ELEVENTH HEAVEN

On the picture-postcard-pretty island of Ekerö come Saturday, Mikael Backlund and fiancée Frida Engström will tie the knot in an Eleventh Heaven wedding.
"Most things are done, just a few details left,'' reports the Flames' all-purpose centreman. "We have a wedding planner overseeing everything, helping out, which has been nice.
"Now it's just kinda pay the bills.
"Mostly, at this point, I'm just really looking forward to it.
"And starting to get a little nervous."
If the significance of the date, Aug. 11, has somehow escaped your detection …
"Frida,'' explains Backlund, "was born on the 11th and, well, you know the jersey number I wear …
"It's lucky for us, so we wanted to pick the 11th day of a month."

The weekend festivities include a wedding-bash BBQ for 40 - close family, the wedding party, Backlund's billet family from his WHL Kelowna spell and Frida's from her time in Minnesota - on the Friday night before the big day and a guest list rising to 105 for the nuptials themselves.
Reaching Ekerö - 20 minutes outside Stockholm and only an hour and half from the couple's hometown of Västerås - includes a scenic drive by Drottningholm Palace, the royal digs of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.
"There's no real connection to why we're there. We needed a big place where people could sleep over. We wanted to be right on the water and there's a really nice church 10 minutes away."
An eight-day honeymoon in Santorini, Greece, will follow.
"We've never been there,'' says Backlund. "Only seen pictures and heard people talk. Everybody seems to love it. We're looking forward to finding out why.
"Just relax, have a break, enjoy ourselves, take everything in. Then it's only two weeks before we head back to Calgary."
The upcoming wedding alone would've obviously made this off-season unforgettable for the 29-year-old fulcrum of the 3M Line. First, though, there was a little matter of the 2018 IIHF World Hockey Championships in Denmark, and his country's 3-2 shootout gold-medal-game victory over the plucky Swiss in Copenhagen, at Royal Arena on May 20.

Backlund served as the Swedish captain.
"An amazing experience,'' reflects Backlund, who signed a six-year, $32 million contract extension with the Flames in February. "A dream come true, really. I'd always imagined winning the World Championships with Team Sweden. I'd watched a lot of those tournaments growing up. I'll always remember them winning it in Stockholm and the way the fans reacted.
"So it was really cool when we got to Stockholm, to the downtown, after we'd won and there were thousands of fans waiting for us. Celebrating with us.
"Raising the Cup was really special, too.
"I've never been a captain as a pro, then to have that happen …
"The last game, it was really quiet in the rink. All the fans were nervous, as well. A tight game, obviously, so for us to fight through and win was memorable.
"Throughout the tournament I was hoping, dreaming, of being able to lift the trophy and when it became a reality, just surreal."
With his mind obviously pre-occupied by putting the final touches on the upcoming wedding, Backlund wasn't live-streaming Jarome Iginla's farewell on July 30.
But he has of course heard all about the wonderfully-arranged send-off for a franchise icon who was wearing the captain's C with such distinction when his younger, tight-as-a-snare-drum self arrived at the Scotiabank Saddledome as a first-round draft pick back in 2008.
"My first camp,'' Backlund recalls, "was really cool. I was between Iggy and Todd Bertuzzi, both great guys to me. I was super-nervous, of course. I'd watched the NHL for years and (Iginla) was my favourite player in Calgary.
"Sitting beside him in the room was super-exciting. A thrill. He and Bertuzzi took care of me my first few camps and then when I made the team, he was a great captain. As great as you'd heard.
"Like everyone says, he loved winning, he battled hard, a true leader and a great role model for me, for everyone.
"And the city, of course, just loved him.
"So, very deserving. A great career."
Photo from Mikael Backlund on Instagram