Backlund reflects on road to 100 NHL goals
Two-way forward from Sweden reached milestone with game-winner in Denver
It was a milestone marker, the would-be game-winner and a tear-jerking tally, too.
It’s almost always the middle of the night back in Sweden when the Calgary Flames are in action, but Mikael Backlund’s father, Jan, rarely misses a minute.
And it just so happens his proud pop was a few hours into his 59th birthday when Mikael provided a present of sorts with a significant snipe in a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche — the 100th regular season goal of his NHL career.
“A lot of tears, probably,” Backlund said, pondering the scene at home, where it would have been about 5:30 a.m. when he tickled twine in the final minute of Saturday’s second period at Pepsi Center. “He’s an emotional guy. That’s why I’m so emotional, too. I just remember growing up, looking up and seeing him, if I scored or something, he would always be a little teared up.”
In 484 regular-season appearances at hockey’s highest level, all with the Flaming C logo on his front, Backlund has now triggered 100 sob-sessions for Jan.
There’s not much time for reflection during an 82-game grind, but a nice round number provides the 28-year-old centre from Vasteras, Sweden, with good reason to reminisce. His first goal? Back on Jan. 28, 2010, after spending the first three-plus months of that campaign in the American Hockey League and still working to establish himself as a full-timer with the squad that selected him in the first round of the 2007 NHL Draft.
“I remember we were down a goal in Phoenix — at the time, they were called Phoenix still — and coming off the bench, and Bourquey (Rene Bourque) had the puck and made a nice move, dropped it to me, and I shot, and I think it went off Ed Jovanovski and in far side,” Backlund recalled. “I was pretty pumped about it, and it was a big goal, too, to tie the game.” His favourite goals? Among them, a sneaky swipe on March 12, 2011, against the Vancouver Canucks and an April 7, 2016, outburst against the same division rival. And don’t forget his overtime magic during the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he scored early in sudden death in Game 3 against the Anaheim Ducks to send the Saddledome into a frenzy.
“One goal that sticks out is my rookie year, I stole the puck from (Mikael) Samuelsson and went backhand shelf on (Roberto) Luongo. It was Hockey Night in Canada, Saturday night, so that was a cool goal,” Backlund said.
“Of course, in playoffs against Anaheim, but that doesn’t count toward 100. But that’s, for sure, the biggest goal for me. “And then my hat trick, too.” And his latest? Flames first-line thumper Micheal Ferland roofed the go-ahead goal in the closing minute of Saturday’s second stanza, and only 22 seconds later, Backlund buried a rebound, finding daylight between Jonathan Bernier’s right pad and blocker as the Avalanche netminder stretched across his crease.
The hosts would halve the twogoal deficit with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, turning Backlund’s strike into the game-winner. (His slate of 100 lamp-lightings includes 21 of those.)
“Just such a good two-way player, and that was a big goal for us,” Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan said. “He’s just one of those players that coaches like because they play such a 200-foot game, and he’s got skill. “We’re pretty happy for him.” Backlund is the latest addition to a list of 22 shooters to hit triple-digits on behalf of the Flames franchise.
He is one of just three guys on the current payroll who has scored 100-plus in Calgary’s colours, joining sharpshooting centre Sean Monahan (121) and captain Mark Giordano (102).
Now in his eighth full season at the Saddledome, Backlund has also collected 144 career assists.
“When I broke into the league, you always wanted to score goals, but with the start I had in my second and third year, I don’t think I expected myself to score 100 goals and play a lot of games,” Backlund said. “It’s definitely pretty cool.”
ICE CHIPS
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog will have a hearing Monday for his crosscheck on Flames left-winger Matthew Tkachuk.