Christian Rune Bäckman (born 28 April 1980) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played over 300 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets, and spent the latter part of his career with Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League.[1]
| Christian Bäckman | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born | 28 April 1980 Alingsås, Sweden | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | ||
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | Frölunda HC St. Louis Blues New York Rangers Columbus Blue Jackets | ||
| National team |  Sweden | ||
| NHL draft | 24th overall, 1998 St. Louis Blues | ||
| Playing career | 1998–2015 | ||
Playing career
editBäckman was drafted by St. Louis Blues in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, 1st round, 24th overall. It was not until the 2002–03 NHL season that he got a contract for play in the NHL. He only played four games for St. Louis in his first season, spending the rest of the season playing for Worcester Ice Cats in the American Hockey League (AHL). Between 2003–04 and 2007–08 he was a regular for St. Louis recording 64 points (19 goals, 45 assists), and 130 penalty minutes in 228 games.[2]
During the 2004–05 NHL lockout Bäckman played for his Swedish youth club Frölunda in Elitserien where he totalled 19 points in 50 games, winning the Elitserien playoffs.[2]
St. Louis announced on 10 August 2006 that the club re-signed Bäckman for a multi-year contract, although no contract details were released.[3] According to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet the contract gave Bäckman 50 million Swedish kronor (approx. $7 million) over three years.[4]
On 26 February 2008, Bäckman was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for a 4th round draft pick. On 2 March 2008, in his second game as a Ranger, Bäckman scored his first goal as a Ranger on Antero Niittymäki of the Philadelphia Flyers, off assists from Brendan Shanahan and Scott Gomez.[5]
On 2 July 2008, Bäckman was traded, along with Fedor Tyutin, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche. In October 2009, Bäckman signalled the conclusion of his North American career by signing with Frölunda HC.
Personal life
editBäckman was born 1980 in a small town Alingsås. He has two siblings. He grew up in mostly Alingsås but moved to Gothenburg to start his Ice Hockey career.
Bäckman is married to wife Jeanette Bäckman. Together they have 3 children. William Bäckman born in 2001, Thea Bäckman born in 2004 and Ellie Bäckman born in 2010. He spends his off-season in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Career statistics
editRegular season and playoffs
edit| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | Västra Frölunda HC | J20 | 26 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Västra Frölunda HC | J20 | 28 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Västra Frölunda HC | J20 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Västra Frölunda HC | SEL | 49 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1999–00 | Västra Frölunda HC | J20 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1999–00 | Västra Frölunda HC | SEL | 27 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1999–00 | Gislaveds SK | SWE-2 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Västra Frölunda HC | SEL | 50 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 32 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2001–02 | Västra Frölunda HC | SEL | 44 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 38 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 2002–03 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Worcester IceCats | AHL | 72 | 8 | 19 | 27 | 66 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2003–04 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 66 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2003–04 | Worcester IceCats | AHL | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Frölunda HC | SEL | 50 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 40 | 14 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 10 | ||
| 2005–06 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 52 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 61 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 45 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | New York Rangers | NHL | 18 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 2008–09 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 56 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Frölunda HC | SEL | 47 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 46 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | Frölunda HC | SEL | 21 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Frölunda HC | SEL | 55 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 48 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | Frölunda HC | SEL | 57 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 36 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | Frölunda HC | SHL | 50 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 36 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2014–15 | Frölunda HC | SHL | 33 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| SEL/SHL totals | 480 | 51 | 103 | 154 | 318 | 75 | 5 | 19 | 24 | 38 | ||||
| NHL totals | 302 | 23 | 56 | 79 | 182 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 | ||||
International
edit| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Sweden | ||
| Olympics | ||
 | 2006 Turin | |
| World Championships | ||
 | 2004 Czech Republic | |
 | 2010 Germany | |
| European Junior Championship | ||
| | 1998 Sweden | |
| | 1997 Czech Republic | |
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Sweden | EJC18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1998 | Sweden | EJC18 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | |
| 1999 | Sweden | WJC | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2000 | Sweden | WJC | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 2004 | Sweden | WC | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | |
| 2005 | Sweden | WC | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| 2006 | Sweden | OLY | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | |
| 2010 | Sweden | WC | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | |
| Junior totals | 23 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 10 | |||
| Senior totals | 35 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 28 | |||
Awards and honors
edit| Award | Year |
|---|---|
| SHL | |
| All-Star Team | 2005 |
| Le Mat trophy (Frölunda HC) | 2005 |
References
edit- ^ "Bäckman retires from professional career". aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). 2015-06-07. Retrieved 2015-06-07.
- ^ a b "Christian Bäckman player profile". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 11 August 2006.
- ^ "Blues Sign Christian Backman To Multi-Year Contract". St. Louis Blues Hockey Club L.L.C. Archived from the original on 13 August 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2006.
- ^ "Bäckmans lönehöjning: 10 miljoner per år" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet.se. Archived from the original on 13 August 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2006.
- ^ "Rangers 5, Flyers 4, SO". 2008-03-02. Retrieved 2008-03-04. [dead link]
External links
edit- Official website
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database