The latest on Backlund . . .

By Doyle Potenteau
Kelowna Daily Courier

Mikael Backlund will join the Kelowna Rockets this week, according to various media reports.
On Tuesday, one Calgary radio station reported that Calgary Flames general
manager Darryl Sutter said Backlund will join Kelowna sometime this week,
perhaps as early as Thursday. Calgary selected the Swedish forward in the
first round, 24th overall, of the NHL's 2007 draft.
According to the station, Sutter said Backlund will spend a couple of days
in Calgary watching the Flames play, and then will join Kelowna. The
Rockets selected the 6-foot-0 centre, an offensively gifted player, 43rd overall in the CHL's 2007 import draft.
On Monday, Backlund, 19, helped Team Sweden to a silver-medal finish at
the 2009 world junior hockey championship in Ottawa. Canada, featuring two
Rockets in winger Jamie Benn and defenceman Tyler Myers, defeated Sweden
5-1 in the gold-medal game. Backlund finished the tournament with seven points, including five goals, in six games.
The tournament was Backlund's second, having played in the 2008 edition in
which Canada also beat Sweden for gold.
“I'm going to play (in Canada) the rest of the season,” Backlund told The
Canadian Press on Tuesday night from the Pengrowth Saddledome, where he
attended the Calgary-San Jose game as a guest of Sutter. "I don't really
know where I'm going to play, it's up to Darryl Sutter to decide.
“I'm going to be here for some days and just relaxing and taking it easy,
and then Darryl will decide where I'm going to play."
The Flames have two options: Kelowna, which owns his major-junior rights,
or Calgary's AHL affiliate, the Quad City Flames, who play out of Moline, Ill. Given his age, it's expected that the Flames will assign him to the Okanagan, where he'll
receive plenty of ice time.
“We're probably going to know more by Thursday,” Rockets president and
general manager Bruce Hamilton said Tuesday night after arriving from
Ottawa. “I know he didn't travel back to Sweden today; he traveled to
Calgary. I think the Flames will make some kind of decision Thursday or
Friday as to where they're going to position him, whether he'll be going
to the American League or here.”
This season, Backlund had four goals and four assists in 17 games with Vasteras, a Swedish Elite League team, and, according to reports, was relegated to third-line duty, which made him look at life in North America.
“I'm really excited to be here; it's going to be fun," said Backlund.
“When I know what team it's going to be, I'm just going to go out and have
fun and play hockey almost every day. It will be a good experience for me
to be here."
Should Backlund join Kelowna's lineup, it would appear to give the Rockets a serious shot at contending for a league title. As it is, up
front, the Rockets have Colin Long, who's on pace for his second 100-point
season, and Benn, who's on pace for 51 goals in 58 games this season, plus
three good second-line players in Cody Almond, Kyle St. Denis and Brandon
McMillan.
Adding a world-class forward in Backlund should make Rockets fans giddy - if the hype is to be believed.
“When we picked him, a lot of people thought we were foolish,” said
Hamilton, who was criticized for picking a European who, until Monday,
wasn't likely to play in Kelowna. “Sometimes you take the risk and
hopefully we have a reward.
“I'm looking forward to finding out what they want to do; we'll probably
have a couple of conversations with Mr. Sutter (on Wednesday).”
Asked to describe Backlund, Hamilton called him “a pretty dynamic player.”
“Both the games I saw him (in Ottawa), he was a very aggressive player. He
has great speed, an unbelievable shot . . . he's talented. He's one of the
best players in the world.”