Backlund to Kelowna?

The Kelowna Rockets hope to learn Tuesday morning whether F Mikael Backlund will be heading to the Okanagan from Ottawa where he has starred with the Swedish national junior team.
The Rockets selected Backlund in the 2007 CHL import draft, the same draft in which they took Slovakian F Milan Kytnar, who was traded to the Saskatoon Blades last summer. Kytnar was in Ottawa where he saw lots of ice-time with the Slovaks.
With his second pick in that draft, Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton took Backlund, who had been grabbed by the Calgary Flames in the first round, 24th overall, of the NHL draft a week earlier.
And now it seems that everyone feels a change of scenery would be in Backlund’s best interests.
Back home, he is playing in his hometown. He has played 17 games for VIK Vasteras HK in the top men’s league. He has eight points, including four goals, and 39 penalty minutes. But he is reportedly unhappy with his ice-time and is looking for a change.
Vasteras, it is said, isn’t happy either and there have been reports that the team doesn’t want him to return.
The Flames obviously aren’t happy with his development and are looking at three options: 1. Sign him and keep him, something that isn’t likely to happen; 2. Sign him and place him with their AHL affiliate, the Quad City Flames in Moline, Ill.; or, 3. Let him play in Kelowna where he certainly would get ample playing time with one of major junior’s top organizations. (Backlund, by the way, went into the gold medal final against Canada with seven points, five of them goals, in five games.)
Backlund’s agent, J.P. Barry, has been rather busy with Swedish clientele of late, having brokered the pre-Christmas deal between Mats Sundin and Vancouver Canucks.
So where does everything sit right now?
It apparently is up to Calgary GM Darryl Sutter. If that is the case, the chances would seem good that Backlund will end up with the Rockets.
Hamilton, by the way, has been in Ottawa and was there Monday. As chairman of the WHL’s board of governors, he was there on Canadian Hockey League business. But you can bet there was more to his trek east than that.
--------
JUST NOTES: C Joel Broda of the Moose Jaw Warriors is the Boston Pizza WHL player of the week. He had 11 points, including nine goals, and was plus-5 as the Warriors went 3-1-0-0 on a road swing that has taken them into B.C. The seven-game trek concludes Tuesday in Prince George. . . . F Brandon Kozun of the Calgary Hitmen is the Huskyk WHL player of the month. His December included 19 points, seven multi-point games and a nine-game point streak. . . .
D Jesse Dudas’s stint with the senior AAA River Cree First Nations Warriors in Alberta appears to have lasted two games, during which he set up three goals. It turns out he can’t play for them without his WHL release, something he doesn’t have. So he’s back to waiting for Saturday’s trade deadline to see if the Swift Current Broncos are able to move him. . . . The Calgary Hitmen go into the week having won 11 straight games. G Martin Jones has posted back-to-back shutouts and, in fact, has put up three straight blank jobs at home. . . . On the other side of the coin, the Lethbridge Hurricanes have lost seven in a row and been outscored 31-8 in the process, while the Regina Pats have dropped five straight decisions.
--------
Chad Lang, the GM of the Moose Jaw Warriors, tells Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province that “all the teams that are atop of their divisions have called and inquired about him.” He is, of course, referring to centre Joel Broda, who leads the WHL – in fact, he leads the entire CHL -- with 35 goals. Ewen wrote: “Lang also said that it would ‘potentially’ take a package featuring a first-round bantam draft pick to land the 19-year-old Broda.” . . . “Different teams have different assets we might want in return,” Lang told Ewen. “If we could get a quality young prospect coming back, we might take that and a later pick. If we can’t figure out what would work in terms of a young player in return, it would definitely take a first or a second-round pick.”
--------
If you want trades, check out the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. I did a quick count earlier today and since Boxing Day there had been 17 trades involving 29 players, 24 draft picks and three import draft picks. Today alone, as of noon PT, there had been six trades. One of those deals, between the Rimouski Oceanic and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, involved three players and six draft picks. The Oceanic got the players; the Huskies got the picks.