in the first round of the 2007 NHL entry draft the Flames took Mikael Backlund with the 24th overall pick. after some fits and starts getting going, he has settled in as a solid top 6 member of the Calgary Flames, currently 9th in franchise GP and into the top 20 in goals and points
Backlund turns 30 on Saturday
as best I can tell the following players were drafted by the Flames as teenagers, and were still consecutively with the Flames on their 30th birthday (so not counting a few older age euros )
Al MacInnis
Gary Roberts
Theo Fleury
Mike Vernon
David Moss (I am 99% sure he qualifies, and yes this is random!)
(from the 1979 Atlanta Flames draft- Tim Hunter and (sort of) Jim Peplinski)
and now Mikael Backlund
quite a feat!
(Brodie will be 29 this summer....)
I think we've been lucky to have him. a quality player and member of the community
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To think that a lot of us (myself included) were doubtful about his capabilities of an NHL player even getting into 2014, 2015... what a player Backlund has become. So good.
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I hope he stays a Flame for life. I think he can remain a good center that can play in the bottom 6 when the Flames finally find someone else that takes the 2C spot from him. He's such a good player defensively, and super underrated around the NHL. If he were able to put up more points, he would be in Selke conversation more.
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For many years, it seemed like Backlund was the only good young forward that the Flames had in the system.
I'm glad that this one guy actually turned out to be a top 6 forward.
He was always pretty responsible defensively, but it seems like Backlund really became a top 6 player after the 13-14 lockout. For some reason, he's also been a lot more durable since then.
Plus, he's clearly an asset to the city of Calgary. I don't know if I've seen anyone who is more active in charities than Backlund. The man deserves a lot of credit.
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I remember Sutter saying he thought he was one of the best players on the ice in the world juniors.
Also, being concerned about his durability, after he missed significant time in back to back years, then after playing an almost full season, having that abdominal injury. So 3 out of 4 years he missed a ton of time
Since then, he has really emerged as such a solid all around player and (knock on wood) 4 years being healthy.
Keith Tkachuk was I believe commenting as well about how Matthew is fortunate to play with such an awesome center
I remember being in junior high watching him play for Vasteras hoping we would draft him. He got injured the year of the draft and fell a bit in the draft order. Lone and behold he was still on the board when the flames were up and I said “please draft this guy”. They did and I continued to follow him in Kelowna and once he got to the NHL he wasn’t panning out like some hoped. I remember constantly defending him against my friends that thought he was a bust. I knew he just needed a little more confidence and look has what happened since. I’ll never forget that goal against Anaheim in the playoffs and watching him don the “C” for Sweden. One time I was at a fan appreciation game and he was one of the three stars and he threw me his stick. Some guy also caught it and ripped it out of my hands and spilt his beer all over me. Hopefully one day I can get his autograph. A Sweden jersey with the “C” would be so nasty. Glad he’s been with us this whole time. BACKLUND YAAAAA (WJC goal if anyone gets the reference, every time he scores I yell that ahahah)
Last edited by Backlund22; 03-14-2019 at 09:55 PM.
Reason: Spelling
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To think that a lot of us (myself included) were doubtful about his capabilities of an NHL player even getting into 2014, 2015... what a player Backlund has become. So good.
This says more about you improving as an analyst than it does about Backlund becoming something.
I have always been a Backlund fan from the time we drafted him. From my recollection, it was only due to knee injury he sustained in his draft year that we were able to snag him in the first round. Had it not been for the injury, he was slated to go much higher.
When he decided to come to Kelowna for the last quarter of the season, I was elated and started to cheer for the Rockets that season to win it all as a result. The nice thing was due to them playing the Hitmen the finals, I was able to see him in action at the dome. It was great to see Kelowna win the WHL championship and head to the Memorial cup. Benn was a beast then, but Backlund was dominant too.
I have always been a Backlund fan from the time we drafted him. From my recollection, it was only due to knee injury he sustained in his draft year that we were able to snag him in the first round. Had it not been for the injury, he was slated to go much higher.
When he decided to come to Kelowna for the last quarter of the season, I was elated and started to cheer for the Rockets that season to win it all as a result. The nice thing was due to them playing the Hitmen the finals, I was able to see him in action at the dome. It was great to see Kelowna win the WHL championship and head to the Memorial cup. Benn was a beast then, but Backlund was dominant too.
i don't remember which game of the finals my buddy and i were at in kelowna - but it was great!! i think we were the only two people in the arena wearing hitmen jerseys
i know calgary won the game we were at - which was awesome, but the best part was when the rockets scored. i think backlund scored twice (?) and both times we jumped up and cheered with everyone else. the fans right around us were so confused. we explained that backlund would be playing for the flames in the fall - and we cheer for calgary first - future flames or hitmen - it made no difference to us!!!
i guess the game was televised and i had a few messages on my answering machine from friends chirping me for going to the game and wearing a hitmen jersey
i also got to meet backlund in penticton at the young stars tourney - he was such a nice guy (and i'm sure he still is). i told him the story above and he thought it was pretty funny.
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Backlund is a great example of why patience is required when drafting and developing players. Under a different regime the team may have given up on him and traded him for a "fresh start". Not all players develop in a linear fashion and we fans would be wise to show a little more patience.
Even now his game is so subtle. When you watch him play he doesn't really do anything outstanding. He doesn't dangle like Johnny, doesn't skate like a deer, doesn't have a blistering Ovechkin shot and he isn't a physical force. He just does everything well, works hard and understands what it takes to win games.
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Backlund is a great example of why patience is required when drafting and developing players. Under a different regime the team may have given up on him and traded him for a "fresh start". Not all players develop in a linear fashion and we fans would be wise to show a little more patience.
Even now his game is so subtle. When you watch him play he doesn't really do anything outstanding. He doesn't dangle like Johnny, doesn't skate like a deer, doesn't have a blistering Ovechkin shot and he isn't a physical force. He just does everything well, works hard and understands what it takes to win games.
Works hard and understands what it takes.... yes I was not a Backlund fan for a long time, but watching him in the last few years, man he always has that little extra effort on the boards to keep the puck for 2 extra seconds while a line change occurs, or just that little bit of battle at the net (ours or theirs). And he's snarly now, salty as hell,and that was really missing early on - he was looking like a Sedin-style player without the finish chops, and that was not a good thing. But add some snarl and some veteran smarts, and he is a huge asset.
i don't remember which game of the finals my buddy and i were at in kelowna - but it was great!! i think we were the only two people in the arena wearing hitmen jerseys
i know calgary won the game we were at - which was awesome, but the best part was when the rockets scored. i think backlund scored twice (?) and both times we jumped up and cheered with everyone else. the fans right around us were so confused. we explained that backlund would be playing for the flames in the fall - and we cheer for calgary first - future flames or hitmen - it made no difference to us!!!
i guess the game was televised and i had a few messages on my answering machine from friends chirping me for going to the game and wearing a hitmen jersey
i also got to meet backlund in penticton at the young stars tourney - he was such a nice guy (and i'm sure he still is). i told him the story above and he thought it was pretty funny.
Backlund had a great regular season for the 28 games and also a pretty decent playoffs for sure. Didn't dominate at the memorial Cup as hoped though. Benn did.
You were the exact opposite of me at the games then. The games I attended at the Saddledome, I was probably the only one cheering for the Rockets. I told the surrounding fans who were curious as to why I was cheering for the Rockets that I cheer any future flame first. Hitmen being a local/Calgary team meant nothing to me.
I hope he remains a flame till the end of his career as well.
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