I noticed two very good plays by Backlund - him coming back HARD and fast on the backcheck, and diving to get his stick in the way of the puck. Fantastic play.
The other was when he beat the LA kings defencemen (I think it was Doughty) on the forecheck, and Doughty ended up having to hook him. He drew that penalty because he beat Doughty in on the forecheck, and he didn't stop skating.
You won't notice Backlund's offence. He creates a lot it seems, but players don't really take advantage of it for some reason. What he does is drive possession and eat a lot of minutes for the Flames, while facing some high quality of competition. If his face-off ability improves, he will become a very, very effective 3rd line center.
He has speed to burn and is a very intelligent player out there. He also has some occasional flashes of offensive brilliance, and hopefully those start rising to the surface more.
What he appears to me is a fantastic 2-way forward that is a forechecking/backchecking fiend with a non-stop motor and great speed.
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