Mikael Backlund reflects on disappointing result in his 1,000th career game

The Calgary Flames suffering a 5-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club in a very lopsided fashion was frustrating for everyone involved. But what made the result more disappointing was the fact it came on Mikael Backlund’s 1,000th career NHL game.

When anyone thinks of the Flames, they likely first think of the late Johnny Gaudreau, who made the Flaming C an icon for hockey fans across the world. However, as player who has played with the team’s legends and been a part of the organization since he began his NHL career, Backlund is a name that should pop up first when the Flames are mentioned.

As far as the team’s performance goes against Utah, everyone knew it wasn’t good enough. Head coach Ryan Huska mentioned how the Flames fell behind in the effort department, and Backlund knew it, too.

“From the start, they were the better team,” Backlund said, via Flames TV. “They had a little more jump and more urgency than us, I felt throughout the whole game. It’s a tough one. We’re in a pit of doom right now, but we’ve got to climb ourselves out of it. It’s up to us. We’ve got to turn this around, but yeah, it’s been two tough games from us.”

The “pit of doom” Backlund mentioned is the four-game losing streak the Flames are on currently following losses to the Carolina Hurricanes, Winnipeg Jets, Vegas Golden Knights, and now, the Hockey Club. And in order to get out of it, it takes a team effort to get back to their formula for success, which includes using their forecheck to create turnovers and cause chaos.

“It starts with every individual on the team to look themselves in the mirror and realize we all have got to be better as individuals and as a team,” Backlund said. “We’ve got to play more for each other like we did at first. Before this road trip, we were playing for each other; we were playing hard and aggressive, and that’s what we’ve got to get back to. We got away from that. So it starts next game. In the first 10 minutes, every puck has got to get in, and we’ve got to go to work. We’re a good forechecking team, and we got away from that.”

Outside of the result, though, it was a special night, and Backlund knew it. Playing 1,000 games is a rare feat for any player at the NHL level, so celebrating the accomplishment was the first item on the agenda.

Not only did Backlund have friends and family in attendance, but he also was given a solo lap and the entire Flames team came out wearing his jersey in warm-ups.

“That was great,” Backlund said. “It was an awesome feeling skating out with a solo lap. It’s been a long time since I got to do that the last time. That was a special feeling, for sure. It just sucks it didn’t carry over into the game.”

The Flames have some major issues to fix, and it’s unfortunate that this skid happened when Backlund’s 1,000th career game occurred as well. However, despite the one-sided (and somewhat embarrassing) result, appreciating the career Backlund has had and everything he has given to the Flames organization is important as anything. Celebrating him and this accomplishment was great, and now it’s time for the Flames to get back to work on changing their momentum in the standings.