Playing right wing, first guy sent in on the forecheck. Later in the shift, with the puck behind the net, he camps on the left side of the goal, about 8 feet out, and converts the centering feed between the left pad and glove of the goalie, looks like.
Against the Swiss, Backstrom was out on the PK, and created an excellent shorthanded chance skating around a Swiss defenseman to get a forehand in on net, the goalie stopped it by sticking to the near pipe.
hey marshall how does backstroms footspeed appear? I know that was one of his knocks coming into the draft last year...
I wouldn't categorize it as particularly fast or slow, more a bit above average. I don't think it will be a problem, but it's something he could work on.
looks like the "Backstrom is Overrated" talk has begun on the "Aftonbladet" forums (what I could translate)
Seems like he hasn't been as consistent since coming back from the WJCs.
It's hard to say without being able to watch, but I was hoping for bit more in terms of scoring. But I guess it comes down to line mates/chemistry and confidence
looks like the "Backstrom is Overrated" talk has begun on the "Aftonbladet" forums (what I could translate)
Seems like he hasn't been as consistent since coming back from the WJCs.
It's hard to say without being able to watch, but I was hoping for bit more in terms of scoring. But I guess it comes down to line mates/chemistry and confidence
Lets see. Backstrom 3 points.
Ovechkin 3 points.
They're both overrated.
Sorry, but scoring for a 19 year old in an international tournament (where he doesn't seem to be getting prime ice time often) isn't really a big deal to me.
If you ask me, Backstrom probably has played more hockey in this past 10-11 month stretch than he ever has before against tougher competition. It would make sense that the guy would tail off at this point. Olympics, WJC, Brynas work, now the WCs, and not to mention having to rehab a decent bit in between.
looks like the "Backstrom is Overrated" talk has begun on the "Aftonbladet" forums (what I could translate)
Seems like he hasn't been as consistent since coming back from the WJCs.
It's hard to say without being able to watch, but I was hoping for bit more in terms of scoring. But I guess it comes down to line mates/chemistry and confidence
What´s happened in that line is that both Steen and Bäckström tend to hold onto and transport the puck a little too much, lowering the tempo instead of passing and letting the puck do the work. Against the swiss Bäckström was playing good, letting the puck go, moving hes feet, but Steen was playing a pretty bad game. Against Denmark they were playing decent, but they are the only line on the team that has´nt "clicked" yet
Edit: The swiss game was the first in which Bäckström was centering the line and his gane automaticly improved from it
For those interested, OrderedChaos and pucksandbooks, two of my fellow OFBers, are now in Moscow, covering the Caps in the World Championships, courtesy of the Washington Capitals.
To the delight of the flag-waving fans that packed Khodynka Arena, Russia beat Switzerland 6-3, despite the ejection of superstar Alexander Ovechkin for a nasty hit on forward Valentin Wirz in the first period.
After serving a too many men on the ice minor for Russia in the first period, Ovechkin stepped out of the penalty box and laid a high hit on Wirz, who went down in a heap and slid over the Russian blueline. Wirz was assisted off by the Swiss trainers, and Ovechkin was assessed a major and game misconduct for the hit to the head at 8:42. There will be an extraordinary meeting of the IIHF Directorate at 11:30 pm Moscow time to determine whether there will be additional disciplinary action.
