Reports: Backlund to play for Kelowna after WJHC

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Strange on Myers since his passing and puckhandling in the World Juniors were top rate, I thought he was one of the top couple defensemen in the tournament. Good to hear on Backlund though.

I thought the puck looked like a grenade on Myers stick throughout the WJC, but that's just me.

[jeremywilhelm]

3 games, 1 assist 2 losses for kelowna. Whats Backlund up to over there. I thought he was too good for the Dub...

[MonsieurFish]

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

3 games, 1 assist 2 losses for kelowna. Whats Backlund up to over there. I thought he was too good for the Dub...

probably not a good idea to judge him after 3 games...

[jeremywilhelm]

I was being facetious.

But has anyone seen him play the last 2 games?

[dercoch]

The last two Rocket games were in Prince George, where they were beaten twice by one of the weaker teams around. No mention of Mikael's play other than to say he was stopped on a shootout attempt.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/st....php?id=159035

Also, an article about the lines in Kelowna, and Backlunds place on them.

“One line looked pretty good in practice,” Huska said of his team‘s top unit, though he didn‘t specifically name it. “And they had a pretty good game, so we decided not to switch things around.
“Right now, Mikael‘s the centre; it‘s his strong position and we‘re giving him an opportunity to earn that spot. So far, he‘s doing a good job.”

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/st....php?id=158887

I'll be going the the next game on Wednesday when they play the Giants. Should be interesting to see how they respond against one of the better teams around after a disappointing weekend.

[jeremywilhelm]

Originally Posted by fotze

Looks like we have a Robbie Schremp on our hands

Please god, no!!

On that note, where is BBO... i mean Chris Lindberg?

Im really starting to worry about the guy.

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by dercoch

The last two Rocket games were in Prince George, where they were beaten twice by one of the weaker teams around. No mention of Mikael's play other than to say he was stopped on a shootout attempt.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/st....php?id=159035

Also, an article about the lines in Kelowna, and Backlunds place on them.

“One line looked pretty good in practice,” Huska said of his team‘s top unit, though he didn‘t specifically name it. “And they had a pretty good game, so we decided not to switch things around.
“Right now, Mikael‘s the centre; it‘s his strong position and we‘re giving him an opportunity to earn that spot. So far, he‘s doing a good job.”

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/st....php?id=158887

I'll be going the the next game on Wednesday when they play the Giants. Should be interesting to see how they respond against one of the better teams around after a disappointing weekend.

I believe this game will be televised on Shaw, but don't let that stop you from posting first hand info.

[jeremywilhelm]

be nice if it was streamed, you know... "legally"

[Textcritic]

I will be in attendance with my nine-year-old when Backlund and the Rockets play in Chilliwack on Friday.

[Flames91]

Backlund had a goal and two assists tonight

[Svartsengi]

Did anybody attend Kelowna's Wednesday night game or catch it on TV?. 3 points look good on a stat sheet. I am curious how he did in the face off circle and looked defensively. Overall impression of him.

[dercoch]

As mentioned above, Backlund had a goal and two assists last night. As one would expect from a set of stats like that, he had a strong game.

As was the case in the last Kelowna home game, the thing that stands out about Backlund is his patience with the puck. He reminds me a little of the way Huselius would hold the puck, looking to make a play while under pressure. There were many times that he would stickhandle away from a check and find an open teammate. Not to say that he's at the level of Huselius (or that he can't find his way to his own zone to backcheck) but that part of his game is similar. From the small sample size of games that I've watched him (2) I'm impressed with his palymaking ability. He makes smart plays (most of the time) and looks dangerous when he's on the ice. He did have a short stretch in the third period where he made a couple of questionable passes that were intercepted, but those were the only times I found myself wondering what he was doing.

His faceoff preformance was pretty "meh." He was better the last time I watched him. He did get into a couple of jousting matches in during faceoffs. I don't know why they happened...perhaps the Giants were trying to get under his skin, but there was a bit of poking back and forth with the sticks at the faceoff dots.

The points he recieved were well deserved. If I remember correctly, both of his assists were second assists, but don't let that fool you. His plays were valuable to the scoring plays. Holding the puck, and making a smart pass to give his linemates room. His goal was Kelowna's last (pounced on a rebound and burried it in a half open net), and pulled the team to within one at 5-4, but the Giants scored an empty netter to salt it away. Kane got the EN for Vancouver, and scored two more on the night for the hat trick. He's an exciting player to watch...made two Kelowna defenders (including Myers) look silly on his second goal.

