Flames’ Lindholm ready to put family scare, hockey drama behind him

Looking straight into his questioner’s eyes, Elias Lindholm re-lives the scene. 

“It was intense,” said the Flames centre.

“There was just so much going on.”

He could easily have been talking about the trials of last season and the drama that surrounded the Flames’ failed run at a playoff spot.

However, what the Swedish veteran was referring to was a moment in time that had the 28-year-old’s head spinning.

“My son decided to come out five weeks early,” he explained of what he had hoped would have been a more magical moment seven months ago.

“The water broke and then we went up to the hospital and they had to do an emergency C-section because my fiancée had an epidural (needle) and then the heart rate went up and down, so they decided to get him out. 

“None of it was intended to be that way.

“You can never prepare for that.”

It was mid-February when Levi Lindholm was welcomed by a crew of doctors and nurses at Calgary’s Rockyview General Hospital who whisked him into the Neonatal Intensive Care unit, where he would spend the next 12 days.

Lindholm raced after every practice and game to join his fiancée at the hospital.

Leaving for a two-game road trip was tough.

All the while, Levi was on his mind.  

“Obviously when you go home you want to have this good energy in your house and so on, and everyone's happy, but while he was up (at the hospital) it was not very fun,” said Lindholm, who raves about the Rockyview staff who took care of his son.

“Even though we tried to spend as much time as possible up there as we could, every time you go home, you go home without him.

“It was tough.”

Losing linemates Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk last season played a massive role in Lindholm’s dip from 42 to 22 goals.

But the turmoil and losses at the rink, compounded by the two-week scare he endured last February, didn’t help.

“Usually when I come to the rink I’m pretty focused, and it's easy for me to have that switch turned on and off,” said Lindholm.

“But I think ever since he came it was tough because he was up there at NICU, and my fiancee didn't feel too well. 

“So, there were a lot of things going on.

“I wouldn't say that was the reason why I dropped a little bit, but I think it affected me in some sort of way.”

Those days are behind him, and a summer of fatherhood was good for the soul.

Lindholm says it’s still too early to tell if his son will follow in his father and grandfather’s footsteps and chase the NHL: "I like soccer, so hopefully he will like soccer a lot," smiled Lindholm. 

The important thing is Levi is healthy, Dad is happy, and a new season brings new optimism.

Entering a well-publicized contract year, Lindholm is keen to put all that behind him and focus solely on leading the team to a good start.

That means helping Jonathan Huberdeau find his swagger once again, leading both special teams units, all the while proving he’s worthy of the $8.5 to 9 million deal his agent has been pushing for.

Questions about his future as a Flame dominated the summertime storylines in Calgary, which seemed to frustrate Lindholm when asked at the team’s golf tourney what his intentions were.

It was there he confirmed he is willing to sign here long-term, but suggested plenty of work needed to be done to bridge the gap between the team’s offer and the ask.

“There's a lot of players around the league who go into the year with one year left, so there's no rush,” said Lindholm, who caused quite a stir when he punctuated exit meetings with a curt response when asked if he’d be interested in staying.

“But, ya, I would have liked to have it done. 

“But this is the way the business works. 

“It will get down when it gets done, and we'll see what happens.”

Lindholm said the vibe around the rink since he returned from a summer in Sweden has been upbeat, and it’s clear a good start would go a long way towards helping Lindholm and other pending UFAs like Mikael Backlund and Chris Tanev decide to re-sign.

“It was a tough year overall,” said Lindholm, whose club opens camp on Thursday.

“A lot of us didn't live up to expectations, and some nights we were not playing nearly as well as we could, but I'm excited for a new season and we're pretty much the same team. 

“So, it should be fun.”