Andersen can leave October behind
ANAHEIM— As a native of the Greater Toronto Area and a close friend and former teammate of Frederik Andersen’s, Anaheim Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano would know as well as anybody.
When Cogliano sizes up the match between Andersen’s laid-back personality and Toronto’s hockey-focused ferocity, he sees it a combination with enduring possibilities.
“I really believe (Andersen) is a guy that can play in that type of market. When he was traded there, in my mind, he was a perfect fit for them,” Cogliano said Wednesday. “He plays like his (laidback) personality. And that’s something that’s been beneficial off the ice as well as on the ice. And I think he’s going to need to continue that, because there’ll be ups and downs, for sure.”
As the Maple Leafs continued their annual California road trip with Wednesday’s game against the Ducks at the Honda Center, Toronto coach Mike Babcock sounded like a man ready to see more in the way of ups from his six-footfour starting netminder. Asked about Cogliano’s observation on Andersen having the correct stuff to weather Toronto’s pressures, Babcock was direct in his assessment.
“I haven’t seen it in Octobers,” he said. “But I’ve seen it after that each year. But we’re through October, right? I saw that, too. So obviously we’re excited for him.”
The Leafs can only hope Andersen’s performance in the season’s opening month is merely an aberrational hiccup. Last year in October, after arriving in Toronto in an off-season trade and signing a five-year deal worth $5 million a season, Andersen sported an ugly .876 save percentage and a goals-againstaverage of 3.67. Even worse, he won just twice in seven starts. But last year, at least, Andersen had plenty of reasons for his poor work, including an injury in Olympic qualifying that kept him out of training camp and put him behind schedule in his preparations.
This season there’s been no readily accessible excuse for Andersen’s lessthan-world-class numbers. His October save percentage of .896 was dismal. His goals-against average of 3.46 wasn’t much better. No NHL goaltender allowed more goals in the season’s first calendar month; mind you, only one played more minutes. Andersen, at least, managed to pile up six wins in 11 starts.
But as the calendar flipped, Babcock was clearly looking for better from the red-headed Dane.
“Freddy trained as hard as he ever trained in his life, did everything this summer, is fitter than he’s ever been. So usually that transfers into a better start. It didn’t in the same way, numbers-wise. It did for him wins-wise,” Babcock said. “But the reality is, we need Freddy to be what he’s capable of being. You need your goaltending to be top notch, and we have a top-notch goalie . . . and we expect him to be good.”
Andersen was good in Monday’s 3-2 loss in San Jose, keeping the Leafs in a lopsided game by stopping 35 shots. And perhaps Wednesday’s trip here could be a springboard to a better run.
Andersen, after all, began his pro career with the Ducks, playing three seasons here before he was dealt to Toronto. And while Andersen was with the Leafs when they came here last season, Wednesday was slated to be his first start at Honda Center in a visiting uniform.
When the Leafs ventured here in March, it was backup Curtis McElhinney who absorbed the 5-2 defeat. Andersen was held out of the game after playing the night before in Los Angeles.
“I think it’s something he’s been looking forward to. I’ve been talking to him. And coming back and playing (here) — I think he wants to beat us,” Cogliano said.
“It’s as simple as that. There’s motivation for him to win and have success.”
Andersen, for his part, has stated repeatedly that he’s of the belief he’s playing better than his numbers indicate. Still, if the numbers didn’t matter, nobody would keep track. Andersen only began to announce himself as a dependable force when the calendar turned to November last year. He reeled off three straight wins to start the month. Only then did the doubts about him begin to dissipate.
“It’s hard to believe that an NHL player wouldn’t have confidence, because you think they’re that good. But it’s true. It’s fleeting,” Babcock said Wednesday. “So when you’ve got it going, you feel good about yourself, you’ve got jump and you’re loose.
“And when you don’t have ’er going, you spend all your time wearing yourself out thinking about it, and trying to get it going. But the secret: If you work hard all the time when you’ve got ’er going, you keep ’er going.”
The 28-year-old Andersen, who spent the bulk of his off-season here in Southern California, spent Tuesday night having dinner with Cogliano at Nobu, the Newport Beach sushi hot spot.
Cogliano called into question the liveliness of Andersen’s reflexes.
“He didn’t reach for his wallet too quickly,” Cogliano said.
Andersen suggested Cogliano’s picking up of the cheque was a rare occurrence.
“He owed me — that goes without saying,” Andersen said.
Theirs is a relationship that appears to sustain itself at least partly on gentle ribbing.
While marvelling at how Cogliano, 30, was slated to play in his 798th consecutive game on Wednesday, the longest active streak and fourthlongest in NHL history, Andersen couldn’t help but toss in a quick jab at an old pal.
Said Andersen of Cogliano’s iron man run, smiling slyly as he spoke: “I think maybe it’s because he doesn’t go in the corners too much.”