Ralph Backstrom

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CanadaCanada  Ralph Backstrom Ice hockey player
Date of birth September 18, 1937
place of birth Kirkland Lake , Ontario , Canada
size 178 cm
Weight 75 kg
position center
Shot hand Left
Career stations
1954-1956 Montréal Junior Canadiens
1956-1958 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens
1958-1970 Montréal Canadiens
1970-1973 Los Angeles Kings
1973 Chicago Black Hawks
1973-1975 Chicago Cougars
1975-1976 Denver Spurs
Ottawa Civics
1976-1977 New England Whalers

Ralph Gerald Backstrom (born September 18, 1937 in Kirkland Lake , Ontario ) is a former Canadian ice hockey player (Center) who played for the Montréal Canadiens , Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League and the Chicago Cougars from 1958 to 1977 , Denver Spurs , Ottawa Civics and New England Whalers played in the World Hockey Association .

Career

As a junior, he played with the Montréal Junior Canadiens in the QJHL before he worked in the senior division for the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens . Already in the 1956/57 season he was allowed to sniff the NHL air for three games with the Montréal Canadiens , but he soon returned to the farm team in Hull-Ottawa. He had already played for the first time in 1956 for the Memorial Cup , with Hull-Ottawa he made it to the finals for the first time in 1957, where the hosts from Flin Flon were defeated. In the third attempt in 1958 it finally worked and as team captain Backstrom, who was considered one of the greatest talents at the time, led his team to the Memorial Cup win. Scotty Bowman was coach of the team at the time and celebrated his first success as a coach.

For the 1958/59 season you wanted to slowly build him up with the Rochester Americans in the AHL . But already in the preparation, which he denied with the Montréal Canadiens, he impressed those responsible, so that he was brought into the NHL squad. He thanked it with 40 scorer points and the Calder Memorial Trophy , which was awarded to him as the best rookie of the season. At the end of the season he won his first of a total of six Stanley Cups . In his second season he only managed 28 points, but his defensively oriented game ensured that he had a place on the team. He was overshadowed by the great stars Jean Béliveau and Henri Richard , but together with Claude Provost he was one of the toughest and toughest players of his time.

In the late 1960s his dissatisfaction grew and he wanted to leave the Canadiens. He started almost reluctantly into the 1970/71 season and moved to the Los Angeles Kings in January 1971 . The Canadiens sold it cheaply, but were not unselfish. The Oakland Seals had acquired their first-round draft pick and it was hoped that the Seals would receive the first pick as the weakest team in the NHL. So they wanted to sign the talented Guy Lafleur . But Los Angeles had a bad season and it was feared that they would be last in the NHL. Backstrom helped move the Kings to the penultimate place. At the end of the 1972/73 season he moved to the Chicago Black Hawks for a few games .

He stayed in Chicago, but changed team and league. The Chicago Cougars in the World Hockey Association brought in the veteran Backstrom, who scored 83 points in his freshman year. He was also nominated for the 1974 Summit Series , where the WHA All-Stars played against the Soviet Union national team . In a row with Gordie and Mark Howe , he was one of the outstanding players of the series. When the Cougars faced financial failure in the 1974/75 season , it was Backstrom, along with Dave Dryden and Pat Stapleton , who took over the team. However, they failed to keep the team alive through the end of the season. With most of the teams he moved to the Denver Spurs , but this team was also on shaky legs. At the turn of the year they wanted to save the team by moving to Ottawa, but that also failed and it was dissolved. He came to the New England Whalers through a dispersal draft carried out . Here he played a very decent 1976/77 season before ending his career.

In the early 1980s he returned to the Los Angeles Kings as an assistant coach. He later coached the University of Denver and Phoenix Roadrunners teams in the International Hockey League .

statistics

Seasons Games Gates Assists Points Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season 17th 1,032 278 361 639 386
NHL playoffs 12 116 27 32 59 68
WHA regular season 4th 304 100 153 253 104
WHA playoffs 3 38 10 18th 28 12

Sporting successes

Personal awards

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Backstrom, Ralph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Backstrom, Ralph Gerald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH September 18, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Kirkland Lake , Ontario