For the first time since 2004, where Esbjerg also won the championship, it wasn’t one of the two “super powers” in Danish hockey that took gold. Neither the champions of 2013, 2014 and 2015, SønderjyskE, nor Herning, the record champion of Denmark, managed to go all the way. Esbjerg Energy did and thus the club will represent Denmark in the 2016/17 Champions Hockey League.

by Michael Søvsø

The team from West Jutland managed to beat SønderjyskE in dramatic 4-3-series in the final, and when captain Aaron Lee scored the winner in game six of the final series 11:09 minutes into the first overtime in Herning, it was the culmination of three years of hard work in Esbjerg.

Before the 2013/14 season a new organization of hockey was created in Esbjerg. After eight seasons under the umbrella of Esbjerg fB – the football club in Esbjerg – the two sports were separated. A new club, Esbjerg Energy, took form under the leadership of the enthusiastic chairman Christian Rølmer Christensen, and newly appointed coach Mark Pederson.

The Canadian, who had a huge career as a player in the NHL and various top European Leagues, came to Denmark after a couple of successful coaching jobs in the Asia Hockey League - and was an immediate success in Esbjerg.

In his first season his team was on its way to find a perfect form up to the playoffs, but then Esbjerg hockey was scattered by a match fixing scandal. It led to the immediate suspension of the backup goalie Dennis Jensen and two of the key players from the first line - Kirill Starkov and Tyler Mosienko.

Esbjerg lost momentum and was eventually downed in the quarterfinal by local rivals SønderjyskE.

Mark Pederson had to build up a new team up to the 2014/15-season. He brought in Andrew Clark, Mark Derlago and Scott Howes who all became top players in the league. They brought Esbjerg all the way to the finals but lost – again to SønderjyskE – due to lack of discipline.

However the Esbjerg team continued to grow. Some talented young players, the likes of Søren Nielsen, Anders Krogsgaard and Jeppe Holmberg had become older and more experienced and Pederson managed to keep dominant All Star defenceman Wade Bergman and Canadian center Aaron Lee.

Both became key players during the 2015/16-campaign and Esbjerg still had a core of experienced players like former captain Sune Hjulmand, now 27, who played for the various Esbjerg clubs all his career.

Esbjerg finished third in the regular season and chose to play Rødovre Mighty Bulls in the quarter finals. Esbjerg won the series in six tight games, three of them in overtime and advanced to the semifinals. hadn’t beaten SønderjyskE in a seven game-series sicne 2006, but this time Energy finally succeeded in one of the best series for many seasons in Danish hockey.

Beating both rivals

Esbjerg easily won the first game in SE Arena and after that five tight games followed. Esbjerg led the series 3-1 but in a dramatic game six in Esbjerg, SønderjyskE took a 1-0-win in overtime and looked to be the favorite in game seven at home.

But then, in front of 5000 spectators in Vojens, Esbjerg again showed that they were a special team last season. They took an early lead, never looked back, won 4-1 and advanced to the finals against Herning.

After beating local rivals SønderjyskE, Esbjerg now had to face another team only an hour’s drive away. The finals were a reminiscence of the legendary rivalry of the 90’s between Esbjerg and Herning and expectations were high.

The two shared the two first games with home wins, but in game three Herning won 5-0 in Esbjerg’s Granly Hockey Arena. Herning led 3-2 after two periods in game four and was the dominant team, but again Esbjerg showed its huge morale and team spirit and managed to come back and win 5-4.

Thereafter, Esbjerg and coach Pederson never looked back. 2-0 at home was followed by that epic overtime win in Herning. Aaron Lee scored the decider and a week later he decided to retire from hockey.

“Everyone knows about his role in the team and the spirit has been fantastic all the way from imports and down to the youngest players in our group. You have to give Mark (Pederson, the Esbjerg-coach) credit for creating this kind of locker room,” said Sune Hjulmand after the long-awaited gold medals.

Look out for

Only forward Brock Nixon will return to the team from last season’s imports, so a new core of foreign players is on its way in. Most of the Danish players – apart from highly regarded national team player Nicholas B. Jensen – stay in Esbjerg and will be ready to challenge EV Zug and Helsinki IFK in the group stage of CHL.

Keep an eye on

The anchor man in goal will be the young Nicolaj Henriksen who challenged American Jeff Frazee for most of the last season. Henriksen is an interesting young goalie who impressed during the playoffs and now will be tested as the undisputed number one for the first time in his career.

Fun facts

Participation in the CHL will be Esbjerg’s first European adventure since the 2004/05 Continental Cup 2^nd round in Oswiecim in Poland. There Esbjerg lost to Unia Oswiecim and Ukraine’s Sokol Kie,v but won against Energija Elektrenai from Lithuania.

Now Esbjerg faces a couple of European top clubs - but Danish hockey has come a long way in the last decade and SønderjyskE’s decent performances in the first two CHL seasons have shown that the Danish Metal Ligaen can be a tough competitor against Europe’s finest.

Team facts

CHL seasons:

The team is making its debut this season

Click here for current information about this club.