Flames alum Rasmus Andersson preaches patience amid rebuild

LAS VEGAS — Rasmus Andersson knows what Calgary Flames fans are going through right now.

He spent nine years with the organization, arriving as a 21-year-old and leaving as a 29-year-old. He built a family in Calgary and experienced the highs and lows of playing in a market where hockey means an awful lot to people.

So when he sees his former team struggling through the earliest stages of a rebuild, he understands the frustration. He also knows there's a bigger picture at play.

“You never want to see your old team struggle, right?” said the Vegas defender.

“But at the same time, they went out and said it's a rebuild, and this is what the fans asked for.”

It's a difficult balance for everyone involved. Fans want to see progress, young players need time to develop, and management is trying to build a team capable of competing for years to come. This will take time. Lots of it.

Andersson's point isn't that Calgary supporters shouldn't be frustrated. It's that rebuilding is rarely a straight line, and patience becomes particularly important when there are growing pains, like the team’s 1-6 start, arrive.

“They can't get impatient,” said Andersson, who has long monitored the pulse of the fans closer than most.

“I don't read about it the same way as I did, but it still pops up here and there — I still see some comments like, ‘fire the coach, do this, do this.’

“Did guys think you could win seven in a row to start the season when you guys go out and say you want to rebuild? Like, you just can't have it both ways.”

32 Thoughts: The Podcast Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

The organization’s commitment to rebuilding wasn't going to happen without painful decisions, difficult seasons and the departure of players who had become fixtures in the community, like Andersson.

He remains close to several former teammates and still cares deeply about the people who helped shape his career.

It's easy to understand why the results sting. Andersson was part of a veteran core that spent years trying to make things work, alongside players such as MacKenzie Weegar and Mikael Backlund. Now, with several familiar faces gone, the roster looks considerably different. Andersson noticed it when he checked the Flames lineup before Thursday’s loss to his new team, the Golden Knights.