NHL Star Andersen Finds Strength in Team Bond Amidst Personal Tragedy As the NHL playoff season reaches its climax, Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck's teammate, Nikolaj Ehlers, and forward Kyle Connor's teammate, Nikolaj Ehlers' teammate, Nikolaj Ehlers' teammate, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikolaj, Nikol

Great article. > We’re often told how dressing rooms, the good ones, get renovated into family rooms. How brotherhoods are formed through chirps and scrums, comeback wins and gutting losses. > But in the case of Andersen’s friend and long-serving agent, Claude Lemieux, only a tragic extreme allows those outside the team’s bolted doors to feel that bond. > “We go through stuff in life, sometimes it’s impossible not to bring it into the room. We’ve had guys going to the birth of children. Obviously, that’s on a very different end of the spectrum. But I can’t really say enough about the way everyone supports each other,” Andersen says Monday, his Cup Final debut just a sleep away. “Everyone goes through stuff. And really just being there for each other — it’s cool that we get to lean on each other like that.” > “The mind has to be right,” says Andersen, who also credits a foundation of structural work, sharpened by all those bonus practice days you get from sweeping pretenders. > “I’m just in a good spot, honestly. Letting the game come to me. And just feel like I have an answer for every situation. Just playing the moment, really, it’s been a big key for me.” > “I’ll share this,” Andersen says. “Claude made sure to call me beforehand.” Lemieux told the Canadiens that he needed to talk to Andersen first and make sure his friend was on board with his holding the flame aloft in enemy colours. > “But right away, obviously, I said, ‘Go for it.’ It’s a very big honour for a very big, storied franchise to get to do that,” Andersen says. “It speaks really highly of how he thinks of his loved ones to ask that first.” > “This is hard for Freddie, but we’re all there for him. We're all behind him,” Ehlers says. “He wants to win this Cup even more now, for Claude and the Lemieux family. “You could see he was playing for something more than just a hockey game.” > “We saw how emotional he was, especially at the end of the game. And Freddy’s kind of a calm, cool, collected guy. So even to see him get a little emotional after the win made us a little emotional, for sure. But I think as a team we helped him get it through it,” Gostisbehere says. “I’m pretty close to Freddy. I talked to him about it, just to make sure he’s doing OK as a person and how he’s doing mentally, just to make sure he’s ready to go. Hockey's on the back burner with situations like that. So, I'm checking on the person first, and then the hockey player.” > Aho echoes the responsibility: “Honestly, just be there for him. Be a good teammate. If he needs to talk, you’re going to be there, all ears.” submitted by /u/DecentLurker96 [link] [comments]