Backlund saw Sedins as role models
Flames centre was 11 when Canucks’ pair made their NHL debut in 2000
Growing up in Vasteras, Sweden, Mikael Backlund remembers when Daniel and Henrik Sedin broke into the Swedish Hockey League at 16, wearing full cages and skating with Modo Hockey.
When the Calgary Flames centre was 11-years-old, he recalls when the twins played their first season in the National Hockey League and documented their journey with the Vancouver Canucks.
“A big thing in Sweden,” Backlund pointed out. “The Swedish media was following them.”
But like many players who wind up playing against or with their idols in the best league in the world, Backlund also remembers the first time he lined up against Henrik on the faceoff dot with Daniel on his flank.
At that time, jitters understandably dominated the young Flames pivot’s game. “I remember a preseason game here (in Vancouver), it was very nerve-racking,” Backlund said. “I was probably 18 or 19-years-old and playing against Sweden’s top two players at the time. They are stars. I remember I was very nervous. It was hard playing against them.”
The 28-year-old also recalled the final game of the 2009-10 season, Backlund’s first in the NHL, which pitted the Flames against the Canucks on April 10 — a game which capped off an incredible year for Henrik who captured the Hart Memorial Trophy as well as the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player and leading point-scorer, respectively.
“They beat us 7-3 or something like that,” Backlund said with a chuckle.
“It was pretty tough at the time. But pretty cool to have played that game when all the fans were chanting, ‘MVP.’ He had a great season that year and we did not. A pretty cool experience, for sure.”
Fast-forward to Sunday’s clash between the Flames and Canucks at Rogers Arena, Henrik’s 1,282 regular season NHL game and Daniel’s 1,259th. For Backlund, the ante is now 495 games in the NHL.
The game marked the fourth and final time the teams were to clash in 2017-18 and may go down in history as the final time Backlund will square off with Sweden’s most famous set of twins who are in the twilight of their NHL careers. Or not. Henrik notched his 800th career assist on Dec. 13 against the Nashville Predators while Daniel became the second Canucks player in franchise history to register 1,000 points on Nov. 30 (also versus Nashville). Henrik reached that feat on Jan. 20 of this year.
In Vancouver’s 4-3 overtime win over the San Jose Sharks on Friday, the brothers had three assists apiece.
Although this season they have seen their minutes dwindle, it is believed they may stick around another season.
“They’re smart players,” Backlund said. “They’re so hard to play against. They’re so good at finding open ice.”
Their intuition and play-making ability stand out but, for Flames head coach Glen Gultuzan who spent three years as an assistant with the Canucks, there are many other factors that make them a coach’s dream.
“Just watching them how they play together and move the puck,” he said. “But it was more than just coaching them as players. It’s the people they are. They’re coachable Hall of Famers, coachable superstars who want to win and put the team ahead of themselves in every thing. It makes them a pleasure to coach, those kind of people.”