A GOLDEN MOMENT

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK - Mikael Backlund has led Sweden to back-to-back gold.
Sweden, captained by the Calgary Flames centre, earned their second straight gold medal result at the IIHF World Championship with a 3-2 shootout win against Switzerland at Royal Arena in Copenhagen on Sunday.
"Oh, it feels great," said Backlund, who had nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 10 games in the tournament, and was named one of his country's best players as selected by Sweden's coaching staff.
"I'm very happy, very proud.
"I'm so proud. It's a great moment to raise the Cup, and to do it with all these guys. They've been unbelievable teammates and such a good team, on and off the ice. It's been a lot of fun playing with these guys."

Sweden was perfect with Backlund as captain, running the table to a 10-0 record to reach a second straight gold result. Sweden also finished first at the 2017 IIHF World Championship in Paris, France and Cologne, Germany, but Backlund was unable to participate because of a lower-back injury.
He earned some positive reviews in his first go-round representing Sweden with the 'C'.
"Tremendous job," Sweden head coach Rikard Gronborg said.
"I knew we had a good captain, but he did more than I thought he would do. He took tremendous ownership of the whole process of the players and he was a great link between the coaching staff and the players. Even before, he was doing the scheduling every day. That's the type of player he is. It was easy for us to reach the players because he was such a great link.
"Tremendous hockey player, tremendous person and a great leader."
Johan Garpenlov, Sweden's assistant coach, a three-time skater in past tournaments, and a veteran of 609 NHL games logged with stints with the Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers, echoed the thought.
"He's done a great job for us," Garpenlov said. "He's our leader, obviously, our captain. On and off the ice he's such a good player. He shows up every game, every shift. He makes the guys feel comfortable out there, even in the dressing room. He's done a great job."

From the coaches perspective, Backlund did a bang-up job.
From his teammates perspective?
Much of the same.
"Just great, great leader," said teammate and Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg. "Great player. Obviously playing against him a lot in Calgary, you see the two-way game that he brings. He's got a really high skill set but still one of the best defensive centers in the league.
"Coming in here, he was a guy taking charge, talking a lot, just being vocal in the locker room and leading on the ice. He was one of our best players every game I played here.
"I'm just proud to be his teammate."
The role was natural for Backlund, who in Calgary has sported an 'A' from time to time and was the recipient of the J.R. McCaig Award, given by the Flames to both the player and staff member who best exemplify McCaig's enduring virtues of respect, courtesy and compassion for all individuals he encountered both in his professional and everyday life in March.
He embraced the challenge.
"I just tried to be myself and enjoyed it," said the 29-year-old, who also represented Sweden at the event in 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2016, and adds to his world championship collection of silver and two bronzes.
It's his first gold finish.
Not his last, he'll hope.
"It feels amazing," Backlund said.
"It's unreal."