Frans Nielsen: How I started Denmark's ice hockey revolution

Frans Nielsen's place in Denmark's ice hockey Hall of Fame is secure.

The first Danish citizen to play in the NHL with the New York Islanders, 38-year-old Nielsen became a legendary figure among the fans in New York before moving to the Detroit Red Wings.

This trailblazer gave belief to young players back home, and the likes of Mikkel Boedker, Lars Eller, Jannik Hansen, and Peter Regin followed.

Now an exciting new generation powered by Nikolaj Ehlers and Oliver Bjorkstrand are taking Danish hockey to new heights alongside Nielsen with a first ever Olympic qualification for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.

When Ehlers scored Denmark's clincher against Norway in a thrilling qualification decider in August 2021, it was fitting that Frans Nielsen got the assist.

"It was emotional. It was one of the best feelings I've ever had," an ecstatic Ehlers said after that game.

"Being able to go out there and show that we deserve a spot at the Olympics and actually making it, that was pretty amazing."

Now a Danish team stacked with NHL-honed youth and experience is focussed on breaking more ice in Beijing, and Frans Nielsen will be there, leading the line.

At 37 Nielsen has a lot to offer on the ice and in the locker room and a first-ever Olympic medal for Denmark would be a crowning achievement on a career that sparked an ice hockey revolution back home.

Frans Nielsen: A prodigious talent

No one had ever done it, and most believed no one would ever do it.

To be born in Herning, a tiny town in the Danish midlands with a population of around 50,000 people, and make it all the way to the NHL?

Impossible.

Until a young kid lit a fire with local club Herning Blue Fox and then used the Swedish pro league as a springboard to the NHL.

Nielsen grew up in Denmark in the 90's when football was enjoying a golden age: in 1992 there was that miraculous European Championships win, and names like Brian and Michael Laudrup and Peter Schmeichel were dominating the sports pages.

Football was a great temptation for Denmark's best young athletes but for a young Frans there was never any choice, at Herning he followed his father onto the ice.

"As far back as I can remember, I've loved to skate," he told Denmark's sporten.dk, "and from the time I was five, when I started playing ice hockey in Herning, it's always been the best thing I've known."

His first coach Peter Degn looked after his development from age five to 11 putting him on the ice with the older kids, constantly challenging him.

"The idea of earning a living off of hockey came to me when I was about 12. I knew what I wanted to do," he continued to Sporten, revealing a singularity of vision that not many 12-year-olds have.

Frans Nielsen: The first Danish NHL player

At 15 years of age he racked up 18 goals and 16 assists - 34 points - in 36 games in Denmark's U20 league, and the following season in his senior rookie year had 37 points in 38 games for Herning.

"The scouts came to watch, and more and more clubs began to call," he told Sporten.

North America was an option even then but he chose Sweden as his next step, preferring to stay closer to home.

"I got Bjarne Madsen as an agent when I was 16. One of the reasons I chose to play in Malmoe (Sweden), when I was 17, was that it was so close to home. I've always been something of a comfort junkie," he laughed.

"I was a little scared of going to Canada at that point, and I think I made the right decision. Sweden's a good place to learn. You're pushed to the limit in practice and in games. That pays off later."

Six seasons at the Malmoe Redhawks took his game to the next level, he lit up the junior league with a massive 42 points in 29 games (15 goals and 27 assists) and played over 200 games with the senior side, recording 25 goals and 34 assists for 59 points.

When the NHL came knocking, Nielsen was ready and his transition to North America was seamless: he tore up the American Hockey League (AHL) with with the Islanders' affiliate club, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, at the start of the 2006–07 season, contributing at least a point in nine consecutive games, just three shy of the Tigers' club record.

The reason he didn't break it was that the Islanders wanted him back working his magic in the NHL.

Frans Nielsen NHL record: Stats

In January the Islanders called him back and he quickly became a fixture in the team, maturing into one of the best all-around players in the league.

Intelligence, energy, commitment and leadership gave him the 'A' on his shirt in New York and he was the versatile go-to player in so many situations:

Need to kill a penalty or press the other team's top line? Frans is your man. Need someone with a cool head to handle the puck on the power play? Call Frans. Need someone to win you the game in the shootout? Nielsen will nail it.

His attention to detail and deep understanding of the game stemmed from hours and hours studying replays with his father.

"I remember when he was a kid, and we'd watch Herning's games on video," Dad has said, "and he'd ask about the technical and tactical details and the small things that make a difference."

They loved him in New York and it hurt when he left for the Detroit Redwings in 2016.

As Islanders' 2010/11 captain Doug Weight put it at the time: "He’s our best all-around player even though his stats don’t necessarily show it".

With Detroit he was picked for the All-Star game in 2017. When he left the Red Wings ahead of the 2021/22 season his NHL career numbers stand at:

925 games, 167 goals, 306 assists, 473 points.

Frans Nielsen and Denmark's ice hockey revolution

Nielsen kicked down the NHL door and other Danes followed.

Lars Eller, Jannik Hansen, Peter Regin, later Mikkel Bødker, Ehlers and Oliver Bjorkstrand all made it too, inspired by Nielsen.

"Frans is the Michael Laudrup of ice hockey," his agent Bjarne Madsen said, "professional, engaged. A sight to behold on the ice and a great personality. Danish ice hockey couldn't find a better ambassador."

Now Ehlers has become a role model for the next generation, but knows who he was looking up to as a kid.

"I know small kids are looking up to me because I was once that kid," Ehlers told NHL.com.

"I was looking up to Frans Nielsen and I'm still looking up to him and all the other players. I understand that. I want to be a good role model for them, because those guys were to me."

Incredibly, five NHL players from Nielsen's home town of Herning have made it to the NHL, inspiring this documentary called 'The Hockey Miracle in the Middle of Nowhere'.

Herning-born native Rasmus Ankersen, chairman of the Danish Superliga’s FC Midtjylland - and co-director of football at Premier League side Brentford FC - made the film and talks about the hockey revolution that Nielsen started.

"For Herning it was Frans that paved the way for the other guys," Ankersen told NBC.

"What happens when one guy makes it is that all these other guys then say I know him, I know his family. He lives just down in that house. If he can do it, why can’t I?

"So it goes from someone you watched on TV to feeling like a real possibility. You can see that effect in all these places. There’s like an ice break and the rest follows.”

Frans Nielsen: Focus on Beijing 2022

The singularity of vision that Nielsen had as a 12-year-old hasn't gone away.

Despite having his contract bought out at the Detroit Redwings, Nielsen knows what he wants.

Firstly, he hasn't given up on a shot at the Stanley Cup, telling sn.dk:

“I still dream of winning the Stanley Cup, even if I have to play a little less. If there are still any teams in the NHL who feel they need depth on their team, then it can be difficult to say, ‘No, thank you.'”

The Olympics have been on his mind for a long time too. Before the qualifying tournament he said:

“If we manage to win it in Olympic qualification, I’d like to go to a place where I play a lot, so I can be in the right shape. In Europe, you’re more confident of your playing time.”

Denmark qualified and he joined Eisbaren Berlin in Germany's top league, posting 9 points in his first 13 games with three goals and six assists, that plan of heading into the Olympics in top shape is paying off.

There's still a lot more to come from Nielsen, and with the team Denmark have going into the Beijing Games, this high achiever has an Olympic podium in his sights.

But whatever happens in February, Frans Nielsen has gone from revelation to revolution and changed the face of Danish hockey forever.