'He Means A Lot To This Team'

Mr. 1,000.

Has a nice ring to it.

Tonight marks a special occasion as Mikael Backlund will skate in his 1000th NHL game, as the Flames take on Utah, becoming the 19th Swedish player to hit the milestone while also being just the 10th to play them all for one club.

What a night it’s shaping up to be.

“The names of the players that have done it before me - those 10 players for one team - they’re pretty good players,” Backlund said on the milestone. “It’s pretty surreal that I’m up there with them. It’s a lot to take in, but I’m proud of my work that I’ve put in to be here today. I’m going to keep pushing myself to stay in this league for as long as I want to.

“I’ve got six buddies coming. I’m sure I’ll see them; they’re wearing red Flames jerseys so they’ll probably stand out. I’ll tell them to come down to the glass (in warmup), throw them some pucks, maybe.”

Backs 1k shirts were spotted around the dressing room prior to the team’s morning skate at the Delta Centre and, of course, some ABBA blasting through the speakers.

As the captain hit the ice, he was seen grinning ear to ear with teammates coming over to offer early congratulations before getting down to work.

Nothing but love for the man who has done so much for the organization and city.

“Spending the last couple years with him, I thought there was a few moments (that sitck out),” MacKenzie Weegar said. Obviously when he got named captain and seeing him come out in the first game, and hearing all the fans cheering for him at the Bonfire - just seeing everybody’s reaction to him becoming the captain, I think that’s when it truly set in how much he meant to this city.

“He means a lot to me, he means a lot to this team, his family. He’s a caring guy, he wants everybody to be great around him, he takes care of everybody. He’s the big Dad. It’s special for him, I’m happy for him.”

With how respected and admired he is among the group, there’s extra motivation to get out there and get the win as the cherry on top.

“His work ethic night-in, night-out, in the gym, on the ice, he’s always working the hardest,” Joanthan Huberdeau said. “Especially when he comes to camp, I mean, fitness test, he won this year and even at his age, he’s able to win the whole group. That shows his fitness, he’s working really hard in the summer as well. He’s a guy that you want to look up to, and follow him when he’s on the ice, and everywhere around the rink as well.

“We’ve been slipping a little bit lately, but I think tonight’s a great night to answer … to win that one for Backs, and to get our team in the right spot as well.”

For Flames head coach Ryan Huska, seeing the growth and commitment that Backlund has shown over the course of his career has been something to admire.

"I’ve been lucky enough to have been around him, probably for close to 500 games, I would think, at the NHL level,” he explained. “The one thing I love about him, well, there’s two. He’s a very emotional, wears his heart-on-his-sleeve type guy.

“You can see the passion that he has for the game, his teammates and for this team, and that leads to my next point. There’s a lot to be said about loyalty, and I love that about him. He was one guy that had an opportunity to potentially look somewhere else, but the organization means a lot to him. It became very evident and important to him that he wants to be a real big part of it, and that’s one of the characteristics or traits that I do love about him."