20210405_backlund_giordano

MIKAEL BACKLUND ON GIORDANO REACHING 500 POINTS:

ON THE STRETCH RUN:

"It's been very frustrating, exhausting year. Coming in expecting and hoping and believing we would be a playoff team and be at the top of our division or in the mix up there, and seeing yourself outside the playoffs pretty much the whole time, it's been really hard, frustrating, exhausting. It's been tough to chase. In a shorter season, we need to have a good start, and we didn't get that. I'm not saying we've given up, I'm just saying overall during the season, it's been very hard, for sure. ... We've got to find a way to get back in the win column and see where it takes us."

DARRYL SUTTER ON THE CAPTAIN'S MILESTONE:

"I think that would be the late (scout) Tommy Webster, for sure, who would have scouted him, seen him and recommended him. That would have been 100% on Webby. In those days, were a lot of players that were signing three-way contracts, especially the situation we were in, with budget and so forth. We had a lot of players on three-way deals and even when Gio went to Russia, that was also a standard. What you qualified a player at was a two-way contract, so that tells you how far it all went in Gio's career.
"He started with the three-way, then the two-way, then the one-way, an all-star and the Norris (Trophy), it speaks volumes about the player. Five-hundred points is significant in itself, but it's way more significant with the fact that he's done it all with one organization. It really stands out, how he's been a captain and a stellar player for as long as he has."

Sutter on Gio, Valimaki, pace of play and more

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