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“They can’t get rid of me, I guess,” Backlund said with a chuckle. “It makes me feel like they really appreciate me here in Calgary and I feel that from the fans, too, and the community. The organization has always been great to me and I feel like they’ve always appreciated me as a person and a player, so I’m very thankful.

“It’s definitely a very cool milestone, something I’m excited about,” he continued. “It has been a lot of ups and downs, personally and for the team over the years. I think I’ve had three different GMs, four if you count Brian Burke (on an interim basis). I think six or seven coaches, which is maybe not a great thing because that means you haven’t been playing well as a team. And a lot of players have been here and I’m still here, so it means I’ve been doing something right over these years and that the organization appreciates what I do. It feels good. I’m very proud to join that Top 5. There are some big names up there. I played with three of them and they were all great leaders and great guys, so I’m excited to join that group.”

“I believe in this group, and I’m excited for the future here. I truly believe, if nothing crazy happens, we’re going to make the playoffs and I feel like we have a team that can go deep in this playoffs.

“In 2018-19, we had a really good season but we didn’t have any adversity, really. We just slowed down a little bit at the end of the year. But this year, we went through that tough road-trip in Florida. Even before COVID, we’d lost as few games, and then we had that outbreak. So this group has been through a lot too, not just all positive. So I feel like this group is probably more mentally prepared with adversity and we have a more experienced playoff group, as well.

https://calgarysun.com/sports/hockey...n-games-played