OT: David Backes

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

Bruins fan coming in peace.

Have been a big Backes fan during his peak on the Blues, and have been rooting for them in times the Bruins weren't playing.

Was kind of shocked when Backes signed with the Bruins, not completely comfortable with the salary/length, but glad he's on our team.

As a fan, I have 2 questions for you guys.

What can we expect from him positively?
What are we going to be upset about with his play?

I appreciate what Backes has brought to the Bruins, but I can understand why a team wouldn't want to commit to the contract he got. Either way, for this season, I'm glad he's here. Would like to hear opinions of some fans familiar with his body of work.

Thanks!

PS. Glad Sobotka made it back.

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[Oberyn]

Great two way player. Solid on the PK. Very good in front of the net, particularly at deflections. Can take the toughest defensive matchups.

Throws temper tantrums when the team is losing. Style of play will likely wear him down as he gets older. Other fanbases think he's dirty so you'll need to take time out of your day to defend him on HF.

 

[PiggySmalls]

Last year he noticeably dialed back his aggressiveness during the regular season and then turned it back up for the playoffs. If he does this again for the B's then you will like that. Especially since one of Ottawa's weaknesses is their ability to fight off heavy forechecks. So that is something positive. I don't know what type of role he plays in Boston outside of being an alternate captain. But I still think he takes emotional penalties, that is something that had always frustrated me personally.

I hope he stays healthy for ya.

 

[BangarangxRufio]

I third the stupid Penalties. Though I do miss his Net Front Presence, I think he is 1 concussion from slipping. He just loses his cool too easy and it cost the team. I loved his fire on ice until he couldn't control it and with 2 min left down by 1 and we go shorthanded...

 

[KingBran]

Like others have said he will take lots of dumb penalties if he gets frustrated. He is great in front of the net but not all the time as far as point production.

Last season was really the first season he was there in full force. He didn't do much for the Blues in the playoffs before last season.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

A warrior and a leader. As others have said, he can make stupid decisions at times. But its not out of ego or selfishness. On the contrary, I think he would go to the wall for his teammates. That's why I like him.

 

[Driveshaft]

He's Captain America and saves puppies with his plane and pilot license!!! He single-handedly fought through Team Canada one by one before the olympics!

But yeah, like the others said, the hard nosed net front power forward style, ramped up in the playoffs is huge. The getting frustrated and taking dumb penalties, is a minus, but I think its an overblown opinion. I can remember it happening for sure, but when I really think about it I can only think of about 3 or 4 times that actually turned into a penalty and lost us a game. And I don't remember that happening at all last season so I think he's got that under control. I def miss Backes, but its the cap era, so you can't keep 'em all.

 

[KingBran]

He's Captain America and saves puppies with his plane and pilot license!!! He single-handedly fought through Team Canada one by one before the olympics!

But yeah, like the others said, the hard nosed net front power forward style, ramped up in the playoffs is huge. The getting frustrated and taking dumb penalties, is a minus, but I think its an overblown opinion. I can remember it happening for sure, but when I really think about it I can only think of about 3 or 4 times that actually turned into a penalty and lost us a game. And I don't remember that happening at all last season so I think he's got that under control. I def miss Backes, but its the cap era, so you can't keep 'em all.

That's why I don't think it's being over-dramatic. Losing games, especially in the playoffs, is not good.

Backes was a no-show in almost all playoff series the Blues were in except for last season.

If you take out last season his numbers are:
29GP, 5G, 8A, 13P, 32 PIM
(.448ppg)

Last season playoffs:
20GP, 7G, 7A, 14P, 8PIM
(.7ppg)

So he scored much better and like you point out, he really cooled it on the penalties last season. I think that was his biggest success. His goals were also timely and important ones last season.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

He laid a nasty hit on Duncan Keith (I think it was) that broke the boards on the angle next to the bench during the first couple minutes of a game vs Chicago. I love that about him. You don't need to worry about him, but the other team will be unhappy when they are matched up against him.

