Frederik Andersen keeps Canes on winning track, with eyes on Denmark in the Olympics
Had things gone differently, Frederik Andersen would be in Beijing at the 2022 Winter Olympics as the starting goalie for Denmark’s hockey team and making history.
And he would have been competing alongside his sister, Amalie, a member of Denmark’s women’s hockey team. That would have made the Olympic experience twice as special.
She’s still there but he’s not due to the pandemic, COVID-19 outbreaks in the NHL, postponed games and the decision not to allow NHL players to compete in Beijing. Andersen was left disappointed — as were several other teammates with the Carolina Hurricanes who hoped to be in China repping their countries while chasing a gold medal.
But Andersen is one proud Dane.
Denmark’s men’s and women’s teams won games in Beijing in their first Olympics. The men’s team upset Czechia 2-1 in a preliminary-round game behind goaltender Sebastian Dahm, who Andersen knows well.
“It’s really cool,” Andersen said in an interview Friday with The News & Observer. “Both on the men’s and the women’s side it’s very historical that they’re there (in Beijing). The men obviously have been pushing for many years, for many different Olympics to get there and it finally happened for this one.
“I know for the women’s side it seemed more of an upset this year that they got to go. I think within the last year they qualified, so it obviously speaks to how far Danish hockey has come over the last 20 years. They’ve taken huge steps throughout that time.”
The women’s team also beat Czechia for their first Olympic win. Losses to Japan, China and Sweden ended the Olympics for the women, but Andersen said for his sister, who plays college hockey at Maine, “It was a cool experience to be a part of that tournament and the Games.”
The Danes beating the Czechs on Wednesday in the men’s game — former NHL forward Frans Nielsen with the winning goal — gave Andersen the opportunity to do some chirping at Canes forward Martin Necas, who likely would have been playing for Czechia in Beijing.
But Andersen held off.
“I haven’t given enough to him about that,” he said. “I saw we lost to Russia. I think I need to keep that quiet.”
The Russians struggled, needing an empty-net goal to seal a 2-0 victory. But no need to get Andrei Svechnikov riled up. Maybe later, Andersen said, if more good things happen for the Danes.
“We’ll see how it goes but I think (Denmark) still has a good chance of making it to the quarterfinals,” Andersen said.
Andersen will be watching and cheering from afar.
Andersen’s stellar season continues
On Friday, he was relaxing a bit in St. Paul, Minnesota, having shut out the Boston Bruins 6-0 in a road game Thursday. He also could be a bit reflective about a season that has seen him win 25 games, be selected for the NHL All-Star Game and help the Metropolitan Division team win it, and made the Canes (32-10-3) among the NHL’s best teams.
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“We’ve always had good goaltending, but Freddie has won us a lot of games,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said this week. “We’ve played pretty well this year as a group, but he’s got us (wins) himself because he was better than the guy across from him in quite a few games. That’s been the difference ... and helped us big time.”
Andersen, 32, signed two-year contract with the Hurricanes after last season, knowing he would be joining a team that had been in the Stanley Cup playoffs the past three years and was considered a potential Cup contender. He had heard about Brind’Amour and his way of doing things and handling players.
And?
“I’ve really enjoyed it,” Andersen said. “He’s a heck of a coach. He motivates in a really cool way. He’s been through everything and experienced everything in this league. I think he’s really good at leveling with the guys on our team and just helping us see in a way that’s the best for us. That’s been really cool.”
Andersen had played against the Canes while he was with Anaheim and then Toronto, but said there are at least two players who are better than he thought: defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce.
“They jump out,” he said. “I knew ‘Slavo’ and ‘Pesc’ were good, but I didn’t really know they were at this level. You don’t hear as much outside this (Raleigh) market. But you can go up and down the lineup and find a lot of guys, but I think those are the two who would jump out that I’ve really been impressed with.”
The Canes have been impressed with Andersen and the calmness he exhibits in the crease. He’s a big goalie at 6-4 and 238 pounds, which helps cover the cage. He has an economy of movement in net but can seal up holes quickly.
In the first period Thursday, he jutted out his left pad to stop a Craig Smith shot on a power play that would have given the Bruins a 1-0 lead. He was involved in a collision in the net with Boston’s Nick Foligno early in the third but shook it off and kept making saves for his 21st career shutout and second against Boston this season.
Andersen has shown a bit of a temper at times in practice, recently smashing his paddle against the post after allowing a few goals. He makes a conscious effort not to show that side in games.
“I know in games it’s more important to move on quicker,” Andersen said. “I think that’s something over the years I’ve been trying to be as good as I can at, to just focus on the next play. It does (stink) to get scored on but at the end of the day it’s not the end of the world. There’s going to be the next save you’re going to try to make.”
Andersen brought up the Canes’ game Tuesday at Ottawa. Antti Raanta was Carolina’s goalie and the Canes fell behind 4-0 early in the second period, only to make a strong push in the third before losing 4-3 to the Senators.
“I think ‘Raants’ did a helluva job of staying in there even though we were down four,” Andersen said. “He made some big saves to keep it at that and then all of a sudden we’re close to tying it. You never really know what’s going on the rest of the game, so you’ve got to just make that one save.”
Coming off a shutout, Andersen could start again Saturday as the Canes end their four-game road trip against the Minnesota Wild. There are more saves to be made and games to be won.
Carolina Hurricanes vs. Minnesota Wild
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
Where: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn.
TV/Radio: Bally Sports South, WCMC-99.9 FM
This story was originally published February 12, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
