It was a salute to their captain.
In Rasmus Andersson’s case, it may have also been a sneak preview.
A week ago, as the Calgary Flames arrived at the Saddledome on the night of Mikael Backlund’s silver-stick ceremony, there was a stack of jerseys available so the skating stars could show some love for Mr. 1,000 during their walk-in photos.
Andersson donned a yellow Team Sweden sweater, a throwback to Backlund’s most recent appearance at the world championship tournament and perhaps a glimpse into his own future.
Best-on-best hockey returns in mid-February when the NHL breaks for the 4 Nations Face-Off, and the workhorse defenceman is making a strong case that he should be suiting up for the Swedes.
“I hope so,” Andersson told Postmedia before the Flames hit the road this week. “It’s a goal to make it as hard as possible for the coach not to select me on that team. Hopefully, I get the call and I’m there.
“I’m just trying to play my best hockey and I think I’ve been off to a pretty good start. Now, I just have to keep it going. I just want to help the team win and play to the best of my abilities. If it leads to something else, that’s great. And if it doesn’t, I’m going to be pissed off.”
Andersson will surely be a little salty for Saturday’s early showdown with the Buffalo Sabres (11 a.m. MT, Sportsnet/Sportsnet 960 The Fan). He was, after all, stripped of the puck at the tail-end of Thursday’s overtime session in Boston and, with neither of his buddies picking up the guy out front, Brad Marchand had gobs of time and then a second whack at the would-be winner.
While that was a frustrating end to an evening that saw Andersson log 27:33 of ice time, the highest single-game total for any Flames player yet this season, there has been a whole lot more good than bad from No. 4 this fall.
4 Nations Face-Off picks due in December
Enough good for the 28-year-old to muscle his way onto Sweden’s stacked blue-line? He’d be on our list.
While February may seem a long ways off, especially with Calgary’s current heat wave, the roster deadline for the 4 Nations Face-Off is fast approaching: The picks are due by Dec. 2.
“It’s motivation. It’s absolute motivation,” said MacKenzie Weegar, who is in the conversation for a spot on Team Canada’s defence. “And I think Ras has a little bit of that in him right now, too.”
Sure does.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will feature star-studded squads from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the U.S.
Each team has so far named six players, and Sweden’s initial picks included a hat-trick of rearguards — Gustav Forsling of the Florida Panthers, Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It’s certainly promising that Andersson has put up more points than any of the other candidates, with four goals and 11 points in his 14 outings this fall. He also ranks second in the league in blocked shots, with 47. (He added five to that total during Thursday’s overtime loss to the Bruins.)
It helps that Sweden has a logjam of lefties — among them, Forsling, Hedman, Philip Broberg, Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Ekholm and Hampus Lindholm — and the Flames’ heart-and-soul sort fires from the right side.
It’s encouraging that when head coach Sam Hallam was asked by NHL.com about who’d been catching his eye, Andersson was the first dude he mentioned.
“He’s maybe a bit different mentality-wise than a lot of other Swedes, a bit more intimidating in a good positive way,” Hallam praised in that interview.
It’s been a decade since Andersson rocked the Tre Kronor, or Three Crowns — not including that photo op last week. His last international appearance came at the Under-18 Worlds in 2014.
After the Flames missed out on the playoffs in 2023, he was forced to decline an invite to the world championship because of a lingering injury. (That was, remember, not long after he was struck by a vehicle while riding a scooter on a crosswalk in Detroit.)
Last spring, he had to say no thanks again because he and his wife, Tessa, were awaiting the arrival of a baby girl.
“It would be an extreme honour, right?” Andersson told Postmedia of the possibility of a 4 Nations Face-Off nod. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to play world championship … But I’m looking forward to representing my country soon. And hopefully, it’s sooner rather than later.”
MacKenzie Weegar angling for Team Canada spot
Weegar hopes his quest for a spot on Team Canada wasn’t derailed on the night of Backlund’s silver-stick ceremony.
If you follow the Flames on Instagram, you might have noticed he was also wearing yellow and blue over his customary dress shirt as he strolled toward the home locker room.
“Hopefully, no scouts or GMs saw that,” Weegar quipped. “I might have got cut because of that.”
There’s plenty of recent photo evidence of Weegar in Canada’s colours, too.
He was a standout for a golden group at the world championship in 2023, named the best defenceman at the springtime shindig.
His versatility — a right-hander who typically plays on his off-side — will certainly appeal to the Canadian brass. Beyond Calgary-raised Cale Makar, who is already locked in, the 30-year-old Weegar is in the mix with the likes of Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, Dougie Hamilton, Josh Morrissey, Alex Pietrangelo, Owen Power, Morgan Rielly, Shea Theodore and Devon Toews.
“It would be very special, of course,” Weegar told Postmedia. “I think it comes down to me having a big month. But at the same time, I’m playing for Calgary first. I’m focused on this team. I want to play hard for this team. And if playing hard and playing well for this team gets me on Team Canada, that’s perfect.
“It would obviously be an honour. It would be pretty emotional and I’d want to represent the country well. I just think about worlds and how much that meant to me, and this would be a step above probably. So it would be pretty special.”
Among Flames forwards, Backlund is the most likely to be tapped for a trip to the 4 Nations Face-Off. The tournament is set for Feb. 12 to 20 in Montreal and Boston.