‘I think we’ve shown that we can play with the big teams’

MILAN — The disappointment was written all over Nikolaj Ehlers’ face.

And as the former Winnipeg Jets winger stopped to chat with the Free Press on Tuesday afternoon — mere moments after his Winter Olympics had come to a crushing end — you could hear it in his voice, too.

Denmark’s 3-2 loss to Czechia denied Ehlers a chance to face former teammate Josh Morrissey and his Canada teammates in Wednesday’s quarterfinal. Denmark pushed right to the final buzzer, coming within a few inches of tying the game and perhaps pulling off a significant upset.

Ehlers, as you might expect, was right in the middle of the action.

“We had the chances to put one more in, so it’s unfortunate that we didn’t. But I’m proud of how we played today,” he said.

A date between Denmark and Canada would have been downright delicious, considering what happened last May in the IIHF World Championship quarterfinals. Ehlers, who joined the squad immediately after the Jets were knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, scored the game-tying goal with just over two minutes left in regulation with the goalie pulled.

Denmark then won with 48 seconds remaining, stunning the Canadians.

There will be no chance to repeat recent hockey history here in Milan. And while the wound was still fresh, there was no denying Denmark announced itself as an emerging hockey presence — in large part thanks to Ehlers.

Although they ultimately went 1-3 here — a victory over Latvia and three hard-fought losses to Germany, the United States and now Czechia — Ehlers believes a statement was made.

“I think we’ve shown that we can play with the big teams,” he said.

“I think we deserved more in the first game against Germany and in the second game against the U.S. we were right there until 10 minutes left in the game. Third game we played our worst and won. And today, against a pretty good Czech team, we stayed in it for 60 minutes. That’s pretty impressive, I think.”

Ehlers, who spent the first decade of his NHL career in Winnipeg after being selected ninth overall in 2014, was one of the top forwards in the entire tournament based on underlying metrics that measure play-driving and offensive creation.

Although he wasn’t rewarded with a flood of points — one goal and two assists in four games — that had more to do with a lack of big-league firepower around him. For now, at least.

“We showed how hard we work for each other and how special that bond is in the locker room,” said Ehlers. “I’m proud of the way we worked in this tournament.”

One of the highlights came on Saturday when Ehlers got to face former teammate Kyle Connor and his American squad.

“I was hoping Bucky was playing, too,” said Ehlers. That would be Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who was given the night off in place of Jeremy Swayman.

“Obviously it wasn’t meant to be but I’m extremely proud of the way that we worked our asses off out there and fought for each other and gave ourselves a chance against a top team,” he said of what turned out to be a 6-3 loss to Team USA.

“We knew they were going to have the puck the most. We wanted to try and keep them on the outside and hope that our goalie played a great game. And he did. But against a team like the U.S., you can’t make the small mistakes. At least not too many of them.”

Ehlers was also a major reason Denmark even qualified for the Olympics, accomplishing that feat while still a member of the Jets before departing for Carolina in free agency last summer. The Hurricanes are now flying high, while the Jets are wallowing near the bottom of the league standings.

He’ll now pack his bags and take a boatload of memories home with him.

“Overall this experience has been incredible,” said Ehlers. “It’s something that I’ve waited for for quite a while. To finally be here and represent Denmark is pretty special.”

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