Mikael Backlund
| Mikael Backlund | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 17 March 1989 Västerås, Sweden |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb) |
| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Left |
| NHL team | Calgary Flames |
| National team |  Sweden |
| NHL Draft | 24th overall, 2007 Calgary Flames |
| Playing career | 2008–present |
Mikael Backlund (born 17 March 1989) is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was a first round selection, 24th overall, of the Flames in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and made his NHL debut in 2008–09.
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[edit] Playing career
Backlund began his junior hockey career with the VIK Västerås HK organization in the J20 SuperElit, Sweden's premier junior league. His impressive two-way play earned him the opportunity to play for Västerås' senior team in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan as a sixteen-year-old. In his debut on 2 November 2005, during an away game against Växjö Lakers, Backlund scored a goal in the first period of a 4–0 win and was selected as the player of the game for his team.[citation needed] He tallied four points in his twelve games in HockeyAllsvenskan during the 2005–06 season. That same season, Backlund was dominant in the 2006 TV-pucken, a national under-17 tournament in Sweden played among districts. Leading the tournament in goal- and point-scoring, he was selected as the most valuable player and given the Sven Tumba Award as best forward in the tournament.[1]
Backlund played another two seasons for Västerås HK, splitting time in the J20 SuperElit and HockeyAllsvenskan. During this time, he was selected in the first round, 24th overall by the Calgary Flames in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Scouts had ranked him second among European players.[2] Following the 2007–08 season, Backlund signed an entry-level contract with the Flames.[3] He impressed during the rookie camp but was not as successful during the main training camp,[4][5] and started the 2008–09 season playing on loan for Västerås back in HockeyAllsvenskan.[5] After his success in the 2009 World Junior Championships, he returned to Calgary and made his NHL debut on 8 January 2009 in a 5–2 win against the New York Islanders. Soon thereafter, the Flames assigned him to the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. Competing for the Rockets in the 2009 WHL playoffs, Backlund was named Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Player of the Week on 21 April after scoring 5 points in 2 games against the Vancouver Giants in the semifinals.[6]
Backlund began the 2009–10 season with the Flames' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat. On 26 January 2010, he was called up to play on the NHL squad,[7] and scored his first NHL goal on 28 January against the Phoenix Coyotes.
[edit] International play
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Sweden |
||
| Ice hockey | ||
| World U18 Junior Championships | ||
| Bronze | 2007 Finland | |
| World Junior Championships | ||
| Silver | 2008 Czech Republic | |
| Silver | 2009 Canada | |
| World Championships | ||
| Bronze | 2010 Germany | |
| Silver | 2011 Slovakia | |
Backlund played for Sweden in the 2006 World U18 Championships, scoring one goal in three games. In 2007 he led Sweden to a U18 bronze medal when he scored a natural hat-trick in a 8–3 win over Canada in the bronze medal game. He led the tournament in goal-scoring with six goals in six games.[8]
Backlund was a member of the Swedish team that won back-to-back silvers in the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Championships, losing to Canada in both instances. He scored the game winning goal in overtime in the 2008 semi-final against Russia. The next year, he recorded a two-goal game in the semi-final against Slovakia.
After being eliminated in the second round of the AHL playoffs Backlund was invited to play for Sweden at the World Championships and accepted.
[edit] Awards
- Won the TV-pucken MVP Award in 2006.
- Won the TV-pucken Sven Tumba Award (Best Forward) in 2006.
- Named WJC Top Forward for Sweden at the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
- Most goals in 2009 WHL Playoffs
- Won the Ed Chynoweth Cup (WHL Championship) in 2009.
- Named CHL Player of the Week on 21 April 2009.
- Named AHL Player of the Week on 1 March 2010.
[edit] Career statistics
[edit] Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2005–06 | Västerås HK | J20 | 25 | 15 | 16 | 31 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Västerås HK | Swe-2 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Västerås HK | J20 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2006–07 | Västerås HK | Swe-2 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Västerås HK | J20 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Västerås HK | Swe-2 | 37 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 24 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 2008–09 | Västerås HK | J20 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Västerås HK | Swe-2 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Kelowna Rockets | WHL | 28 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 26 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 26 | ||
| 2009–10 | Abbotsford Heat | AHL | 54 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 26 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 14 | ||
| 2009–10 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 23 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 73 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Abbotsford Heat | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 97 | 11 | 24 | 35 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
[edit] International
| Year | Team | Comp | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Sweden | U18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2007 | Sweden | U18 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 6 |
| 2008 | Sweden | WJC | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 |
| 2009 | Sweden | WJC | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 6 |
| 2010 | Sweden | WC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2011 | Sweden | WC | 9 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Junior totals | 21 | 15 | 7 | 22 | 22 | ||
| Senior totals | 15 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | ||
[edit] References
- ^ "Hederspriser i TV-pucken" (in Swedish) (PDF). Swedish Ice Hockey Association. http://www.swehockey.se/ImageVault/Images/id_8573/scope_0/ImageVaultHandler.aspx. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
- ^ "ISS Top 30 for 2007 -- Final Ranking". hockeysfuture.com. 2007-06-12. http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/9735/iss_top30_for2007_final_ranking/. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ^ "Flames sign 2007 draft choice Mikael Backlund". calgaryflames.com. 2008-05-02. http://flames.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=362365. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- ^ Compton, Brian (2008-08-29). "Nemisz burns bright among Flames prospects". NHL.com. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=380547. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- ^ a b "Flames prospect Backlund to spend remainder of season in North America". Canadian Press. NHL.com. 2009-01-07. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=402569. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- ^ "Rockets' Mikael Backlund Named Boston Pizza CHL Player of the Week". Western Hockey League. 2009-04-21. http://www.whl.ca/rockets’-mikael-backlund-named-boston-pizza-chl-player-of-the-week-p128194. Retrieved 2009-04-22.[dead link]
- ^ "Backlund Recalled". calgaryflames.com. 2010-01-26. http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=515119. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
- ^ "GOAL SCORING LEADERS" (PDF). International Ice Hockey Federation. 2007-04-22. http://www.iihf.com/Hydra/Tournaments_07/output/w18/hydra.iihf.com/data/iihf/output/xml/109/IHM109Z12_85C_1_0.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
http://theahl.com/heat-s-backlund-named-player-of-the-week-p141086
[edit] External links
- Mikael Backlund's NHL player profile
- Mikael Backlund's career stats at Eliteprospects.com
- Mikael Backlund's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
- Mikael Backlund – player profile and career stats at European Hockey.Net
| Preceded by Leland Irving |
Calgary Flames first round draft pick 2007 |
Succeeded by Greg Nemisz |
