I’ll just paste from his solo thread I started. Some of the stats may have changed.
After a rocky start to his career, Backlund made an about-face in his mid-twenties to grow into one of the game's premier two-way forwards, leader of the Swedish international team, and quietly climbed the Flames all-time ranks, currently sitting at 8th in GP, 16th in PTS, and tied for 3rd for most full seasons at 13. You can imagine the names in his company on mostly made up of those we revere here. It's easy to forget we are watching one of the best ever Flames in his prime.
Just want to say I'm thankful for his passion for this city and this team, his hatred of our rivals, and for his perseverance that has lead to him being one of the team's most important core pieces. As a defenseman at heart, I've always had a big appreciation for forwards like him. Hope he's in the C forever.
Maybe one day his moustache will fill out.
Captain material. I don’t see how anyone suggesting a new player who doesn’t know the team or the coach should become captain just by virtue of being the best player now could have ever played a team sport. Some people say it doesn’t matter just symbolic blah blah, but then expect the player who wears it to be something more than the rest. It matters for sure. Not to everyone but to some, and especially to the guys who are wearing them. I think giving Backlund the C might give him a late career boost ala Giordano.
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