By Canadian Press

Leafs’ Andersen says struggles are mental, but believes he’s ‘able to do this job’

Oct 26, 2016 | 3:45 PM

TORONTO — Perhaps nobody can understand the current plight of embattled Maple Leafs netminder Frederik Andersen quite like James Reimer, the longest tenured goalie in Toronto over the past decade.

Now the backup to Roberto Luongo in Florida, Reimer went through a series of wild highs and perilous lows over six seasons as a Leaf. His approach to the tough times was “to bury your head in the sand.”

“Everyone’s going to voice their opinion, and everyone’s allowed to do that,” said Reimer, who returns to Toronto as an opponent for the first time on Thursday night. “People can boo, people can cheer, it’s up to them. (But) it doesn’t really matter.”

Andersen got shelled for a career-worst seven goals on Tuesday night, the fourth time in five starts as a Leaf that he’s allowed four goals or more. The 27-year-old says his struggles are between the ears right now. He hinted at trying too hard and needing to relax, his new role as an undisputed No. 1 and pricey five-year contract likely ratcheting up the pressure of his early days in Toronto.

His primary focus at practice Wednesday said it all: “have fun and compete.” His goal was to get back to winning because losing (he’s won once in five starts) made for miserable times.

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“I think anywhere you are you’re going to have tough nights and it’s about bouncing back and showing what you’re made of,” said a stoic Andersen on Wednesday afternoon. “I know I have the abilities because you don’t just lose that. You’ve just got to get comfortable and got to get to where you want to be mentally.”

Leafs head coach Mike Babcock continues to pledge his unwavering support, pegging Andersen to start Thursday against Florida. He hadn’t contemplated giving his beleaguered goaltender — whom he affectionately refers to as “my guy” — a few days off after Tuesday’s shellacking against Tampa, preferring to get him right back in the crease against the Panthers.

Babcock’s current approach is strikingly different from his handling of Jonathan Bernier last season. Babcock quickly lost patience with Bernier and the team demoted him to the minors after only nine starts last season. Unlike Bernier, who had only one additional year on his contract, Andersen is here for the long haul, signed until 2021 with a US$5 million annual cap hit.

Toronto’s coach has no choice but to support him and hope he soon pulls through.

Babcock agreed that the intense Toronto market and pricey new contract were probably factoring into Andersen’s personal stumbles.

“In saying all that though, we play in the greatest hockey market in the world with the most fans and the most media and whether people believe this or not, they’re cheering for you,” Babcock said. “There’s no witch hunt here at all. They want to cheer for you. And if you’re great they’re cheering for you and if not, they want a new guy.

“I think that’s fair.”

Babcock considered pulling Andersen after a wobbly 20 minutes against the Lightning (three goals on nine shots), but opted to leave him in the game. He hoped Andersen would respond, even challenging him to do so front of his teammates. The struggles continued over the final two frames though. Andersen yielded four more goals on only 15 shots.

The Dane is hardly the only No. 1 struggling to find his way in the early-going.

Ben Bishop, a Vezina Trophy finalist last season, has an .880 save percentage; Corey Crawford owns an .897 mark; Henrik Lundqvist sits at .901. The difference with Andersen (.851 save percentage) is the expectations the Leafs thrust upon him when they signed him for five years and $25 million and declared him their long-term answer at the position.

Jhonas Enroth wasn’t sure how his Leafs crease-mate was handling his rough introduction to Toronto (the two aren’t all that close just yet), but his best advice was to think about anything other than hockey after leaving the rink.

“Bicycles, soccer, anything pretty much,” Enroth said of where his mind wonders under similar circumstances.

Babcock figured Andersen, who has a .851 save percentage right now, would eventually rediscover the form (.918 save percentage) of his first three NHL seasons. The team didn’t want to over-think their approach with him nor change anything yet without getting to know him better first.

“Sometimes it can be a tough spiral,” Andersen said. “You’ve just got to keep working and big picture (I) know I’m able to do this job.”

Jonas Siegel, The Canadian Press