Tribute Christian Bäckman

[Eye of Ra]

What are you guys memories of him? What did he bring to the ice?

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[tfriede2]

This kind of makes it sound like he died; he didn’t, right?

 

[Majorityof1]

Why? What are my memories. Basically none. Almost a completely forgettable player. Couple hundred games of completely meh hockey, traded for barely anything and then washed out a few seasons later to SHL. What am I missing that we need to pay tribute to him?

 

[HighNote]

He brought a warm body covered in hockey equipment to the ice.

 

[kimzey59]

Backman's biggest achievement was helping to get Chris Mason.

 

[ExtraExtra888]

I dont remember much but I was pretty excited his first season I thought he played good. But then he regressed and was gone.

 

[oPlaiD]

He always seemed like a player who was less than the sum of his parts and always looked better than the actual on-ice results.

In a wild trivia fact, he led the team in ice time per game in his 52 GP in 2005-2006. Christian Backman, #1 defenseman.

It's easy to lament the current situation our franchise is in, but I don't think I'd trade the current organization for that one, even with a #1 overall pick coming in.

 

[DatDude44]

lol backman big smooth skating soft and bad…. LOVE EM

 

[Reality Czech]

That name really takes me back, man

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I remember being pleasantly surprised they were able to trade him for a decent asset.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

He always looked like he was about to take a shit.

 

[TK 421]

I think my very first post on HF was talking about how much Backman sucked.

 

[simon IC]

Big disappointment. Had size and skating, but was soft as butter. I kept hoping he would improve, but he never did, despite being given ample opportunity.

 

[Eye of Ra]

1998 round 1 #24 overall by St. Louis Blues

he must had something.

 

[TheOrganist]

He had a pretty good rookie season if I recall. MacInnis’s career was clearly over around that time bc of his eye injury. Jackman and Bäckman. The future baby.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

1998 round 1 #24 overall by St. Louis Blues

he must had something.

Larry Pleau had taken over by then and we usually attributed draft success or failure to him. That was Pleau's first draft as GM. Some here may be able to speak to the weight of the scouting staff's input. Pleau and his team had several misses in their early years of drafting, but got much better as we transitioned to Army.

As others here have stated, Backman was big and skated well, so there was some reasonable expectation that he'd be able to hold his own in the NHL.

Matt 'Pylon' Walker (same Blues draft class) played more games than Backman.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I call dibs on starting the Rich Pilon tribute thread once this heater dies down.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I call dibs on starting the Rich Pilon tribute thread once this heater dies down.

There is a theme.

Niklas Kronwall will be next, followed by Andreas Lijla, Henrik Tallinder and Mattias Ohlund.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Larry Pleau had taken over by then and we usually attributed draft success or failure to him. That was Pleau's first draft as GM. Some here may be able to speak to the weight of the scouting staff's input. Pleau and his team had several misses in their early years of drafting, but got much better as we transitioned to Army.

As others here have stated, Backman was big and skated well, so there was some reasonable expectation that he'd be able to hold his own in the NHL.

Matt 'Pylon' Walker (same Blues draft class) played more games than Backman.

Ted Hampton was the Blues Director of Amateur Scouting for about 20 years - from the mid 80s until he was fired and replaced with Jarmo in 2002. His track record was…not great. Jarmo, Bill Armstrong and now Feltrin have all been notably better IMO.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Ted Hampton was the Blues Director of Amateur Scouting for about 20 years - from the mid 80s until he was fired and replaced with Jarmo in 2002. His track record was…not great. Jarmo, Bill Armstrong and now Feltrin have all been notably better IMO.

Thank you! Ted Hampton is the guy and then Jarmo. I forgot.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Thank you! Ted Hampton is the guy and then Jarmo. I forgot.

Hampson actually. Not Hampton. Must’ve wrote it wrong.

 

[Majorityof1]

1998 round 1 #24 overall by St. Louis Blues

he must had something.

And? So what? We made a bad draft pick a quarter of a century ago. Why are we talking about him? Should I go to the Pittsburgh board and ask for their memories of Milan Kraft who was selected 1 spot before Bachman?

What is the purpose of this thread? We don't have fond memories of a meh draft pick who had a good season then washed.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

And? So what? We made a bad draft pick a quarter of a century ago. Why are we talking about him? Should I go to the Pittsburgh board and ask for their memories of Milan Kraft who was selected 1 spot before Bachman?

What is the purpose of this thread? We don't have fond memories of a meh draft pick who had a good season then washed.

It looks like he is writing something about Swedish defensemen who played in the NHL.

 

[Memento]

I have no idea why this is a thread - and yes, I realize that just saying that on this thread makes me a massive hypocrite.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I felt sorry for Backman as he was often paired with the immortal Eric Brewer who just had no concept whatsoever of staying in his post. Backman's in the corner...next thing you know...so is Brewer and someone is wide open in front of the net. I felt much of Backman's discredit was due to how crappy his partners were as well. Was he soft as jello? Yes. So was Petro. I think he may have been at least a good 4-6 if he had someone worth a crap opposite him. He didn't live up to the hype as we finally kept a first round pick and didn't trade them.