[2] Ehlers played professionally in Europe for over 20 years, most notably in the Swedish Hockey League and Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

[4] After spending the early stages of his career in his native Aalborg, Ehlers embarked on a five-year stint with Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in 1984.

Ehlers played in the Swiss elite league NLA for EHC Biel in 93-94, followed by two years with Klagenfurter AC of Austria.

He left his mark in the German top-flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga, turning out for DEL teams Augsburger Panther and Berlin Capitals.

Ehlers left SCL after the 2012-13 campaign to take on a new challenge in Switzerland's top-flight National League A (NLA),[12] signing with Lausanne HC in March 2013.