I don't know how Boston has been utilizing him, but I suspect its going to be as a defensive match-up player. He'll probably get a couple dirty goals, but he will not wilt in the playoffs. I think this is the week that Boston was trading for when they acquired him. Good luck!

 

[TheDizee]

he will give the sens nightmares.

 

[TheBluePenguin]

That's why I don't think it's being over-dramatic. Losing games, especially in the playoffs, is not good.

Backes was a no-show in almost all playoff series the Blues were in except for last season.

If you take out last season his numbers are:
29GP, 5G, 8A, 13P, 32 PIM
(.448ppg)

Last season playoffs:
20GP, 7G, 7A, 14P, 8PIM
(.7ppg)

So he scored much better and like you point out, he really cooled it on the penalties last season. I think that was his biggest success. His goals were also timely and important ones last season.

Yeah he was good last year, ever other year he was a Blue he was basically a ghost in the playoffs. If Boston gets last year Backes then you can excuse the the contract. If he goes back to Backes of old then you will not be happy at all

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Yeah he was good last year, ever other year he was a Blue he was basically a ghost in the playoffs. If Boston gets last year Backes then you can excuse the the contract. If he goes back to Backes of old then you will not be happy at all

I don't totally agree. Yes the offensive numbers weren't there, but everyone forgets that's SOB line was tasked with some serious heavy defensive lifting. It's hard to drive a lot of offense when you're pulling those kind of matchups. We were asking that line to be a number one shutdown line and a number one offensive line. That's a lot to ask. I don't think people would have complained about his offensive production in previous years if we had gotten any secondary scoring whatsoever. Tarasenko excluding obviously.

 

[ManyIdeas]

He's going to be entertaining to watch against the sens for a playoff series

 

[Bluesguru]

Backes is just a different kind of player. His attributes are unique. There's not many guys in the league that will give you 250 plus hits during the year and complement that with solid 2 way play, leadership & scoring capability.

People seem to think Backes will wear down during his contract but I disagree with that. Backes is like a bear on skates, he plays at a controlled tempo. Going into the corners and digging for pucks is easy for him. In contrast, a player like Steen, the guy the Blues chose to keep over Backes, IMO he has to labor more in the corners and along the boards to get his production. To me, Steen is more likely to wear out quicker than Backes.

I'm hoping the Bruins go far in the playoffs this year and that Backes plays a big part in it. I wish we still had him in St. Louis.

 

[The Grouch]

That's why I don't think it's being over-dramatic. Losing games, especially in the playoffs, is not good.

Backes was a no-show in almost all playoff series the Blues were in except for last season.

If you take out last season his numbers are:
29GP, 5G, 8A, 13P, 32 PIM
(.448ppg)

Last season playoffs:
20GP, 7G, 7A, 14P, 8PIM
(.7ppg)

So he scored much better and like you point out, he really cooled it on the penalties last season. I think that was his biggest success. His goals were also timely and important ones last season.

Yeah he was good last year, ever other year he was a Blue he was basically a ghost in the playoffs. If Boston gets last year Backes then you can excuse the the contract. If he goes back to Backes of old then you will not be happy at all

I don't understand how you guys could think that? Did you watch those games? Backes was meeting or exceeding realistic playoff expectations prior to last season's playoffs.

I don't totally agree. Yes the offensive numbers weren't there, but everyone forgets that's SOB line was tasked with some serious heavy defensive lifting. It's hard to drive a lot of offense when you're pulling those kind of matchups. We were asking that line to be a number one shutdown line and a number one offensive line. That's a lot to ask. I don't think people would have complained about his offensive production in previous years if we had gotten any secondary scoring whatsoever. Tarasenko excluding obviously.

