Excellent post on Ralph Backstrom who was one of the most underrated players of his era.
The log jam of Beliveau and Richard at center really hindered Backstrom's opportunity to showcase his offensive capabilities. Backstrom was an excellent skater and, in my opinion was one of the few players of the mid to late sixties who could play today and excel. Beck plays a heavier game, has more offensive skills and has a much better shot than Backstrom. Both are superior skaters. Backstrom was mistakenly omitted from being selected to the Team Canada (NHL version) that played in the famous 1972 Summit Series team where his strong skating ability would have really helped a team that at times had trouble coping with the Soviets' speed. That error was corrected in 1974 when Backstrom was one of Team Canada's (WHA version) strongest players.
Backstrom lived in Van Horne/Wilderton area of Montreal about three buildings from me when I lived in Montreal and I often saw him and Red Berenson, who also lived in the same building . Backstrom always had a big smile on his face and was polite to everyone, willingly signing autographs for anyone who asked.
The biggest positive effect that Backstrom had on the Canadiens' fortunes was not his play on the ice, but his trade to the Los Angeles Kings in the 1970/1971 season. In what can only be described as a truly Machiavellian move, Sam Pollack, who had earlier secured the then woeful Oakland Golden Seals' first round draft choice in the 1971 draft, traded Backstrom to the then equally woeful Kings to insure that the Kings finished ahead of the Golden Seals in the standings and guaranteeing Montreal would have the first pick in the upcoming draft. The prize of that draft? Guy Lafleur.
Some general managers play chess and others play checkers.
