Andersson scores game-winner for Flames, then gets named to Swedish national team for 4 Nations

Rasmus Andersson was named to the Swedish team for the upcoming Four nations tournament in February, 2025 (Photo: X@NHLFlames)

It was a wild 24 hours for the Flames’ Swedish defenceman Rasmus Andersson.

Tuesday night, he scored the game-winning goal as the Flames dumped the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 in an emotional game where the Flames paid tribute to the late Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.

Then Wednesday morning, Andersson discovered he’s been named to the Swedish roster for the upcoming Four Nations tournament.

It’s a huge honour and well-deserved for the Flames defenceman, who said he was thrilled to be able to play on his national team for the first time since he represented Sweden in a U-16 tournament a decade ago.

“It means a lot,” he said. “It means you’ve done something good. It’s the first time in a long time that I get to play on the national team and it’s something I’m super excited about.

“I couldn’t be more happy and proud that I’ve made the team and I’m really looking forward to (playing) in this tournament.”

Flames head coach Ryan Huska said the nod was overdue and welcome.

“It is some recognition of what he has done over the years and how he’s made himself a better player,” Huska said.

“When you get someone who gets to go to an event like this, he comes back with a little bit more swagger, a little bit more confidence and maybe more of a belief knowing that yep, I am one of the elite players in the league – and when you get that (sort of recognition), there’s a tendency to bring other people along.”

The other Flames player with a chance to be named to the Swedish roster was Mikael Backlund but he wasn't.

A half-dozen former Flames were named to teams, including Jakob Markstrom (Sweden) and Elias Lindholm (Sweden), Matthew Tkachuk (U.S.), Noah Hanifin (U.S.), Sam Bennett (Canada) and Juuso Valimaki (Finland).

Former Calgarians Cale Makar and goaltender Adin Hill were also named to the Canadian roster.

The tournament features teams from Canada, the U.S., Finland and Sweden. The first game, between Finland and the U.S., takes place Feb. 13 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

With files from CTV's Glenn Campbell