RALEIGH – Staring blankly across the room at the Stanley Cup, Rasmus Andersson didn’t try hiding the mix of emotions swirling in his head.
Four wins away from hoisting hockey’s most prized trophy, and he’s grieving the man who helped get him there.
Two days after the high of clinching the Western Conference title with his Golden Knights, he was hit by the news that his longtime agent, Claude Lemieux, was found dead.
Understandable then, that while he sat to talk to a trio of scribes on the eve of his first Stanley Cup final, Andersson wasn’t his bubbly self.
“Yeah, it's been tough,” said Andersson, staring blankly ahead at the Stanley Cup on the other side of the room.
“Of course, I’m really happy sitting here. But do I wish with all my heart that Claude was going to be here with us? Yes.”
He’s proud. And he’s shattered.
He’s living the dream. And he’s living a nightmare.
That’s the emotional tightrope the 29-year-old Swedish defenceman is walking, and for a player who has always worn his heart on his sleeve, he couldn’t pretend otherwise.
“The first time I met Claude, I think I was 13 or 14 years old, and he's been there every step of the way,” said Andersson, whose older brother was also signed by Lemieux.
“He was there when I played in Sweden; he was the one who brought me over to Barrie. He was there in the American League. He was there in the NHL. He did my first contract, and he was going to do my next one too. So it's tough. It's been a tough few days.”
Lemieux wasn’t just an agent. He was a presence. A confidant. A dad on the road. A beer after practice. A voice of reason when the media machine started swirling. A straight shooter when Andersson needed honesty more than comfort.
“One of the first things he told me was, ‘the sky’s the limit for you,’” he said.
“He was one of those I could call about just about anything. Almost that safety blanket for me. He’d watch a game and could tell if I was mad, if I played good or bad right away. I miss him dearly.”
The hockey world is still reeling from the news. Days after Lemieux carried the torch into Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final - smiling, proud - his son found him lifeless in the family’s high-end furniture store. Authorities ruled it a suicide.
Andersson had watched the Bell Centre love-in with a smile, talking with his wife about how good they thought Lemieux looked.
“I was proud for him to see that, and how cool it was,” he said.
“He texted me after we clinched, and after we made it through. And then I'm on the golf course with my dad, and I get the call from a Swedish guy telling me what happened. I don't think anyone saw it coming. It’s just one of those things you wish wasn't true.”
Carolina netminder Freddie Andersen, another of Lemieux’s longest-tenured clients, had to play Game 5 under that cloud. Now Andersson is living the same nightmare, trying to speak through it, and honour the man who helped guide him for more than half his life.
What crushed him wasn’t just the loss. It was the timing. The proximity to the dream. The fact that Lemieux had been so proud of Freddie and Rasmus, and the lives they’d built.
“He flew over to Calgary to start the year, and kept raving about how excited he was to get grandkids,” said Andersson, whose relationship with Lemieux grew in Barrie, where he played alongside his son Brendan.
“I know how proud he is of both me and Freddie. It makes it more special and harder that he’s not here to see it. I can talk for hours about him. I can’t say good enough things about him, and how much he’s meant for me personally.”
This was already a year that tested Andersson.
He knew he’d be traded by Calgary. Nearly ended up in Boston in a sign-and-trade. Instead landed in Vegas. Went to his first Olympics for Sweden but played sparingly. Watched the Golden Knights sag. Then watched them surge after the late-season hiring of John Tortorella.
Now this.
He talked about the calls, especially this year, with advice. The arguments. The moments Lemieux called him crazy. The moments he needed someone to tell him he wasn’t.
He talked about how they worked together on his future, how they planned for a Cup run, how Lemieux supported his decision to chase a winner instead of chasing security.
And then he talked about the last few days.
“You’re just trying to be there somehow, somewhat, for their family.”
The way Lemieux was always there for him.
And he knows exactly what Lemieux would remind him of if he were here.
The sky’s the limit.