It seems to me that he was more comfortable on the ice tonight than last time out, and is developing some chemistry with his linemates. They were Kelowna's best line on the night, and I imagine that they'll be better with more time together. I would have to imagine that he's still adjusting to the style of play here, and he should get better as the season wears on.

A couple of notes about Grantham. First of all, he has hands of stone. He wasn't in the game at all last night. there was a sequence of plays where he had a chance to dump the puck into the Vancouver zone, and barely got it off the ice. He did manage the task on a third attempt later, so good for him. When he had the puck on his stick, he really didn't do anything with it, other than give it away. He wasn't hitting or annoying anyone throughout the game. There was one time where he stood out, but not in a good way. He was taken into the end boards, and got up with one of his thumbs pointing the wrong way. From my seat, it looked like he had a dislocated thumb, and will probably be gone for a while.

Those are some quick thoughts on the game. Did anyone watch it on Shaw last night? Any comments contrary to what I saw? I'm not sure when I'll be going to another game, but I'll try to keep one eye open for any news.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/st....php?id=159872

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news...9-7-.htm#44549

[Matty81]

Hey dercoch, nice review - I can't say I disagree with any of your comments. Here is my take:

I was out for drinks and unforgivably missed the first five minutes including Backlund's first assist and a scrap by Cody Almond who it sounds like according to the guy sitting in front of me may have stuck up for Backlund.

Backlund looked pretty good this game, better than home game 1 but again not overwhelming. I think last night will have been great for his confidence.

The second (secondary) assist was a great blueline to blueline pass by one of the rockets defencemen (who didn't even get an assist) onto Backlund's tape for a 3 on 2, he stickhandled into the zone and dropped it off to Almond on the wing who sent it cross crease to Duval for the finish.

His Goal was a tap in after a scramble in the crease on a powerplay late in the game. Right place at the right time and he was real excited to get one, he danced off to the corner and gave a nice half Pumper Nickel.

The Good:
Once more, his defensive awareness was real impressive. He backchecked hard and made a couple of crucial interventions. He also broke out well and turned the puck up ice quickly and effectively. He wasn't a big hitter but he threw his weight around a little and used body positioning to win the puck a number of times. I noticed him winning a ton of little battles all over the ice by beating his man to the puck barely and using body positioning effectively to protect it. Offensively he was still not the shining star on the ice but he was quick to spot the open man and looked more confident than the first game I saw him play. Made some good passes.

The Bad:
A few passes intercepted when he tried to do too much with it and a poor drop pass giveaway in the neutral zone. He would have been in the top 6/7 players on the ice but he wasn't at the same level as Almond, Benn or Evander Kane in terms of looking dangerous with the puck.


Other stuff: Riley Grantham is getting good ice time on a decent line and powerplay time, unfortunately he left the game after appearing to cut his hand pretty bad on the glass or a helmet visor or something when he took a big hit against the end boards. Didn't do much with the ice time before that. Lance Bouma, another Flames draftee, was playing and didn't stand out hugely to me other than having great skating ability.

Evander Kane didn't look on top of his game..... and got 3 goals. Looks like he's going to be a good player at the NHL level.

Harping on it again but man the best player on the ice for my money was Jamie Benn again even though he only had an assist and didn't make the 3 stars. He looks to me like he could take a regular shift in the NHL right now. He is physically mature and he creates offence every time he is on the ice. Goes hard to the night with good hands and throws some huge hits every game I've seen. Man if the Flames had any way to acquire him it would make me real happy.

[moon]

Originally Posted by dercoch

His faceoff preformance was pretty "meh." He was better the last time I watched him. He did get into a couple of jousting matches in during faceoffs. I don't know why they happened...perhaps the Giants were trying to get under his skin, but there was a bit of poking back and forth with the sticks at the faceoff dots.

It likely happened because it is the WHL and that seems to happen all the time on face-offs with every team/player.

[dercoch]

Originally Posted by moon

It likely happened because it is the WHL and that seems to happen all the time on face-offs with every team/player.

True enough. Granted, this type of thing does happen, but perhaps I should have been more clear. It seemed to me that the stick battles were pretty aggresive at the dot...sticks coming up a bit higher and making more contact with the opposing player than usual.

