What was done differently with this group than other groups before and after? 1989 has produced 5 Danish NHL prospects, while years since have produced none. Every Danish player drafted in the last four drafts (2007-2010) are born in 1989. With high-end talents like Eller and Boedker and a guy with second pairing NHL potential in Larsen, this group of players could be the core of the Danish national team for years to come. With Lauridsen signing with the Flyers about a month ago, the only one currently without a contract is Andersen, who has a shot at one this summer with the Canes. It looks as though all these guys have a legitimate shot at the NHL.

So what was done differently with this class? Why have they been so successful? Could the 1993-1994 class be as good as these guys?

So what was done differently with this class? Why have they been so successful? Could the 1993-1994 class be as good as these guys?

Even though it is a little early to really evaluate the birth-year 1989, compared to earlier birth-years it is the strongest by far. Not only has 5 players been drafted to the NHL, 2 of them was drafted in the first round (as no. 8 and 13). Furthermore at least 4 players, besides the 5 you mention, will probably be national team players in the future:

Lasse Lassen, AaB
Frederik Storm, SønderjyskE
Lasse Holgaard, Esbjerg
Nicholas Bernsdorf Jensen, SUNY Plattsburg

So, yes, you are right. The birth-year 1989 is something special. Even though it seems we will have birth-years with even better depth than this, I doubt that we will ever be able to get 2 players from the same birth-year drafted in the first round. Has this happened to a country outside top-7 besides Denmark?

I don't think that something has been done differently regarding the 1989 class. Both Eller and Bødker got their hockey “education” in Rødovre, the hockey “factory” in Denmark. Of course they were (are) very talented, but they also got the best possibilities for developing their talent. For further information regarding Rødovre's youth programme please see this thread:
http://forums.internationalhockey.net/showthread.php?t=4818

In the above forum you will also be able to find much more information regarding the Danish prospects.

For a very small hockey country like Denmark, with less than 3,000 youth players, there will be up's and down's regarding talent. Some year-classes are simply better than others, and some are much better than the norm. In general the Danish hockey association (DIU) and the Danish hockey clubs have been increasingly better at developing talents, and we can now see a much better depth in our year-classes than before. An evidence to this can be seen when the different Danish youth national teams competes with other countries. In December the U20 team qualified for U20 WJC, and at the moment the U18 team is also playing for promotion to U18 WJC. A week ago the Danish U16 team played a 5 nation tournament against Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Italy, and won all 4 matches, and only the match against Switzerland was a close affair. The Danish team simply outplayed the opposition skating-vice and psychically.

Did you know that there is a huge difference between even and odd birth-years in regards to the level of talent? I know that it may sound strange, but odd birth-years are much stronger in talent than even ones. Look at this:

1987 The first really strong birth-year in Danish hockey. Managed to win promotion to U20 WJC (with a little help of the 1989'ers :-))
1988 Very weak
1989 Has it all; both top prospects and a lot of depth
1990 OK birth-year, but nothing special
1991 A lot of depth, but lacking a true top prospect. 4-5 of them could become national team players
1992 The best even birth-year ever in Danish hockey; good depth specially regarding D-men, but also a couple of forwards looks promising
1993 Fantastic depth regarding forwards; I expect at least 5 forwards to be future national team players, but ordinary in regard to D-men. Also a promising goal-tender prospect. Nicklas Jensen could be 1st round draft pick.
1994 Fair birth-year with reasonable depth, but the top prospects need to step up if they want to get drafted
1995 Could be an exceptional year-class, it has a depth I have never seen before, and at least 3-4 prospects who could get drafted if they pan out right

Even though it is a little early to really evaluate the birth-year 1989, compared to earlier birth-years it is the strongest by far. Not only has 5 players been drafted to the NHL, 2 of them was drafted in the first round (as no. 8 and 13). Furthermore at least 4 players, besides the 5 you mention, will probably be national team players in the future:

Lasse Lassen, AaB
Frederik Storm, SønderjyskE
Lasse Holgaard, Esbjerg
Nicholas Bernsdorf Jensen, SUNY Plattsburg

So, yes, you are right. The birth-year 1989 is something special. Even though it seems we will have birth-years with even better depth than this, I doubt that we will ever be able to get 2 players from the same birth-year drafted in the first round. Has this happened to a country outside top-7 besides Denmark?

I don't think that something has been done differently regarding the 1989 class. Both Eller and Bødker got their hockey “education” in Rødovre, the hockey “factory” in Denmark. Of course they were (are) very talented, but they also got the best possibilities for developing their talent. For further information regarding Rødovre's youth programme please see this thread:
http://forums.internationalhockey.net/showthread.php?t=4818

In the above forum you will also be able to find much more information regarding the Danish prospects.

For a very small hockey country like Denmark, with less than 3,000 youth players, there will be up's and down's regarding talent. Some year-classes are simply better than others, and some are much better than the norm. In general the Danish hockey association (DIU) and the Danish hockey clubs have been increasingly better at developing talents, and we can now see a much better depth in our year-classes than before. An evidence to this can be seen when the different Danish youth national teams competes with other countries. In December the U20 team qualified for U20 WJC, and at the moment the U18 team is also playing for promotion to U18 WJC. A week ago the Danish U16 team played a 5 nation tournament against Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Italy, and won all 4 matches, and only the match against Switzerland was a close affair. The Danish team simply outplayed the opposition skating-vice and psychically.

Did you know that there is a huge difference between even and odd birth-years in regards to the level of talent? I know that it may sound strange, but odd birth-years are much stronger in talent than even ones. Look at this:

1987 The first really strong birth-year in Danish hockey. Managed to win promotion to U20 WJC (with a little help of the 1989'ers :-))
1988 Very weak
1989 Has it all; both top prospects and a lot of depth
1990 OK birth-year, but nothing special
1991 A lot of depth, but lacking a true top prospect. 4-5 of them could become national team players
1992 The best even birth-year ever in Danish hockey; good depth specially regarding D-men, but also a couple of forwards looks promising
1993 Fantastic depth regarding forwards; I expect at least 5 forwards to be future national team players, but ordinary in regard to D-men. Also a promising goal-tender prospect. Nicklas Jensen could be 1st round draft pick.
1994 Fair birth-year with reasonable depth, but the top prospects need to step up if they want to get drafted
1995 Could be an exceptional year-class, it has a depth I have never seen before, and at least 3-4 prospects who could get drafted if they pan out right

Yep.

Honestly, if the Danes' could produce one group like the 89's every 3 or so years, they'd probably be on par with countries like Slovakia and Switzerland, but if they could do it every 1-2 years they could be up there with the Czech's. As a country they have a ton of potential and great neighbours (Sweden, Finland) to assist with development. Maybe in the next 10 years they'll be a top hockey nation.