Agree with VG! David Backes had the single heaviest/unfavorable burden of any Blues forward and still managed to score at almost half a point per game before his excellent 15-16 playoffs.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

I don't understand how you guys could think that? Did you watch those games? Backes was meeting or exceeding realistic playoff expectations prior to last season's playoffs.





Agree with VG! David Backes had the single heaviest/unfavorable burden of any Blues forward and still managed to score at almost half a point per game before his excellent 15-16 playoffs.

I agree....I think that's a pretty minority opinion to say Backes was a no-show. He was the defensive match-up against guys like Kopitar and Toews, and mostly shut them down. Would have been nice if he'd scored more too, but I put that more on the other lines. He also punished opposing defensemen a lot. I'd love to hear some feedback from Boston about his performance.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Backes had the task of shutting down everyone else's top guy and he generally did it pretty darn well.

 

[BlueDream]

Backes is just a different kind of player. His attributes are unique. There's not many guys in the league that will give you 250 plus hits during the year and complement that with solid 2 way play, leadership & scoring capability.

People seem to think Backes will wear down during his contract but I disagree with that. Backes is like a bear on skates, he plays at a controlled tempo. Going into the corners and digging for pucks is easy for him. In contrast, a player like Steen, the guy the Blues chose to keep over Backes, IMO he has to labor more in the corners and along the boards to get his production. To me, Steen is more likely to wear out quicker than Backes.

I'm hoping the Bruins go far in the playoffs this year and that Backes plays a big part in it. I wish we still had him in St. Louis.

I mean, it's fine that you have your opinion, but this isn't really based on facts.

If you look at both players' numbers since the age of 28, Backes' production has gone down while Steen's has improved.

That is why Steen got signed and Backes didn't. And right now I'm not sure how it can be argued that the Blues screwed up there. The only advantage Backes has is that he's better in the middle. Other than that, I think Steen will be the better player moving forward as he is showing to be.

 

[TruBlu]

One has to wonder, now that the Bruins are out of the playoffs, if Backes regrets his decision to leave for more term. I know that he did it for financial reasons, but still has to bite him a little to see us move on to the second round while he goes home.

 

[BlueDream]

One has to wonder, now that the Bruins are out of the playoffs, if Backes regrets his decision to leave for more term. I know that he did it for financial reasons, but still has to bite him a little to see us move on to the second round while he goes home.

I've thought this ever since the signing happened.

Boston to me doesn't look like a cup contending team anytime soon. He has 4 years left on his deal there. I think it's unlikely they win in that time span but who knows.

He left a team where he had a lot of good things going.

If he just wanted some money then good for him, but I'd find it hard to believe he's ecstatic about being in Boston instead of STL right now. But whatever, it's his life.

 

[simon IC]

He was my favourite player when he was here. I really miss him and I think the organization really misses him too.

 

[TruBlu]

He was my favourite player when he was here. I really miss him and I think the organization really misses him too.

Agreed. I really wanted him to play out his career here. They most likely would have given him year by year contracts, following the one they offered him, when his play started to decline just to keep him here.

 

[Evocable Manager]

I'm very glad he's gone. He's just not very good anymore and I didn't see it until he didn't have a note on his chest. The guy is just so slow and really isn't who he was 3 years ago.

That contract sucks.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

Boston seems like a great place to live. I've enjoyed my visits there, and I'm definitely not an "east coast" type person. And I think Backes had joined a team with a great player affinity (guys get along and like each other). I'm not sure if they're going to be a very good team for a while.

What stood out to me watching their playoff games (I didn't catch very many regular season games) is that Backes already looks visibly less than he was even last year. I thought maybe he was conserving some energy for the playoffs, but he didn't look like a difference maker out there. He looks slower, and I didn't see him creating as much chaos or driving possession as much as I was used to seeing. (I haven't delved into the stats. Maybe its just my perceptions, but I didn't think he looked like the same guy we'd grown used to.)

 

[TheDizee]

that contract is gonna be lehtera's on steroids for Boston.