- Mikael Backlund
-
Mikael Backlund 
Born 17 March 1989
Västerås, SwedenHeight 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 
SwedenNHL Draft 24th overall, 2007
Calgary FlamesPlaying 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.
Contents
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.
International play
Medal record Competitor for SwedenIce 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.
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.
Career statistics
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 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 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
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 IrvingCalgary Flames first round draft pick
2007Succeeded by
Greg NemiszCategories:- 1989 births
- Abbotsford Heat players
- Calgary Flames draft picks
- Calgary Flames players
- Kelowna Rockets alumni
- Living people
- National Hockey League first round draft picks
- People from Västerås
- Swedish ice hockey players
- Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Canada
- VIK Västerås HK players
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