Backes Discusses His Likely Last Game in St. Louis

David Backes has played 964 games in the NHL -- which is just about 964 more than he said he could have ever expected when he was younger -- and he might someday look back at this one as his most memorable.

The 15-year NHL veteran will be in the lineup tonight when the Ducks take on the St. Louis Blues, the team Backes spent 10 seasons with, five as captain. And since the 37-year-old has indicated he will retire at the end of this season, tonight is likely his last game in the city he called home for so long.
"I've been back here a few times since leaving town, but knowing that it could be the last, a lot of memories and a lot of great moments that have happened in this building," Backes said during a session with media following this morning's skate at Enterprise Center.
"St. Louis is still looking to clinch a playoff [berth], so amidst the festivities and the specialness for me personally, I expect it to be another hard-nosed NHL game going down the stretch with a team trying to make the playoffs, and we're going to try and play the spoilers tonight. There will certainly be some special emotions and some special feelings out there, and I'm going to soak in every moment of it. Every time I touch the ice, I'm going to try and make the most of it and really imprint all the memories. There will probably be some memories floating back in about being on that other bench."
Backes has 248 goals and 313 assists in his career, including three in just 14 games this season with Anaheim, where he's spent most of the campaign on the team's taxi squad. He said he's grateful to those who ensured he was in the lineup tonight, notably Ducks coach Dallas Eakins, who was effusive in his praise for Backes this morning.
"When you're a rebuilding team and you're going through the adversity we've gone through this year, you need some level heads and some guys that have maybe been through it or been through some different circumstances throughout their career, whether it's on the coaching side, the managing side, the player side," Eakins said. "With David, he's brought a ton of leadership, a lot of calm. He's done an excellent job with our vets and our young kids. And in all regards from work ethic to attitude to encouragement to the odd kick in the butt, he's covered everything.
"The other thing he has done, when he's been able to get into the lineup, he's played real solid. And it's interesting, we have him in the lineup tonight, but it's not just what he's meant to our organization. It's what he's meant to the St. Louis Blues organization too. And, and when you have a player like that, that is so highly regarded everywhere he goes, you certainly start to understand the man, the human being that he is."
Backes reflected on his career and what this game in St. Louis means to him in his session with media this morning:

On the reaction of Blues fans in the building tonight
Well, from the reaction on my phone from a lot of our contacts who are still in town, they're really excited to watch me one more time on this sheet of ice. And you know, it's, it's not a meaningless game either, so there's a lot of reason to have a raucous crowd. And I remember that raucous crowd when it was for me in St. Louis. It gave me a lot of energy and propelled us to a lot of victories. And so I would expect them to cheer for the Blues, but maybe the old guy figures something out and is able to have some success tonight, and maybe it's a little warmer than a typical opposition having success.
On what the city of St. Louis meant to him
We are seen as athletes in the public eye and when we're at the rink and doing what we do, but there's also a lot of home life and growth. I was married shortly after I came to St. Louis, and my wife and I really grew as a couple and grew in our faith and had our daughter here. The connections and how we were treated around town, we made so many great relationships that are still lasting, even from a distance now. Those are the things that don't come with you when you change teams, and you really realize how much you were integrated into the community and how much you love being in a city like St. Louis. So that's a that's a huge part of why it's so nostalgic to come back and be in the city,
On getting the opportunity to be in the lineup tonight
It's not something that every player gets, a little bit of circling back to where it all started. I'm extremely grateful and blessed to have that opportunity. Dallas [Eakins] putting me in the lineup and Murph [Bob Murray] making a spot on the roster, and I'd be remiss without thanking a guy like Ryan Getzlaf, who goes to bat in these situations, really pulling all the strings he can. [He's] a great leader and a guy I'm proud to have as a teammate.
On coming close to winning a Cup in St. Louis and Boston but coming up short
When the stain fades away from not achieving your goal, I'm an optimist. I look at the great moments that we did have as a team and came together and obstacles we overcame, whether that was '06 making it to the conference final and getting over that second round that seemed to be a barrier for us. Coming together as a team, really put some great foundations for years to come and sort of a culture and what we were building here from when I got here as a young kid. We drafted first overall getting Eric Johnson and not winning many games to when I left, it was in a better place I feel. To play in a Stanley Cup Final, there are guys that never get to do that. I was able to do that and felt a lot of pride in my ability to help a team get to that stage and not looking at the pessimist side of things pulling at me or whatever. That's not really in the equation. I'm a glass half full kind of guy.

