannik Hansen, Mikkel Bødker of the Avalanche, Franz Nielsen of the Islanders, Lars Eller of the Montreal Canadiens, Nikolaj Ehlers of the Jets, who all played full time roles with 67 or more games played, and Oliver Bjorkstrand, who played 12 games for the Blue Jackets plus goaltender Frederik Andersen with the Ducks. Other successful Danes currently play in the top professional league in Sweden.

Today's jersey is a 2005 Denmark National Team Jesper Damgaard jersey. This style of Denmark jersey was part of Nike's updates for all the national teams in 2005 and was only worn once before the change to the Nike Swift template for 2006.

Damgaard, a defenseman, was the long-time captain of the Danish National Team and played for Denmark at the World Championships 17 times, at one time leading the national team in games played with 240.

Today's video section begins with Denmark's top ten goals since earning their promotion in 2003.

Our final highlight today is Lars Eller's first NHL goal, which came in his debut on November 5, 2009.

Grundlovsdag

Today is Grundlovsdag, or "Constitution Day" in Denmark, which celebrates the anniversary of the signing of the Danish Constitution in 1849, which severely limited the King's power and secured basic civil rights.

This day also honors the Constitution of 1953, which among other things allowed women the right to inherit the throne, which is currently being put to good use by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who became the first woman to hold the Danish throne in 1972.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

Constitution Day in Denmark is rather low key compared to other countries, as some shops are open until noon before then closing for the rest of the day, with celebrations including political speeches and festivals. June 5th also happens to be Father's Day (Fars Dag) in Denmark.

Denmark currently ranks 12th in the IIHF Mens' World Rankings and has played at the top level of the World Championships since 2003 after an absence of 54 years. While regularly having a tough time, finishing between 10th and 14th our of 16 teams in 10 out of 11 years) the Danes have successfully avoided relegation every time. The first high point for Denmark came in 2003 with an opening 5-2 win versus the United States followed by a 2-2 tie against eventual champions Canada six days later.

Denmark celebrating their 2003 victory over the United States

Their highest finish came in 2010 when the Danes finished 8th after advancing to the Qualification Round thanks to a 4-1 win over Finland and a 2-1 overtime victory over the United States. Then then demolished Slovakia 6-0 to open the Qualification Round, which combined with their earlier win over Finland, was enough to put Denmark into the Playoff Round where they fell to Sweden 4-2.

Current Danes in the NHL include the Canucks Jannik Hansen, Mikkel Bødker of the Coyotes, Franz Nielsen of the Islanders, Montreal's Lars Eller, Philip Larsen of Dallas and the Senators Peter Regin. Other successful Danes currently play in the Swedish Elitserien.

Denmark's Lars Eller

Today's jersey is a 2005 Denmark National Team Jesper Damgaard jersey. Damgaard, a defenseman, was the long-time captain of the Danish National Team and played for Denmark at the World Championships a record 17 times, leading the team in games played with 256 while totaling 114 points from the blueline. This jersey features a pair of my custom printed Oddset sponsor patches.

2005 was the high point in our book for international hockey jerseys, as nearly all teams had complete redesigns or very well executed tweaks to their existing jerseys in time for the World Championships in Austria. It was also the last World Championship with the traditional jersey styling and construction before the introduction of the strange feeling, cookie-cutter templated and rather ugly Nike Swift jerseys of 2006.

Today's video section begins with Denmark's top ten goals since earning their promotion in 2003.

Our final highlight today is Lars Eller's first NHL goal, which came in his debut on November 5, 2009.

2005 Denmark National Team Jesper Damgaard Jersey

On this date in 2003, Denmark pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Championships with a shocking 5-2 win over the United States.

Making its return to the Top Division for the first time in 54 years, Denmark immediately scored it's biggest hockey victory ever in the opening game of the tournament, which was held in Tampere, Finland.

Kim Staal, who had seven years of professional experience in the Swedish Elitserien, led the Danes with two goals and two assists.

The Americans, with 12 NHLers on it's roster, outshot Denmark 55-22 but could not solve goaltender Peter Hirsch, who made several outstanding saves.

Peter Hirsch in the Dane's goal

Bo Nordby-Anderson and Staal both scored on breakaways, putting backhanders past American goaltender Ryan Miller 3:42 apart to give Denmark a 2-0 lead in under 10 minutes of the opening period. Jesper Damgaard increased the Danish lead with a one-timer slapshot from the point at 12:21.

Jim Fahey got the United States on the board with a power-play goal at 16:06 of the first period.

At the start of the second period, Chris Rogles, who played in Germany for the Cologne Sharks replaced Miller in the American goal only to have Ronny Larsen score high on the glove side at 3:09 on yet another breakaway.

Mike Grey crashes the US goal

Kelly Fairchild cut the deficit to 2 with a goal at 2:24 of the third period to give the United States hope, but Hirsch stood strong in goal as the Danes killed of multiple penalties in the period to hold off the Americans despite the huge shot advantage they held.

