Christian Bäckman

Christian Bäckman
Born (1980-04-28) 28 April 1980 (age 44)
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

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]

Playing career

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Bäckman 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

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Bäckman 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

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Regular season and playoffs

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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

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Medal record
Representing  Sweden
Olympics
Gold medal – first place 2006 Turin
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2004 Czech Republic
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Germany
European Junior Championship
Gold medal – first place 1998 Sweden
Silver medal – second place 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

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Award Year
SHL
All-Star Team 2005
Le Mat trophy (Frölunda HC) 2005

References

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  1. ^ "Bäckman retires from professional career". aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). 2015-06-07. Retrieved 2015-06-07.
  2. ^ a b "Christian Bäckman player profile". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 11 August 2006.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ "Bäckmans lönehöjning: 10 miljoner per år" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet.se. Archived from the original on 13 August 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2006.
  5. ^ "Rangers 5, Flyers 4, SO". 2008-03-02. Retrieved 2008-03-04. [dead link]
[edit]
Awards and achievements
Preceded by St. Louis Blues first round draft pick
1998 		Succeeded by
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