On taking pride for helping some of tonight's teammates grow as players
Tons of pride, I think as much as helping them become pros, trying to instill and lead and how to be a good human and represent themselves, the team, the city of St. Louis, wherever they go is a huge point of emphasis and pride for me seeing it when those guys are now veteran players on the team and how they're doing. David Perron playing in his 900th game on Monday, and the success he's had. But to be back here and see those guys and how they're doing things the right way, and if I had any little input in that it's a huge sense of pride for me and something that I've really grabbed onto and relished as a role later here in my career when the ice time and the games played maybe aren't as numerous as they used to be.
On staying positive this season
I think it's very unique. The tough part has been the lack of connection everyone feels in their every normal day life, where you can't congregate with people or go to dinner and have that personal connection face to face. Everything seems to be through a computer, through a phone and, you know, with the protocols the way they are, it's very similar. You get four guys at a table on the road, eating dinner together. Outside of that, you know, your team togetherness and that bond and that wrapping your arms around each other and then going to play a game where you need to sacrifice for each other, that connection is unfortunately very difficult in this time. That being said, we've got a young team and trying to share my knowledge with those guys at those dinners and being intentional about that opportunity to certainly progress that. Also, being in Southern California during the pandemic where my kids and my wife were able to be outside a lot, that's been a huge blessing as well.
On soaking in every moment
I've been talking to a few people as you can imagine, and the idea of like, when I was in that room with Keith Tkachuk and Doug Weight and Bill Guerin, Jamal Mayers and Dallas Drake, and those guys were all telling me to enjoy it and it goes fast. Like every kid who doesn't listen, I was just kinda "Yeah, yeah yeah" and all of a sudden you're not the young kid in the locker room, and suddenly you're close to the end. It has gone extremely fast, but I haven't been reckless and getting through it without enjoying it and without relishing some of the moments that are special in this game and some of them that aren't beautiful. They're ugly, tearful at some points and there are moments of pain and agony too. And when you start to enjoy those, I think that mental scrapbook is very full, and I'm very blessed and grateful for all those memories.
On the moments that stand out for him
The amazing blessing that it is to think of when I was in high school, the idea of playing in the NHL was so foreign to me. [It was] a goal, obviously I think for any or any young player playing professional sports, but the realistic idea that I was going to be able to do that was not really even on the radar. I was a nerdy kid that wanted to go to engineering school and law school and argue patent law. And if I did that and hockey paid for school maybe, that was a win. And here I am 15 years down the road and just been so blessed to be in so many amazing circumstances where [you think], how does that line up? How am I drafted by St. Louis? And then a couple of years down the road, they're one of the worst teams in the league and I get a shot on the team because the roster is thin. And then when I'm on that roster, why do I get a few extra looks or opportunities and make the most of them? And then to be able to stay on the roster and sign an offer sheet with Vancouver that St. Louis quickly matches and increase my role and then named captain and stay relatively injury-free and just have a great group of guys and coaches and management that believe in me and fans that support me and family and my wife, that all just came together.
To me, it just blows my mind that all those things lined up. And I guess that's the motivation for my not believing that I was so blessed to have 15 years in this league. The memories of day-to-day building of a team and how are we going to get closer and go further than the team we're playing against, because we care more about each other. It's not always pretty. Sometimes you're chasing your team's best scorer, Vlady Tarasenko around a practice, trying to get ahold of him, to smarten him up over something. It's not pretty, but I think that's the glorious part about the game is that after that happens, you go crack a cold one and talk it out and then it's behind you and you're both better for it. To me that team building was just something that, I don't know that anything else is going to be able to replace that.