- Jordan Staal handed Frederik Andersen the Stanley Cup first after Game 6
- Andersen didn’t dress for the clincher after a knee injury cost him the crease
- Read below for the goalie’s reaction to the moment he never saw coming
Frederik Andersen did not play a single second of Game 6. He still got the Stanley Cup before anyone else.
After Jordan Staal took the Cup from Gary Bettman and raised it overhead, the captain skated straight to Andersen and handed it over first. The 36-year-old goalie was not ready for it.
Andersen was asked about the handoff once the celebration settled.
“I was shocked. I was a deer in the headlights. I was not really ready for that, but it was a very cool moment. I obviously waited for that a long time and been dreaming of it for a long time.”
The gesture carried weight. Andersen started Carolina’s first 16 playoff games before everything changed. He hurt his knee in Game 2 of the Final, tried to grind through it in Game 3, then gave way to Brandon Bussi at the start of the third period.
He did not dress for the final three games. Andersen put his full equipment on anyway and watched the end of Game 6 from the locker room.
Hear from the Hurricanes after Game 6:
One person was on Andersen’s mind through it all. He thought about Claude Lemieux, his longtime agent and friend, who passed away on May 28.
“I’ll be proud to see my name next to his or close by. I’ll be very proud to see his name there and be able to look down to me.”
Bussi took the crease and never gave it back, but his teammates made sure Andersen got his moment. Carolina’s whole run is laid out in our Game 6 recap.
