‘INSTANT CHILLS’: LIFELONG FAN JOINS FLAMES
Rearguard from Red Deer eager to don flaming C after being acquired in trade
Red Deer has always been a blurred line in the Battle of Alberta.
When it comes to NHL allegiances, the city is divided. Heck, some households are divided.
Calgary Flames newbie Andrew Nielsen — acquired in Tuesday’s minor-league swap with the Toronto Maple Leafs — hails from one of those households.
Nielsen, honest, has always supported the southerners. Ditto for his dad, Jeff.
And what about his younger brother? Well … let’s just say Ryan could be unwrapping some red on Christmas morning.
“My brother is an Oilers fan,” Nielsen confirmed Wednesday afternoon as he awaited an outbound flight in Toronto.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him put a Flames jersey on. But I mean, if my last name is on the back, I’m sure he’d put one on in a heartbeat. So, hopefully, we can get him converted the other way down Highway 2 pretty quick.”
Before Nielsen’s loved ones are driving through Innisfail and Airdrie, by Bowden and Balzac, to cheer him on at the Saddledome, the 22-year-old defenceman will have to campaign for a call-up from the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat. He’ll report to the farm club as soon as he can secure a U.S. work visa.
Nielsen has been mostly an odd-man out this fall with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, scratched for all but eight games with the defending Calder Cup champions. He has counted just three assists.
His stat line might not suggest it, but this is an intriguing addition for the Flames. At six-foot four and 218 pounds, Nielsen adds some beef to the defensive depth chart. Word is, he has a cannon of a shot.
The rearguard from Red Deer proved he could produce as an AHL rookie in 2016-17, racking up 14 goals and 39 points that winter, but he hasn’t enjoyed the same success since.
Nielsen arrived in exchange for forward Morgan Klimchuk, who was also raised a Flames fan and lived his childhood dream for one night in February against the Boston Bruins.
While the 23-year-old Klimchuk has that lone NHL appearance on his resume, Nielsen is still working toward his first spin at the highest level.
“I think, honestly, I’m at a good place in my game. I just need the opportunity,” said Nielsen, a third-round selection of the Maple Leafs in the 2015 NHL Draft. “I want people to know I can make a good first pass, that I can skate, that I can be trusted defensively. …
“I feel like fans should be expecting me to be a big, physical presence on the back end and in the defensive zone. I love to jump up in the rush, to be the fourth man in the rush, and make plays over the red-line and in the offensive zone. I quarterback the power play really well, I think. I have a good shot, good hockey sense.
“I’m just looking to get the opportunity to grow my game more and develop into the player the Flames want me to be.”
Because this guy wants to skate for the home side at the Saddledome. Always has.
Because he wants his own taste of the Battle of Alberta. (Preferably, with brother Ryan cheering for the gents in red.)
“Instant chills … Honestly, that was the first thing I felt,” Nielsen said, reliving Tuesday’s trade call. “I always kind of envisioned myself, if I ever got the chance to sign in Calgary or if a trade presented itself to go to Calgary, that I would always want to try to get there. So I’m very lucky and fortunate that this happened early in my career.
“I’m going to come into the organization and not try to disrupt things, but just bring my overall game and play the way that I feel like I haven’t been put in position to recently in Toronto. I’m just so excited and so looking forward to the opportunity.”
AROUND THE BOARDS
A lot of folks around both the city and the Saddledome will be rooting for Klimchuk, the Calgary-raised left winger who headed the opposite direction in that swap with the Maple Leafs. An alumnus of the Shaw Meadows minor hockey association and later the Calgary Buffaloes AAA program, Klimchuk was hoping for more pinch-me moments with his hometown team, but not many locals wear the Flaming C for even one night … Flames defenceman Dalton Prout is back with the big club after a weeklong conditioning stint in Stockton.