Nielsen brings Calder Cup to Lethbridge for a visit
Andrew Nielsen couldn’t wait to get back into the dressing room and capture a little video footage of what was no doubt the highlight of his hockey career.
Just one small problem: his phone wouldn’t stop ringing long enough to allow him to do that.
It was a little over two months ago and the former defenceman for the Lethbridge Hurricanes stood in a euphoric Toronto Marlies dressing room, having just won the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup.
Understandably, Nielsen was intent to get to his stall to grab his phone and get some footage of the moment.
But the congratulatory calls and texts were already flooding in.
“I ran into the room after we won to get my phone to get videos and I could even get a video in because my phone wouldn’t stop ringing,” said Nielsen. “It was so special. It was something I’ll never forget in those four or five days just celebrating with the boys in Toronto was unbelievable. Then once everyone disperses you kind of think ‘You know what? This exact team is never going to be together again, but you’re never going to forget anybody.’ It was so special.”
On Tuesday, the 23-year-old product of Red Deer brought the Calder Cup to southern Alberta to share with the team he played with from 2014 to 2016. He then brought the hardware to the Exhibition Grounds as Whoop-Up Days kicked off for photo opportunities with fans.
“It’s pretty awesome. I learned how to play hockey here and kind of became a young man here,” said Nielsen, who put up 70 points in 71 games in his last season in Lethbridge in 2015-16. “This is where I got my start in major hockey, so to bring it back here and to share with the people that help get me there was pretty special.
“There aren’t many guys left from the team from when I played, but just to be able to go see some of the guys at camp that have been kicking around the last couple of days has been good. To see the room, I walked through the room and they’ve done a lot of stuff to it to make it more of an NHL-looking locker room. It’s nice to come back to get back to the junior roots and you see where it all began. They put the ice in today and it looks good. It’s been awesome being back so far.”
The majority of the names and face have changed since his last game in a Hurricanes jersey in 2016, but those teammates from yester-year were quick to congratulate the newlycrowned AHL champion, in some cases before Nielsen could even get to his phone in the dressing room.
“I got a text from pretty much everybody, Wonger (Tyler Wong), Cory Millette, Jamal Watson, Nick Walters, Giorgio Estephan and (Jordy) Bellerieve, everybody gave me a text — Kade Jensen, one of my good buddies,” he said. “I was only here two years, but the bonds you build here last forever. I still see lots of these guys now and now it’s Giorgio signing in Toronto with the Marlies. It’s going to be good to have him back and hopefully feeding him on the power play again this year. You build relationships with everybody in junior and these were probably the best two years of my hockey career, personally off the ice (as well).”
In keeping with those off-ice relationships he established in his two winters in Lethbridge, Nielsen also made sure the Calder Cup made its way to his Lethbridge billet family, Jim and Kristin DeMone and their children, Jake and Owen.
“They were great for me in my time here with their kids, Jake and Owen, going back and seeing them and going to where we used to play mini sticks and have wrestling matches on the couch and play street hockey in the middle of winter was special,” said Nielsen. “People don’t realize how big billet families are for kids coming out of high school and moving away from home for the first time. You’re on your own, but you’re not really on your own with pretty much a second mom and dad. For me, family is a big thing. So going to a house where family was number one and to be treated like one of the kids was what I wanted and I definitely got that and I can’t thank them enough for everything that they did for me. It’s awesome to see them and share this with them, too.”
Having won the Calder Cup June 14, it’s been an abbreviated summer for Nielsen as he gets ready to return to the Maple Leafs organization that drafted him in the third round and 65th overall in the 2015 NHL entry draft.
“I’m not used to only having a month and a half off,” he said. “I stayed in Toronto all summer last year, so it was nice to get back here and get back home and be in Alberta for the whole summer and just relax, go back to my hometown gym, train there, skate with the guys that I grew up with and just see friends and family and go to Sylvan Lake during the afternoon and spend some time on the pier. It was just kind of relaxing and getting away from the city and taking a step back and realizing this is my home. It was nice to get back. I’m still kind of upset at myself that it took me this long to get back to Lethbridge, but it’s been awesome being back in Alberta.”
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