Say What - 'Really Thankful'

Mikael Backlund on being honoured for 1,000 games played tonight:

"I’m excited. It’s great to have so many family members here, and friends to share it with. It’s going to be special receiving that stick. It’s going to be a special moment."

On being celebrated by the C of Red:

"To get recognized in front of the fans, the fans I’ve played for for so long and the only fans I’ve played for, it’s going to be incredible. I’m just really thankful, proud I’m still here, and really excited to be a Calgary Flame."

On being called an 'old man' by Blake Coleman:

"I think that’s fair to say. Physically, I feel really good. I feel better physically today than I did when I came into the league as a rookie, I feel stronger, my cardio, my speed, everything is better. My wife tells me all the time too that I’m an old soul. I’m not a night person, except for game nights. In the off-season, I rarely go past 10 p.m. I don’t know if it’s an ‘old man’ thing to say that I enjoy a cup of coffee, I like to do that as well. He’s not lying."

Blake Coleman on Backlund's 1,000th game ceremony:

"I’m excited for him, obviously it’s well-deserved. I think tonight will show how meaningful he is to this city, and I hope he gets the reception that he deserves. A thousand games in the league is impressive on its own, but with one organization is pretty unheard of. We’re happy for him, we’re excited, we gave him a few little gifts for his family this morning. Hopefully we can honour him a little bit better tonight with a win."

On whether Backlund could reach the franchise-record 1,219 games played:

"If anyone could, he could. He’s an old man in a young body. He takes good care of himself. He does the right things. If anybody could hold on and maybe get there, it’d be him."

On why Backlund's an 'old man in a young body':

"He’s just an old soul. He likes to be in bed at 9, and be awake at 6 and walk his imaginary dog at 7. He’s just very routine-oriented. He’s very structured and scheduled, but yeah, he’s still first in fitness testing every year, and in incredible shape. He takes good care of himself."

Matt Coronato on returning to the Flames lineup:

"Feels good. I’m excited, I’m looking forward to tonight. Just want to come in and contribute, and help the team any way I can."

On playing alongside Backlund and Coleman:

"It’s real exciting. They’re both great players, they play the game the right way. They’re two guys that work really hard and make plays. I think it’s a great opportunity."

Ryan Huska on what he excepts the reception for Backlund to be:

"I think it’ll be a strong one. He’s played 1,000 games for the same franchise, same organization. I’ve talked about loyalty before, I think it goes both ways and I think people recognize that. Sometimes a player has a choice, and he’s always chosen the Flames. And I think fans will recognize that and they’ll give him the salute he probably deserves."

On what he wants to see on the ice tonight:

"The focus is totally on how we have to play. I feel like we’ve gotten away from it the last two games. For our team to be at its best, we have to do a really good job of keeping numbers above the puck. That’s something that’s important for us. I think, one, it helps limit the chances we give up against, but I just feel like when we do that, the rhythm of our play, the pace of our team game is so much better, it allows us to play a little bit more downhill, and I think we’re a harder team to play against when we play that way."

On expectations for Coronato:

"For Matt to be Matt, I think that’s the one thing, you always feel like whenever someone’s brought up that’s a first-round pick, everybody puts the pressure of the world on his shoulders. It’s not that at all, he’s got to come up and be himself, we feel like that’s good enough."