There’s nothing that gets a GMs blood pressure up like losing a player to injury when they aren’t even playing for their team. Lou Lamoriello may need his blood pressure checked because it appears that his starting goaltender, Frederik Andersen, has been injured.
Andersen was in net for Denmark in an Olympic qualifying match against Slovenia Friday when a teammate crashed into him at the top of the crease and sent Andersen out of the game. In the video below he can be seen to land awkwardly on his shoulder. However, there is no official word at the time of publication as to what his injury is or how severe it might be.
Andersen has also been tabbed to play for Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, so it’s not just Maple Leafs management who is concerned by the potential injury to Andersen.
https://twitter.com/aj_ranger/status/771726196904235008
Andersen was acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks, and was promptly signed to a five-year contract extension. The Leafs clearly believe that he’s the future of their net, so a long-term injury would be hugely disappointing for a team hoping their rebuild begins to round the corner this season.
Additionally, the frustration from the team would probably be a little higher than normal with the murky situation surrounding the Olympics. It’s not clear that NHL players are going to participate, but with no definitive answer, many players are playing in qualifiers for countries that have hope to play their way into the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Slovenia wound up winning the game 3-0. Denmark will not qualify for the Olympics.
UPDATE:
Andersen is flying to Toronto to be examined by team doctors, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. There’s still no sense of the severity of the injury, but it is being referred to as an upper-body injury.