For instance, you'll see wingers standing beside each other before a face off. Sometimes they just stand there, sometimes they shove each other around a bit and once in a while they seem hell-bent on getting their skate in front of each other to gain position.

The "jousting" just stood out to me a bit. Nothing really earth-shattering.

[604flames]

Originally Posted by Svartsengi

Did anybody attend Kelowna's Wednesday night game or catch it on TV?. 3 points look good on a stat sheet. I am curious how he did in the face off circle and looked defensively. Overall impression of him.

I have it on DVD but haven't watched yet..

[Svartsengi]

Thanks dercoch and Matty 81 for your comments. I was wondering do the both of you live in Kelowna?. How difficult is it to get tickets to games?. I am in Kelowna a few times a year but as yet have never been to a game at Prospera Place. I believe the Rockets are here in Calgary February 28.

Backlund really struggled in the face off circle the one game he played here for the Flames. I am sure it will improve with time. I could see his vision and offensive talents he just needs time to adjust to the North American ice.

[dercoch]

[quote=Svartsengi;1622106] How difficult is it to get tickets to games?. I am in Kelowna a few times a year but as yet have never been to a game at Prospera Place. I believe the Rockets are here in Calgary February 28.
quote]

It's not hard to get tickets for games here.

http://www.selectyourtickets.com/sports/rockets/

Tickets start at $21, and if the game sells out, you can buy standing room tickets as well. The schedules are below.

http://www.kelownarockets.com/Schedule.aspx

Prospera is a good place to see a game. Really, no bad seats in the house.

[Matty81]

Ya not bad to get tickets but compared to when I lived in Lethbridge it is way tougher. It is my only WHL frame of reference but Lethbridge was not in the same ballpark facility and attendance wise even with a good team. Regular season games here have a better atmosphere than playoffs in Lethy.

Several regular season games a year will be sold out and you will need to get tickets through classifieds or whatever if you want to walk up. Usually you can buy directly through the rockets though for most games on the site dercoch mentioned. The season ticket waiting list was a few thousand long until this year when they instituted a $30 fee to stay on it, I think it is down to 500 or so now.

For 50 bucks or so you can get seats on the rail in the restaurant, it is a bit pricey compared to regular seats but they have a really good buffet with those tickets and the view is real good there too.

[Textcritic]

My apologies for not posting this sooner.

I was at the game in Chilliwack last night; unfortunately, not Mikael Backlund's best outing. My lowly Bruins beat the mighty Rockets 5–4 in a shootout, and Backlund registered 0 points and was a minus-2 on the night.

My son and I were sitting in the first row on the visiting team's blueline, so my vantage point for Kelowna's offense was not altogether great for most of the game. The Bruins jumped out to a quick 2–0 lead on some very suspiscious goaltending by Adam Brown. Kelowna managed to get one back before the end of the first, and added a pair to take the lead in the second. The Bruins scored on a powerplay in the third, and then on another broken play with some very chippy work to deposit the rebound in the crease at aboout the 15-minute mark of the third. With the goaltender pulled, Kelowna swarmed the Bruins goal and scored the tying marker with less than 20 seconds left. Colin Long scored once in the shootout, but both Backlund and Cody Almond were stuffed by a very sharp Lucas Gore.

Backlund had a rough night. He played most of the game on a line with Cody almond and Ian Duval, and had a couple of good shifts in the first period. Unfortunately, it looked to me like it was his turn-over on the Rockets first powerplay that resulted in the opening tally. He had another turnover that resulted in the Bruins tying-goal in the third, and had his ice-time cut back after some lapses in the second.

He played a few shifts on the penalty kill and looked good for the most part, and there were moments—particularly in the dying minutes of the second—where he was dominant at even-strength.

A very, very smooth skater. Very fast and can turn on a dime. When he had the puck, he was able to move it quickly, and had moments where it would seem to just follow him around the ice. In addition to his skating, what impressed me most was his ability to hold onto the puck in traffic. There were a few times where he was bumped off with little difficulty, but for much of the time he looked "slippery" when in the high-traffic areas. His shootout attempt was a beauty: he crossed very quickly and effortlessly from the left to the right side of the ice, attempted an in-tight deke but was stoned by Gore.

I wish in some ways that I had a better vantage point to see the whole game, as it was difficult to track him much of the time when he was in the offensive zone at the other end of the ice.