"We wanna prove the doubters wrong": Andersson says Flames are excited for upcoming season
Despite a tumultuous and drama-filled 2022-23 season, Rasmus Andersson says he and his Calgary Flames teammates are excited to turn things around.
Heading into the 2022-23 campaign, the Flames were considered by many to be a Stanley Cup contender. However, the vast majority of the dressing room quickly turned on former head coach Darryl Sutter, which disrupted team chemistry and resulted in them missing the playoffs.
After the frustrating season, several players entering the final year of their contracts have expressed hesitancy when it comes to signing extensions. However, despite that hesitancy, Andersson says that each and every player on the team is looking forward to returning to Calgary for the upcoming season.
“We wanna prove everyone wrong, that we are a good team. We lost 17 games in overtime, that hasn’t happened before,” Andersson said during a sit-down interview with the 32 Thoughts podcast. “If we win five of those, we’re in playoffs by three, four points. I think we all have that chip on our shoulder this year. We want to prove the doubters wrong.”
Despite what was a down year for the majority of the Flames roster, Andersson was his usual solid self, registering a career-high 11 goals along with 49 points in 79 outings. He also displayed great leadership throughout, leading many to believe he could be the team’s next captain. While he explained that the Flames have several great candidates, he did admit that it would be a tremendous honour to be handed that role.
“There’s been a lot of talk about it,” Andersson said when asked about potentially being the Flames’ next captain. “Let’s put it this way: it’s something you would not turn down. No player in the league would ever turn it down. I would obviously love to be the captain of the Calgary Flames, but I feel like we have a lot of good leaders on our team. Whoever [Craig Conroy] and [Ryan Huska] pick is going to be the right pick.”
While there continues to be a lot of uncertainty about the future of this team, Andersson has continued to rave about the Flames organization whenever asked. Whether or not he gets named captain remains to be seen, but there is zero doubt that the 26-year-old has become a fan favourite in Calgary.
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