At the final buzzer, hundreds of rowdy, flag-waving Danish fans celebrated in the stands, with some even brought to tears.

Denmark celebrates the finest moment in their hockey history

"We didn't feel the pressure," said Denmark head coach Mikael Lundstrom. "We're not here on vacation. We're not here just to learn, but to play some good games. We know that we have some forwards who can score goals, Kim Staal for instance. We didn't say that we should go out and win, but we said we would do our best ad try to play a good game."

Denmark would lose it's next two group games to Russia 6-1 and Switzerland 6-2. Based on their win over the US, the Danes advanced to the next round of group play, where they would tie eventual 2003 World Champions Canada 2-2, as surprising a result as their win over the United States.

Losses to Sweden (7-1) and Latvia (4-2) would end the fun for Denmark, but they had to consider their tournament a success, having avoided relegation in their long-awaited return to the Top Division.

Denmark currently ranks 12th in the IIHF Mens' World Rankings and has played at the top level of the World Championships since 2003, finishing as high as 8th in 2010. While finding themselves in the Relegation Round three out of their first seven years in the Top Division, the Danes successfully avoided the drop each time and have not been in a position to be relegated since 2009.

Current Danes in the NHL include Jannik Hansen of the Vancouver Canucks, Mikkel Bødker of the Coyotes, Franz Nielsen of the Islanders, Lars Eller of the Montreal Canadiens, Philip Larsen of the Stars and the Senators Peter Regin with several others on the verge in the AHL. Other successful Danes currently play in the Swedish Elitserien.

Today's jersey is a 2005 Denmark National Team Jesper Damgaard jersey. Damgaard, a defenseman, is the long-time captain of the Danish National Team and has played for Denmark at the World Championships 14 times, leading the team in games played with 240. This jersey features a pair of custom printed Oddset sponsor patches.

Today's video section begins with Denmark's top ten goals since earning their promotion in 2003.

Our final highlight today is Lars Eller's first NHL goal, which came in his debut on November 5, 2009.

2005 Denmark National Team Jesper Damgaard Jersey

On this date in 2003, Denmark pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Championships with a shocking 5-2 win over the United States.

Making it's return to the Top Division for the first time in 54 years, Denmark immediately scored it's biggest hockey victory ever in the opening game of the tournament, held in Tampere, Finland.

Kim Staal, who had seven years of professional experience in the Swedish Elitserien, led the Danes with two goals and two assists.

The Americans, with 12 NHLers on it's roster, outshot Denmark 55-22 but could not solve goaltender Peter Hirsch, who made several outstanding saves.

Bo Nordby-Anderson and Staal both scored on breakaways, putting backhanders past American goaltender Ryan Miller 3:42 apart to give Denmark a 2-0 lead in under 10 minutes of the opening period. Jesper Damgaard increased the Danish lead with a one-timer slapshot from the point at 12:21.

Jim Fahey got the United States on the board with a power-play goal at 16:06 of the first period.

At the start of the second period, Chris Rogles, who played in Germany for the Cologne Sharks replaced Miller in the American goal only to have Ronny Larsen score high on the glove side at 3:09 on yet another breakaway.

Kelly Fairchild cut the deficit to 2 with a goal at 2:24 of the third period to give the United States hope, but Hirsch stood strong in goal as the Danes killed of multiple penalties in the period to hold off the Americans despite the huge shot advantage they held.

At the final buzzer, hundreds of rowdy, flag-waving Danish fans celebrated in the stands, with some even brought to tears.

Denmark would lose it's next two group games to Russia 6-1 and Switzerland 6-2. Based on their win over the US, the Danes advanced to the next round of group play, where they would tie eventual 2003 World Champions Canada 2-2, as surprising a result as their win over the United States.

Losses to Sweden (7-1) and Latvia (4-2) would end the fun for Denmark, but they had to consider their tournament a success, having avoided relegation in their long-awaited return to the Top Division.

Denmark currently ranks 13th in the IIHF Mens' World Rankings and has played at the top level of the World Championships since 2003, finishing as high as 10th in 2007. While finding themselves in the Relegation round three out of the last seven years, the Danes have successfully avoided the drop each time.

Look for them in the 2010 World Championships, which begin in 12 days, in Group D with Finland, the United States and host Germany. The German program is in a down period and hopes to make a good showing on home ice. Only a special rule preventing their relegation as hosts of this year's tournament kept them from the drop in 2009, which should give the Danes hope of advancing out of Group D and avoiding the relegation round. Their game against Germany on May 12 will be key for their survival.

Current Danes in the NHL include the Canucks Jannik Hansen, Mikkel Bødker of the Coyotes, Franz Nielsen of the Islanders, Lars Eller of the Blues, Philip Larsen of the Stars and the Senators Peter Regin. Other successful Danes currently play in the Swedish Elitserien.

Today's jersey is a Nike 2005 Denmark National Team Jesper Damgaard jersey. Damgaard, a defenseman, is the long-time captain of the Danish National Team and has played for Denmark at the World Championships 14 times, leading the team in games played with 240. This jersey features a pair of custom printed Oddset sponsor patches.

