Flames Olympics News: Andersson, Backlund, Weegar, Pospisil

Flames’ head coach Ryan Huska chimed in during his press conference, saying, “I’m pumped for him,” and added that “he is very deserving” of the selection.

Mikael Backlund Snubbed From Team Sweden

Sticking with Team Sweden, Flames’ captain Mikael Backlund was snubbed and has said he is only on the injury replacement list for the Swedes.

Backlund said he found out before Christmas that he was going to be left off the roster. In his interview with the media following the announcement, Backlund said, “I feel like I’ve played my best hockey since I became captain.”

Backlund also remarked that he “never expected” to make the team because of how good Sweden is. He is a humble guy and obviously won’t make too big a fuss, because that’s what we here in the media are for.

When it comes to the decision-makers for all these teams, it is hard; you have to pick between the best players in the world. But in Backlund’s case in Sweden, it’s safe to say the choice to leave him at home is just flat out wrong when Pontus Holmberg was named to the roster.

Holmberg is obviously going to be a role player, killing penalties and so on. A needed skill set on a team, but one that Backlund also has. In addition to that, he has double the goals that Holmberg has and more than double his points.

Even further, Backlund is the captain of a team in a high-pressure Canadian market and is thriving, while Holmberg was run out of town by the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase, who were fed up with his lack of impact on the ice.

Other countries are talking about Connor Bedard, Sam Bennett, Jason Robertson, and Adam Fox being snubs, but I think this might be the biggest omission on an Olympic roster yet. Backlund is a much better version of Holmberg, in my opinion, with much more experience.

Mackenzie Weegar Confirms Injury Replacement Status for Team Canada

With how talented Team Canada’s blue line is, it wasn’t a huge shock that Mackenzie Weegar was left off the roster after a slow start to the season and being one of Canada’s final cuts from their 4 Nations Face-Off roster last year.

However, Weegar confirmed that he would remain in the Olympics protocol as an injury replacement option for Canada before the tournament starts.

While we won’t know for sure what that list looks like, Canada has other top defencemen being left off the team, such as Matthew Schaefer and Jakob Chychrun. I still think Weegar has a great chance to be the guy who gets the call to replace someone if an injury were to happen to someone not named Cale Makar.

Weegar is a guy who can play both sides of the ice; he can run a power play and kill penalties, and he is an excellent puck mover. He also has international experience playing for Canada at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship, where he served as an alternate captain, and again in 2025.

While no one’s wishing for it, it will be interesting to see who gets the call if one of Canada’s blueliners gets injured before the Olympics kick off.

Martin Pospisil Will Be With Slovakia

This is not new news; it’s just a reminder that Martin Pospisil was one of Slovakia’s first six announced to their Olympic roster.

Last season, the 25-year-old scored four goals and recorded 25 points in 81 games for the Flames, and since the 2023-24 season, Pospisil has 20 points in 20 games for Slovakia across several international tournaments. He would have likely been joined by Flames’ rookie Sam Honzek. However, he lost his chance due to a season-ending injury.

Pospisil has yet to get on the ice for the Flames this season after suffering an injury back in training camp. There has not been much news about his return timeline, which will make it interesting to see if he can get back healthy before the games kick off in late February. If not, that will be a huge loss for the Slovaks, who lack some serious firepower compared to the best teams at the Olympics.

With the announcements out of the way, the Flames can solely focus on their push for the playoffs, as they sit one point out of a wild-card spot heading into their matchup with the Nashville Predators on Hockey Night in Canada.