RALEIGH, N.C. — They met before Frederik Andersen had ever pulled a Norfolk Admirals sweater over his head. Before he was drafted by an NHL team for the second time, or experienced his first trade, or felt the highs that come with signing a long-term contract or navigated the three straight short-term deals that have kept him with the Carolina Hurricanes these past five years.To fully understand how much pain Andersen is carrying into his first Stanley Cup Final, you must understand that Claude Lemieux wasn’t just his agent for these last 15 years.Their relationship stopped being about business long ago.“It was a lot more than that,” Andersen told The Athletic on Monday.There are no words, really, for the news the Hurricanes’ goaltender received between Games 4 and 5 of the Eastern Conference final. It was the kind of phone call no one wants to imagine taking.Yet after finding out Thursday morning that Lemieux had died at age 60, Andersen managed to steady himself and channel his emotions into delivering a 23-save performance the following night to help propel the Hurricanes to the NHL’s championship series against the Vegas Golden Knights.That night, he was visibly shaken when given the team’s player of the game award by teammate Sebastian Aho in the dressing room.On Monday, his voice quivered when answering questions about Lemieux on the eve of the Stanley Cup Final.“We go through stuff in life,” Andersen said. “Sometimes it’s impossible not to bring it into the room.”So while he is objectively at the pinnacle of his 13-year NHL career, carrying a 12-1 record through these playoffs with 12.48 goals saved above expected (per HockeyStats), he’s also carrying a heavy heart.Everyone around him can feel it.“It’s been heartbreaking,” said Hurricanes teammate Jaccob Slavin.“This is hard for Freddie,” added Nikolaj Ehlers, a fellow Dane and close friend. “I think he wants to win this Cup even more now. For Claude and the Lemieux family. It was pretty special to see him — how good he played in that last game.