Quote:
Originally Posted by Poe969
Well in fairness, Backlund hasn't lead his team in points or put a team on his back for multiple seasons. Backlund has had one really good season and other than that has been a really good third line center, fans seem to have over rated him because he's a home grown player. I doubt they even considered trading him but I think they should have.
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But it's not expected of him to do that, though. He is a 2nd/3rd line defensive center who is capable of scoring between 40-50 points. His line last year was one of the best in the League in terms of driving the play and possession. This year, not AS good as last year, but still doing quite well. I think Backlund is doing his job and it's unfair to blame him for the team's lack of success. This isn't the NBA where one player is the whole team.
Flames issues IMO, are two-fold:
1) Coaching
2) Depth.
I won't get into the first one as there is a whole thread dedicated to the coaching staff.
The team doesn't have depth, though. Beyond the Johnny and Backlund line, the team doesn't have enough scoring punch. The first two lines are doing their job, but the bottom 6 is horrendous. When they're shut down or going through a cold stream (it happens to every line on every team), nobody is able to score.
Backlund is doing his job, he is not to blame.