Heated rivalry: US to face Denmark in Olympic ice hockey showdown | Denmark
Their date may be on Valentine’s Day, but it looks like it won’t be romantic in nature: Denmark and the United States, whose relations are colder than they have been in decades, will face each other in an ice hockey match next month.
One week before the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy, the Danish Lions will play Team USA in a preliminary round match on February 14 at Milan’s Santagiulia ice hockey rink. according to the official program.
Bilateral diplomatic relations have come to a breaking point over Donald Trump’s aggressive push to seize Greenland, a semi-autonomous region of the Danish kingdom, and the US president has said he will do so “one way or another”.
Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, criticized what she described as “completely unacceptable pressure” from her country’s closest ally, adding: “Borders cannot be changed by force and small countries should not be afraid of big countries.”
Trump doubled down over the weekend, threatening to impose tariffs on eight European countries, including Denmark, until they drop objections to his plans and telling Norway’s prime minister that the US needs “Complete and Complete control of Greenland.”
Tens of thousands of Danes joined Greenlanders demonstrating across the kingdom on Saturday, protesting the US president’s territorial ambitions for the Arctic island and holding signs saying “Hands off Greenland” and “Greenland is not for sale.”
Ice hockey, a fast-paced, highly physical game where tempers often flare, is no stranger to politically charged contests, including the 1980 Winter Olympics “Miracle on Ice” in which a young and mostly amateur U.S. team defeated the four-time defending gold medalist Soviet Union.
Sport often clashed with diplomacy, such as the Hungary-USSR water polo match at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, when the Hungarian team arrived in Australia and was told Soviet tanks had just entered Budapest.
The two teams met in the semi-finals and Hungary won 4-0 after a hard-fought and violent match with kicks, gouges and punches from both sides. Five players were ejected and the game became known as the “Blood in the Water” match.
Team USA is ranked first in the 2025 ice hockey world rankings and is considered among the favorites for the tournament; Denmark is competing in men’s hockey at the Winter Olympics for only the second time, finishing eighth and generally considered the underdog.
The stakes have also increased with the inclusion of players from the North American National Hockey League (NHL) in the Games for the first time since 2014; This means many of the world’s best players will be competing, including several from Denmark.
Danish player Nikolaj Ehlers, who plays for the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL, said that this was “a proud moment, it will be a lot of fun.” Compatriot Mads Sogaard of the Ottawa Senators he told the NHL website he was “proud to represent my home country”.
Ehlers added that Denmark aims to “do everything we can and fight as hard as possible, and I think if we do that then good things will happen.” Neither player commented on any political sentiments regarding the USA match.
