In the 2023-24 NHL season, MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson played more ice time together than any other two members of the Calgary Flames: 947 minutes and 15 seconds, to be exact, and they were still teammates as recently as this season.
On Friday, they repeatedly punched each other in the face.
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No matter how many dinner outings and golf rounds the pair shared over their three and a half seasons as teammates, the Stanley Cup Playoffs aren’t the time to exchange pleasantries.
“Just two competitors competing against each other,” Weegar said of the tussle. “Obviously, in a playoff series like this, there’s no friends out there. It’s not personal.”
Andersson is responsible for the cut and swollen left eyebrow Weegar sported after the game.
“He got me good, but that’s alright — I like it. I like a little blood.”
The two began this season as teammates with the Flames. They were in the visiting locker room for the Utah Mammoth’s home opener, and Andersson even scored the first goal of the season at the Delta Center.
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After missing the playoffs on a mere tiebreaker last year, the Flames had high hopes for this season. But when it was clear that they wouldn’t achieve much and that Andersson, one of their biggest stars, was unlikely to re-sign, they went full rebuild mode.
It began with Andersson’s trade to the Vegas Golden Knights in January. Weegar went next with a trade to the Mammoth a few days before the trade deadline, after which Nazem Kadri returned to the Colorado Avalanche in a deal that wasn’t announced until more than an hour after the deadline had passed.
It’s entirely possible that the winner of the ongoing playoff series between the Mammoth and Golden Knights could end up facing Kadri, one of the league’s most notorious pests, in the Western Conference Finals.
If it gets to that point, fans can expect at least the same level of competitiveness between the former teammates.
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MacKenzie Weegar, the goal scorer
Weegar scored four goals in his 79 regular-season games this year. Through just three playoff games, he’s already halfway to that total with a pair of goals.
He has Andersson to thank for the first one, as it almost looked like Andersson kicked Weegar’s shot from the point in Game 2 into the net.
In Game 3, Weegar scored the first-ever playoff goal at the Delta Center on another point shot.
“I saw one fan when I banged on the glass,” Weegar said of the experience. “We had a special moment. I’m not sure who that was, but I’m sure he’ll remember it, along with myself.”
Weegar added an assist in the second period for three total points in the series. He’s now tied with seven others as the series leaders in the points column.
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The veteran defenseman still has some adjusting to do on the defensive side of the puck, but he looks more and more comfortable with each passing game.
He’s beginning to show why the Mammoth valued him so highly when they acquired him.