Andersen 'shocked' by Stanley Cup handoff from Staal

LAS VEGAS -- Frederik Andersen watched Carolina Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal take the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, raise it over his head and skate around with it in triumph.

This was the crowning moment for the Hurricanes following their 3-0 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday that clinched their first championship since 2006. It’s something Andersen has been dreaming about for 13 seasons in the NHL, but he never expected what happened next.

Suddenly, Staal was skating toward him and his teammates moved aside, making it clear the 36-year-old goalie was going to be handed the Cup first.

“I was shocked,” Andersen said. “I was a deer in the headlights. “Yeah, I was not really ready for that, but it was a very cool moment. I think I obviously waited for that a long time and been dreaming of it for a long time.

“So, yeah, that felt good.”

So much went through Andersen’s mind as he finally reached what he’d been working toward for so long, including the past five seasons with the Hurricanes. While he had the Cup over his head, he saw his father and the rest of his family in the stands.

Foremost in his thoughts, though, was Claude Lemieux, his longtime agent and friend who passed away on May 28.

“I'll never really probably move past that,” Andersen said. “But we will do what we can. Keeping it in our thoughts, it's something we have to battle through.”

Lemieux won the Stanley Cup four times as a player, and Andersen knows Lemieux would’ve enjoyed this celebration as much as he did.

“I'll be proud to see my name next to his or close by,” Andersen said. “I don't know how close they'll be, but they'll definitely be there for a bit, I think. … I’ll be very proud to see his name there and be able to look down to me.”

It had been a nerve-racking night for Andersen because he didn’t play. He revealed after the game that he injured his knee in a 4-3 overtime win in Game 2 of the Final. He tried to play through it in a 5-4 double-overtime loss in Game 3 before Brandon Bussi replaced him at the start of the third period.

Andersen became a stressed spectator while Bussi played the remainder of the series. He did not dress for the final three games, but put his full equipment on to watch the end of Game 6 from the locker room.

"I was nervously shaking the whole time in the back and trying to watch," Andersen said. "Not something I liked. I think anyone who's playing would say that."

Bussi made things a bit easier by closing out the Golden Knights with a 22-save shutout.

“I'm just happy that ‘Bus’ was amazing like he was,” Andersen said. “And I can't really say enough about how impressive that was to come in like that and perform that way like he has all season. It's impressive the way he obviously sat out for a while. He didn't play a lot of games. He had a lot of practice time, and just the way he put in work to stay ready was awesome to see.”

Although Andersen didn’t play in the last three games of the series, his teammates recognized how big of a role he had in helping them win the Cup. He was 13-2 with a 1.89 goals-against average, .910 save percentage and three shutouts in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including 12-1 with a 1.41 GAA, .931 save percentage and three shutouts in the first three rounds. 

“He’s the reason why we’re obviously here,” Bussi said. “His play throughout the playoffs was awesome and he’s as much a part of it as anyone else.” 

That’s among the reasons Staal decided to give the Cup to Andersen first. He’d been through a lot of the tough times with Carolina, including losing in the Eastern Conference Final in 2023 and 2025.

Andersen played in the Western Conference Final back in his second NHL season with the Anaheim Ducks in 2015, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7, and played on some good teams during his five seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs (2016-2021), but was never able to get over the postseason hump.

Until now.

“Obviously, he’s been grinding the longest and I think he got us going here in the playoffs,” Staal said. “Unfortunate to be out of the lineup. I’m sure he wanted to keep it going and he couldn’t, but I figured he’d be a great start, and I think I'm just proud of the way he played for us and gave us a great rest early in the playoffs and a chance to keep moving forward.”

Holding the Cup was everything Andersen dreamed it would be. 

“I've always heard people say it's heavier than you think, but it didn't feel too bad,” he said. “It wasn't too bad. Yeah, it felt good. It felt right.”

After his turn with the Cup, Andersen handed it to forward Taylor Hall, who scored the game-winning goal at 3:47 of the first period.

After Hall, the handoff list went as follows: Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin, Jordan Martinook, Shayne Gostisbehere, William Carrier, Nicolas Deslauriers, Sean Walker, Jalen Chatfield, Mark Jankowski, Eric Robinson, Andrei Svechnikov, Nikolaj Ehlers, Seth Jarvis, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, K'Andre Miller, Bussi, Mike Reilly, Jackson Blake, Logan Stankoven, Alexander Nikishin, Pyotr Kochetkov and coach Rod Brind’Amour.

"I just feel proud of the team we have here,” Andersen, who, along with Ehlers, joined Lars Eller as the only players from Denmark to win the Stanley Cup, said. “It showed throughout many years, but throughout this year specifically, in this series. There's been so many guys stepping up at certain times, and it just really shows how good of a team we've been."