Lars Eller leads Denmark to 2026 Olympic appearance

The Washington Capitals season inches closer and in exciting news Lars Eller captained Denmark to an appearance in the Olympics. The fact he was even named team captain isn't much of a shocker considering how clutch he was in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2018.

His home country would go on to defeat Norway 4-1 on Sunday. Norway would take an early lead on a goal from Mats Zuccarello. The Danes would come back in the second period.

The score would be tied by Denmark winger Nciklas Jensen to the delight of the home crowd but no he's not related to the Nick Jensen you're thinking of. Jensen would also give the Danes the lead heading into the third period. Patrick Russell would score twice in the third with the second being an empty netter to punch their ticket to the Olympics.

Last season was an awkward one as he joined the Pittsburgh Penguins but he put up a solid year for the black and gold with 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points. Even when he suited up in enemy colors there were no boos last year on opening night and instead a standing ovation for all that Eller did with the Caps.

That includes a 2017-18 season that saw the center record 18 goals and 20 assists for 38 points in the regular season. In the playoffs he scored probably the two most important goals of that Cup run. In all he had seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points.

But it was the goal in Columbus that kept the Caps alive that spring. Then he sealed it into the best summer of our entire lives with the game winning goal in Game 5 of the 2018 Cup final.

Back to Denmark who is on a remarkable run of their own. They defeated Great Britain 3-1 and Japan 3-2 earlier in the tournament and went undefeated in the qualifiers with two wins and one overtime win. It all added up to the top of Group F with eight pionts.

And after winning Group D and E, Martin Fehervary's Slovakia and Latvia will also take part in the Olympic games. Russia's participation is not yet confirmed at this time. France will join the field if Russia's IOC ban continues. This is all due to circumstances that aren't even hockey related so hard pass on the topic of that.