"It just started with I wanted to do something different, but it wasn't really on purpose to throw her name out there," Backstrom said. "I think all the players in the League are doing a great job of supporting this month and the way we battle this disease. I think it's very important that we're aware of that and fight it together.
"Especially for my mom going through it, it means a lot for her too and all the other cancer patients."
Backstrom's mother was diagnosed a few weeks before his father called him, but, being typically unselfish, she didn't want him to worry about her while he was playing in the playoffs. So she had Anders wait until after the Capitals were eliminated to break the bad news.
"They kept it from me so I could just focus on hockey," Backstrom said.
When Backstrom was growing up in Gavle, Sweden, Catrin always seemed to put him and his older brother, Kristoffer, a defenseman who played professionally in Germany and Sweden before retiring in 2017, ahead of herself. She was a typical hockey mom, driving them to practices and games.
"She was probably the one that drove us the most," Backstrom said. "Even if my dad was there, he worked a little longer and my mom was the one taking care of our family. She was the rock in our family."
So learning his mother had breast cancer was understandably upsetting to Backstrom. Fortunately, Catrin's breast cancer was diagnosed early and she had already begun treatments by the time he found out.
"She was fortunate," Backstrom said. "They were able to catch it early, so they were doing the surgery and stuff, and everything was under control."
Although watching his mother go through this was stressful for Backstrom, she remained the upbeat matriarch she's always been for his family.
"My mom is pretty positive, and she kept laughing and stuff so she wouldn't get down on herself," Backstrom said. "She made the whole process a lot easier, I think. We didn't really talk about it. We just worked through it together, so that was special."
Backstrom said his mother continues to go for checkups twice a year, but now, "She's doing great. She's feeling awesome."
Catrin did her share of celebrating when her son had his day with the Stanley Cup in Gavle after the Capitals won it in 2018. She chronicled the day by posting a host of photos on her Instagram account, including one of Nicklas helping to lift her while she did a Cup stand.