Andersen takes next step
Soft-spoken by nature, goalie prepared for a leadership role in the locker room this season
Scot Prohaska, the southern California performance coach, is not a fortune teller. But it says something about his eye for athletic detail that he detected a difference in Frederik Andersen a couple of months back, this shortly after Andersen headed off to Maple Leafs training camp after another offseason spent grinding in Prohaska’s famed L.A. gym.
“I know sometimes he comes out a little slow on the season. I don’t think that’s going to happen this year,” Prohaska said.
Prohaska spoke those words in September, knowing full well that the month that ends in Halloween has been a relative horror show for the Maple Leafs goaltender. Andersen, in two previous Octobers as a Maple Leaf, put up a combined 8-10 win-loss record and an .886 save percentage — hardly stats befitting the No. 1 puckstopper of a Stanley Cup contender.
But this year, true to Prohaska’s prognostication (albeit with two more Leaf games to go before the calendar turns to November), the season has begun differently. After Wednesday’s 38-save gem in a 4-2 win over Winnipeg Andersen was leading the NHL in wins, at 5-3, with a five-on-five save percentage of .924 that ranked him 14th in the league. That’s clearly superior to the dregs-of-the-NHL form of previous Octobers.
If Prohaska, whose client list has included NFL starters and former NHLers such as Dwayne Roloson and Rob Blake, can say he saw it coming, he also has some insight into what’s changed. On one hand, there’s the physical side. After years of heavy offseason weightlifting that helped transform Andersen from an undisciplined, overweight Ducks prospect to a chiselled Maple Leafs workhorse who made more saves than any other NHL goaltender the past two seasons combined, this past summer Prohaska recommended a pullback on lifting. Now age 29, Andersen’s off-ice focus shifted to improving his mobility, along with his ability to move athletically.
“Weight lifting — it’s good to be strong. But you don’t need to be throwing around the big weights as a goalie,” Andersen said.
But Andersen’s continuing evolution hasn’t simply been physical. This past summer, Andersen spent part of his offseason researching leadership styles. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that head coach Mike Babcock has publicly challenged Andersen to become more of a voice of influence in the Maple Leafs dressing room.
“When he arrived (in 2016) he was just trying to be a starter. Now he’s been a starter. Now he’s got to become a big team leader,” Babcock said last month. “So you’ve got to lead in all areas, in fitness, in mental toughness, in practice habits. And I think Freddie’s committed to all that.”
Andersen, as a soft-spoken introvert by nature, said he spent time investigating how he might carve out a niche as a member of Toronto’s leadership group. Prohaska, who had a previous career in finance and also works as an executive performance consultant, walked the goaltender through a handful of leadership styles that have been traditionally employed in the sports sphere. Clearly Andersen wasn’t suited to being a dictatorial type or a rah-rah guy. But having observed Andersen in his gym all these offseasons, Prohaska, whose regulars include elite athletes from the UFC to the NFL and beyond, knew Andersen possessed a quiet presence that commanded respect. The past couple of years the goaltender had become a go-to resource for younger pros at the gym who often approached Andersen for advice.
“His advice is always so understated and grounded. That’s how he’s always lived his life,” Prohaska said. “He doesn’t get caught up in the hype. He doesn’t get caught up in the party life. He doesn’t get caught up in trying to manipulate his career. He realizes you’ve got to do the right things, live a certain way, and everything else usually falls into place from there. That’s what he was preaching a lot to the younger guys in the gym, ‘Hey, I saw on Instagram you were out Friday, Saturday and Sunday drinking in Newport Beach. That’s the process you used in the amateurs. You think that’s going to cut it trying to make a pro team?’
That bit of scolding, Prohaska points out, was targeted toward a hockey prospect who has yet to make the big league. In the Leafs dressing room, Andersen figures to play a different role. Prohaska said his makeup aligns with what leadership experts call an attunement style.
“Joe Torre (manager of four World Series championship teams with the New York Yankees) was an attunement leader,” Prohaska explained. “It means you’re always attuned to the emotional climate — the mental and the emotional state of the team. I think Freddie’s brilliant at that. … He just wants guys to be steady throughout the season, not so many ups and downs, and keep developing and get better and better. He feels he can provide some guidance in that area. That was kind of cool to see this summer. Him being kind of an introverted guy, I’d never heard him talk like that before.”
Said Andersen, explaining his reasoning: “I’m not that young anymore. I still feel young. But it’s my sixth year in the league and seventh over here (in North America). So it’s just a matter of picking up stuff and evolving, and trying to, not only get better on the ice, but also help out other guys and become more of a leader that way.”
That he’s an important voice in Leafland isn’t necessarily new. Last season the goaltender sometimes came off as the conscience of the squad, especially when he called out teammates for a “lack of effort” during a four-game losing streak back in January. Toronto won 10 of its next 12 after Andersen publicly demanded a “different attitude” from the club. Which is not to say he’ll be making a bid for the captaincy anytime soon.
“As a goalie it’s going to be different than as the centreman or a captain — it’s going to be a different type of leadership,” Andersen said. “It’s just a matter of how can you find a way to contribute to what’s already a great leadership group.”
With John Tavares having joined a team that already included the likes of Patrick Marleau and Morgan Rielly, not to mention young stars Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, the Leafs shouldn’t lack for an internal compass. But there’s clearly a reason Babcock tapped Andersen. Maybe it’s an acknowledgement that, given how Babcock’s leadership style demands results by any means necessary, someone needs to be plugged into dressing-room realities a coach can’t or won’t observe.
As one long-time observer of Babcock’s methods explained it: “If you’re emotionally or mentally off, (Babcock) is not going to fix it. He expects you to fix it.”
That a teammate or two might appreciate some help fixing it from a veteran peer, given the potential complications of working in the world’s most rabid hockey market, only stands to reason.
Andersen, when he’s not stopping pucks, sounds like a man ready to do what he can to squelch any such internal bleeding.
“Everyone doesn’t have to be the guy that speaks out the most,” Andersen said. “Everyone can’t be the same. You’ve got to find ways to do something that comes natural to you. And it can’t be forced. It’s definitely something I’m excited about. Hopefully it reflects on the ice, too.”
So far, so good.