Due to either a serious lack of Danish hockey highlights on YouTube or our ability to search for them in Danish, or quite likely a combination of both, our video of choice today is a classic featuring Denmark vs. Japan, with the most emphatic "own goal" in perhaps the history of ice hockey by Japan. Surely one to add to your favorites.

Next up are highlights from the recent 2009 World Championships from an exciting and close fought game when Denmark takes on rivals Norway, featuring several of Denmark's NHLers in a spirited battle to avoid the relegation round, the annual goal at the World Championships for teams at the level of Denmark and Norway. Do not miss the pass the Norwegian makes two minutes into the video to victimize our Mr. Damgaard.

Also from the same game, one of those hits that gives meaning to the phrase "knocked him into next week."

Our final highlight today is Lars Eller's first NHL goal, which came in his debut on November 5, 2009.

Grundlovsdag

Today is Grundlovsdag, or "Constitution Day" in Denmark, which celebrates the anniversary of the signing of the Danish Constitution in 1849, which severely limited the King's power and secured basic civil rights. This day also honors the Constitution of 1953, which among other things allowed women the right to inherit the throne, which is currently being put to good use by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who became the first woman to hold the Danish throne in 1972.

Constitution Day in Denmark is rather low key compared to other countries, but is a national holiday and June 5th also happens to be Father's Day in Denmark.

Denmark currently ranks 13th in the IIHF Mens' World Rankings and has played at the top level of the World Championships since 2003 after an absence of 54 years. While finding themselves in the Relegation round three out of the last seven years, the Danes have successfully avoided the drop each time. Their highlights at the recent World Championships are considered to be a 5-2 win versus the United States followed by a 2-2 tie against eventual champions Canada six days later in 2003.

Current Danes in the NHL include the Canucks Jannik Hansen, Mikkel Bødker of the Coyotes, Franz Nielsen of the Islanders and the Senators Peter Regin. Other successful Danes currently play in the Swedish Elitserien.

Today's jersey is a 2005 Denmark National Team Jesper Damgaard jersey. Damgaard, a defenseman, is the long-time captain of the Danish National Team and has played for Denmark at the World Championships 14 times, leading the team in games played with 240. This jersey features a pair of my custom printed Oddset sponsor patches.

2005 was the high point in my book for international hockey jerseys, as nearly all teams had complete redesigns or very well executed tweaks to their existing jerseys in time for the World Championships in Austria. It was also the last World Championship with the traditional jersey styling and construction before the introduction of the strange feeling, cookie-cutter templated and rather ugly Nike Swift jerseys in 2006. They even sound strange when you are handling one, as the fabric has an audio quality similar to a nylon windbreaker!

Due to either a serious lack of Danish hockey highlights on YouTube or my ability to search for them in Danish, or quite likely a combination of both, my video of choice today is a classic featuring Denmark vs. Japan, with the most emphatic "own goal" in perhaps the history of ice hockey by Japan. Surely one to add to your favorites.

Next up are highlights from the recent 2009 World Championships from an exciting and close fought game when Denmark takes on rivals Norway, featuring several of Denmark's NHLers in a spirited battle to avoid the relegation round, the annual goal at the World Championships for teams at the level of Denmark and Norway. Do not miss the pass the Norwegian makes two minutes into the video to victimize our Mr. Damgaard.

Also from the same game, one of those hits that gives meaning to the phrase "knocked him into next week."

Dasherboard: Well, who thinks we've got a series now? Heck yea! Evgeni Malkin has one hand on the Conn Smythe Trophy with another goal and an assist as the Penguins even the series at two games apiece after the Penguins come from behind - again - with three goals in 5:37 during the second period to send the hometown fans into a white-clad delirium.

After Detroit took the lead in the second, things looked to be headed Detroit's way once more, but the resilient Penguins came roaring back, inspired by a Jordan Staal shorthanded goal, which started the three goal outburst. Sidney Crosby then got his first goal in nearly two weeks on a feed from, of course, Malkin.

Have you noticed how many of Crosby's goals come from a distance of less than six feet? He's got a nose for the net combined with the ability to get wide open at the same time. In a way, he reminds me of Brett Hull, who was always able to find open space to work with, only Hull's open space was much farther out and his cannon of a shot took care of the distance. Regardless of where they score from, you always find yourself asking "How did they let him get so open? Don't they know who he is? You just can't let that happen."

The best was yet to come, as Tyler Kennedy scored the prettiest goal of the night on a great feed from Crosby. Marc-Andre Fleury was strong in net, stopping 37 of 39 shots. I wonder when the last time was that a team gave up 40 shots in the Stanley Cup finals and won a game?

With a goal and an assist in Game 4, Malkin now has been involved with seven of the nine Pittsburgh goals in this series.

Tomorrow is a day off and the series resumes back in Detroit for Game 5, where the Red Wings hope hold serve back and put their home ice advantage back to good use by getting the matchups on the ice that proved so effective in the first two games of the series.