Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund skates in his 1,000th NHL game on Wednesday.
He’s only the 73rd player in league lore — and the second in Flames’ club history — to reach quadruple digits while wearing just one logo.
Now in his 17th season at the Saddledome, we’ll leave it to his past and present teammates and a few fellow franchise legends to sum up what the 35-year-old shutdown centre means to the city and the organization …
Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson, who currently leads the club in scoring: “He’s not just a teammate, he’s a really good friend. We have been with each other for a long time. He’s been with me for all of my 400-and-something games and for him to hit 1,000, what an accomplishment. I’m super happy for him. There’s no one else who deserves it more.”
Mark Giordano, who suited up for 949 games with the Flames and ultimately joined the silver-stick club as a member of the Seattle Kraken: “For him, what an accomplishment, because it’s all with one team, too. That’s a hard thing to do. To get to 1,000, first of all, is a huge accomplishment. But think of how many years that is sticking with one organization. There’s going to be ups and downs. For Backs, I remember there were a few years there when it was like, ‘Oh, is he going to stay? Is he going to go to free agency? Are they going to trade him?’ There were probably times during his career when he didn’t think he’d get to 1,000 in Calgary, right? It’s a pretty special thing. He definitely should be proud of that.”
Franchise icon Lanny McDonald, whose Hockey Hall of Fame resume includes 1,111 career regular-season loggings: “For Mikael to play as hard as he has for 1,000 games and to do it all with the Calgary Flames and be the kind of leader he is, not only on the ice, but with everything he is doing off the ice and in the community with Special Olympics and ALS and showing the rest of the players that there’s a responsibility not only on the ice but off the ice, as well … I’m just so happy for him. It’s very, very cool.”
Flames general manager Craig Conroy, who was a veteran centre when Backlund was breaking into the league and retired shortly after his own 1,000th game in 2010: “Probably the coolest thing for me is I’ve been here pretty much since the beginning. To be able to play with Mikael and then obviously being on the management side, to be able to watch him grow as a player and a person and husband and father … It’s pretty special to see the growth, see what he was like as a young guy, all the way up through. To see him go from that young, quiet, kind of shy guy to the captain he is now, it’s special.”
Giordano, who spent 13 seasons with Backlund and was his predecessor as Calgary’s captain: “Young Mikael Backlund had white skates at training camp, blond hair, wore No. 60. He had a bit of a tough style out there, I’m not gonna lie, at his first camp, and the boys let him know about that.”
Jarome Iginla, who appeared in a franchise-record 1,219 games in the Flaming C and was Backlund’s teammate at the Saddledome for parts of five winters: “If you look at his numbers, right from the start, he produced. But then I think he really developed his style … What’s cool is at what he does, and for a long part of his career, he’s been one of the better two-way centres in the whole league.”
Conroy: “I think back to when he was up for the Selke, how proud he was to be in that conversation. And, in my opinion, he should be in that conversation every year.”
Iginla, who is now enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame and is back in the Flames’ fold as special advisor to the general manager: “Over the years, he’s shut a lot of guys down. I’ll tell you, I really appreciated that when I got to play against him. He skates fast. He’s strong. He’s smart. He reads plays. He aggravates other guys, just by playing hard but not dirty. And then all of a sudden, he can score or make a nice play with it. He definitely makes teams better. He’s made a lot of Calgary Flames teams better over the years and he still is now at 35, playing like 20 minutes a night and playing well against other team’s top players. That goes back to his consistency. He’s done that his whole career. He contributes offensively, but it’s obviously much more than offence.”
Giordano: “He’s always been a sneaky pretty good two-way centre. But over the years, he just became, like, he’s right up there in the league with guys like (Anze) Kopitar, (Aleksander) Barkov, guys who know how to play in their own zone. He is right up there defensively with any of those guys. I think sometimes, he doesn’t get as much recognition because he doesn’t get 100 points. But he’s always very, very responsible.”
Conroy: “I mean, that backcheck he had the other night in Edmonton, that just sums up it up for me. If you want to watch just one play, watch that backcheck. Those are the little things that he does that maybe people don’t notice all the time but make him such an effective player, and that’s why he can play for such a long time.”
McDonald: “You just know what you’re going to get every day from him. Game in, game out. He doesn’t take nights off.”
Matt Stajan, who hit the 1,000-game mark as Backlund’s teammate in 2018 and is now a skills coach for the Flames: “I tell the young guys, ‘Watch your captain. Respect him, watch him. If you want to play in this league and be a contributor to a team, to a city, you don’t have to go searching for that. You have it right here in No. 11.’”
Flames forward Connor Zary, who has primarily played on a line with Backlund and Blake Coleman this fall: “Everything that goes with Backs — his leadership, his talent, his work ethic … Just everything is next-level.”
Matthew Tkachuk, who started his NHL career on Backlund’s wing and won a Stanley Cup last season with the Florida Panthers: “Coming into the league, he was an amazing guy for me to learn from and I’m so thankful that he was my centreman for all those years … What made him such a great linemate and teammate was his positivity. Especially being young and making tons of mistakes, he was always the first guy to pump me up or settle me down. One thing I really respect with him was his ability to be brutally honest, as well. Loved that about him.”
Stajan: “How many times have we talked about a young guy playing on Backs’ line and having a pop-out year, where they really explode? And there’s a reason for that. You take pride in that as a guy like Backs. I think something that can be said about you that I know would make me feel really good is, first of all, you’re a good teammate and good person, and then you make the players around you better. And I think that’s what we can say about Backs. Because anybody who plays with him seems to have a career year. I think you can look at a number of players who can say that.”
Tkachuk: “He’s someone I admire greatly.”
Iginla: “What fans see, what you guys see as reporters … As a teammate, you know that’s who he is. He’s a nice guy and he comes to work. There weren’t too many days that I remember him being grouchy.”
Giordano: “He’s just a great guy. I’m sure everyone in Calgary knows, but just an easy guy to get along with.”
Stajan: “He brings all that you want in a hockey player. But as a person, he’s just as good as they get. Him and his wife, Frida, do so much for the community. They’ve really embraced Calgary being their home.”
Conroy: “What makes him such a good leader is he cares about people — both his teammates, but also you see what him and Frida do in the community, with giving back. It’s hard to even put in words how much he does for the city of Calgary.”
Flames head coach Ryan Huska, reflecting on Backlund’s decision to ink a two-year extension last fall rather than test unrestricted free agency this summer: “He looked at it and I think he wants to have a bit of a legacy to his name. He’s going to be right up there with some of the greats that have played here — not necessarily because of his offensive game that he brings or not necessarily because of the defensive game that he brings, but because he does everything well. And because of that, he’s had a long NHL career. He’s someone that has endeared himself to the city. I do think it was important for him to sign here because of him wanting to be a Calgary Flame and hitting the 1,000-game mark with this team.”
Conroy: “The Flames have been lucky to have him part of this organization for so long.”