Mikael Backlund

Mikael Backlund is a professional hockey player who is a center for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey Leaguehttp://flames.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8474150. He is 6’ tall, weighs 196 pounds and shoots with his left hand.http://flames.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8474150 Originally from Vasteras, Sweden, Backlund was drafted 24th overall by the Flames in the 2007 NHL Draft.http://flames.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8474150

On November 29, 2010, Backlund was moved to an all-Scandinavian line, centering for Niklas Hagman and Olli Jokinen. Flames coach Brent Sutter said that the move was made to help ignite the three players offensively and that he felt Backlund had played well enough to earn another shot at center.http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/insideflames/archive/2010/11/29/scandanavians-hook-up-meyer-on-waivers.aspx The new line moved Jokinen from center to the wing.http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/insideflames/archive/2010/11/29/scandanavians-hook-up-meyer-on-waivers.aspx

Through the first 26 games of the 2010-2011 season, Backlund scored five goals and earned three assists.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=104255 Backlund played just under eight minutes in the Flames’ 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on December 3, 2010.http://flames.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8474150&season=20102011&view=gamelog A lack of production led Backlund to play only three shifts in the third period.http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AmvNpIvstvxgbXT8lwsZ4zVivLYF?slug=teamreports-2010-nhl-cgy

Backlund started the 2009-2010 season with the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League.http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=515119 In 47 games with Abbotsford, Backlund had 10 goals and 12 assists. He was called up to the Flames on January 26, 2010.http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=515119 In 23 regular season games with Calgary, Backlund had one goal and nine assists.http://flames.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8474150&view=stats He also had one goal and eight assists in 13 playoff games for Abbotsford.http://flames.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8474150&view=stats Backlund also played in six games for the Swedish National Team in the World Championships, earning one assist.http://flames.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8474150&view=stats

Backlund joined Vasteras IK of the Swedish professional league in 2005.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=104255 In four seasons with the team, he scored 16 goals and had 12 assists in 84 gameshttp://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=104255 After being drafted by the Flames in the first round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Backlund joined the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=104255 He scored 12 goals and had 18 assists in 28 games in the 2008-2009 season.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=104255

Backlund is a frequent player for Swedish national hockey teams.http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospect/mikael_backlund Along with his stint for the senior national team, Backlund played for the Swedish national team at the under-18 and under-20 levels.http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospect/mikael_backlund He was part of the silver medal-winning Swedish team at under-20 world championships in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons, scoring eight goals in the two tournamentshttp://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospect/mikael_backlund