CALGARY — Standing patiently outside the Calgary Flames dressing room, like the thousands of kids he’s signed for over the years, Mikael Backlund waited for the inscription.
He’d purchased an autographed Lanny McDonald jersey at the Flames’ charity golf tourney, and this was his chance to have the legend personalize it.
With Sharpie in hand, McDonald disappeared into the coach’s office to pen something meaningful.
The list of autographed jerseys Backlund has collected over the course of his 14-year career can be counted on one glove, as the polite Swede has only dared to ask a few Flames legends, like Jarome Iginla and Jaromir Jagr.
He’ll get Miikka Kiprusoff’s when the fantastic Finn returns for his jersey retirement in March.
Moments and players like these matter to Backlund, as he understands and respects the history of the franchise he’s poured his professional life into.
Soon he’ll be one of them.
Any day now, the 34-year-old Swede will sign an extension with the Flames.
What will follow, quite possibly that same day, is his unveiling as captain.
It’ll be a moment few thought we’d see five months ago when the frustrated centre left town with a frank, honest declaration that he’d need to see what direction the organization went in before he’d even consider extending his stay.
Sometime between the firing of Darryl Sutter and his arrival in town earlier this month, he had a change of heart.
Not that he ever lost his love for the city, the organization or his teammates.
He simply needed tangible proof the direction of the organization would veer from the high-tension, drama-filled environment he grew tired of last season under Sutter.
It has.
Dramatically.
New life has been injected into the organization with the additions of head coach Ryan Huska and GM Craig Conroy, who both spent the summer reminding Backlund how important he is as a player and a leader.
Backlund hadn’t even made it to the baggage carousel earlier this month when fans approached him, telling him they hope he stays.
That means something to Backlund, as it should.
Here, he matters.
As does the captaincy, which the organization has said it will award before the season opener.
Although he suggested he wanted to take his time to decide his future, doing so would have cost him the captaincy he so richly deserves.
Passing that up would be regrettable.
He is the Flames’ leader and has been throughout camp already.
His relationship with Huska goes back to their WHL days in Kelowna, where Huska coached the Vasteras native to the Memorial Cup tourney.
He is the last active player to have played alongside Conroy, making the relationship with the GM and coach rock-solid.
“I think everybody would say (the captain) should be Mikael,” Jonathan Huberdeau said last week, echoing the sentiments of Nikita Zadorov and Rasmus Andersson.
“He’s been here 14 years.
“He deserves to be.
“He’s a leader — he’s the guy who gets everybody together.
“In my opinion, it should be him, but obviously his contract stuff … but hopefully he’s still with us and is our captain.”
Count on it, as they’ve counted on him the last two seasons to be the de facto captain.
Soon it will be made official.
And as the Flames look to continue trying to rebound from last season’s nightmare, it’s just another momentum builder.
Another page-turner.
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In a city that embraced him shortly after he was drafted as a shy first-rounder in 2007, he has responded in kind with a dedication to the local community that earned him the NHL’s coveted King Clancy Award last season as the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community.
Those who were there speak of the powerful emotion Backlund demonstrated the day he was shown a video from the charities he’s repped, thanking him.
He understands the value and power of deciding to let that relationship continue to grow.
Here he is beloved by the fans, management and teammates.
Elsewhere, it’s unclear whether he’d be recognized as anything other than a diligent depth forward with perfect hair and a swell personality.
He’s thought of how much it would mean to play his 1,000th game in red and gold where it would truly mean something.
He’s openly admitted that earning a silver stick in Calgary is on his mind (he’s 92 games away) as is the possibility of going down in club lore as Forever a Flame.
Not bad for a third-line centre.
When he stood in front of reporters last spring and admitted he wasn’t sure about his future in Calgary, management and ownership heard him loud and clear.
That, and the groundswell of players who urged ownership for a coaching/culture change, had a profound effect on the decision to buy Sutter out at $8 million.
The right move was made, paving the way for Backlund’s change of heart.
It’s starting to feel like things are moving in the right direction again in Calgary, and inking Backlund to be the captain is a big part of that.
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