| Ralph Backstrom | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Backstrom with theMontreal Canadiens in the 1960s | |||
| Born | (1937-09-18)September 18, 1937 Kirkland Lake,Ontario, Canada | ||
| Died | February 7, 2021(2021-02-07) (aged 83) | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | Montreal Canadiens Los Angeles Kings Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Cougars Denver Spurs Ottawa Civics New England Whalers | ||
| National team |  Canada | ||
| Playing career | 1956–1977 | ||
Ralph Gerald Backstrom (September 18, 1937 – February 7, 2021) was a Canadianprofessionalice hockeycentre and later a coach, entrepreneur and hockey executive. He played in theNational Hockey League with theMontreal Canadiens,Los Angeles Kings, andChicago Black Hawks between 1956 and 1973. He also played in theWorld Hockey Association with theChicago Cougars,Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics, andNew England Whalers from 1973 to 1977. With the Canadiens, he won theStanley Cup six times, and won theCalder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year in 1959. After retiring he served as head coach of theUniversity of Denver Pioneers for several years in the 1980s.
Backstrom played junior hockey from 1954 to 1958, with theMontreal Junior Canadiens, which relocated and was renamed the Ottawa-Hull Canadiens in 1956. He was captain of the team that won theGeorge Richardson Memorial Trophy in 1957 and theMemorial Cup in1958.[1]
As a professional, Backstrom joined theMontreal Canadiens for the1958–59 season and was selected the NHL's top rookie, receiving theCalder Memorial Trophy.[2] He played in Montreal for 12 full seasons, winning sixStanley Cups and appearing in sixNational Hockey League All-Star Games (1958,1959,1960,1962,1965,1967).[3] After the1969–70 season, Backstrom requested a trade and talked about retiring. He reported to training camp, but left the team just before the season opened. After returning to the Canadiens, Backstrom spent most of his time on the bench until being traded to theLos Angeles Kings in January 1971.[4] With Los Angeles he scored 14 goals in 33 games, enabling the Kings to avoid last place by finishing ahead of theCalifornia Golden Seals. Since the Seals' first draft pick had been traded to the Canadiens, this enabled the Canadiens to draft first and acquire superstarGuy Lafleur as a reward for sending Backstrom to the Kings.[5] Just over two years later, he was traded to theChicago Black Hawks forDan Maloney and finished the1972–73 season there.[3]
Backstrom then jumped to theWorld Hockey Association and joined theChicago Cougars, where he played for two years, and later became a part-owner of the team.[6] In his first season, he led the Cougars in scoring with 33 goals and 83 points in 70 games. The team finished 4th in the Eastern Division but in the1974 WHA playoffs, the Cougars came alive and advanced to the Avco Cup Finals, where they lost to the Houston Aeros in four games. Backstrom tied three other players for most points in the postseason with 14 while having five goals to finish 2nd among all skaters in points with 19. He also represented Canada at the1974 Summit Series on an all-star team of Canadian WHA players. His offensive production dropped sharply in1974–75 and at the end of the season the newDenver Spurs selected Backstrom in the WHA's expansion draft. Backstrom was the team's top scorer, but the franchise struggled, and a move toOttawa—where the team was renamed theOttawa Civics—did not help. The franchise ceased operations 41 games into the season.[7] Backstrom finished the season with theNew England Whalers, scoring 35 goals and 83 points over the year. He played one more year with New England and retired in1977. He would have turned 40 before the start of the next season. Through his professional career, Backstrom had seven 20-goal seasons in the NHL and two 30-goal seasons in the WHA.[3]
Immediately after his retirement Backstrom accepted an offer to join the staff of newly appointedUniversity of Denverhead coachMarshall Johnston as an assistant.[8] Three years later Backstrom returned to the NHL as an assistant for theLos Angeles Kings but only stayed for one season before rejoining Denver, this time as the bench boss after Johnston left to join the NHL'sColorado Rockies. Backstrom led the Pioneers through a few lean years in the early 1980s before having a breakout season in1985–86 when he led Denver to a team record 34-win season, including a conference regular season title, a conference tournament title (their first in 13 years) and reached the team's firstFrozen Four since finishing second in1973.[9] Backstrom earned theSpencer Penrose Award, as national coach of the year, for the impressive season.[10] However, the team was unable to sustain the high level of play for the remainder of his tenure. Backstrom resigned after the1989–90 season, turning the team over toFrank Serratore.[9]
Backstrom jumped into the professional ranks in1990–91 when he took over thePhoenix Roadrunners. After a good first season,[11] including pushing the number-one seededPeoria Rivermen to a seventh game in theTurner Cup semifinals,[12] Phoenix dropped to dead last in the 10-team league.[13] Backstrom subsequently resigned as coach.[14]
Backstrom, along withDennis Murphy andLarry King, foundedRoller Hockey International and served as commissioner for a time. It soon became apparent that the league was in financial trouble and it suspended the entire 1998 season before playing one final campaign in 1999. While the league did not officially disband until 2001, Backstrom returned to the NHL in1999–00 as a scout for theSt. Louis Blues.[15]
After three seasons with the Blues, Backstrom founded a newCHL team called theColorado Eagles in 2002.[16] He owned the team, was general manager and president for the first three seasons, including a CHL championship in2004–05. His Eagles finished atop their division six times, made the finals five times, and won theRay Miron President's Cup twice in eight seasons before moving to theECHL in2011–12.[17] Later moving to the AHL in 2018-19
Backstrom's parents were both born nearVaasa inFinland, and met inKirkland Lake,Ontario.[19] He was a cousin of NHL playerDaren Puppa.[3] He was not related to goalieNiklas Bäckström, nor centreNicklas Bäckström.[3]
Backstrom married his first wife, Frances Richard, in April 1961.[20] He married his second wife, Janet, in 1985.[21] They remained married until his death. He had three children: Martin, Diana, and Andrew.[22]
Backstrom died after a long illness on February 7, 2021, aged 83, in hisWindsor, Colorado, home.[15] Backstrom's brain was donated for study to researchers atBoston University and it was found that Backstrom had been suffering from stage 3chronic traumatic encephalopathy at the time of his death.[23]
Source:[3]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1954–55 | Montreal Jr. Canadiens | QJHL | 21 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1955–56 | Montreal Jr. Canadiens | QJHL | 18 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1955–56 | Montreal Jr. Canadiens | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 6 | ||
| 1956–57 | Ottawa-Hull Canadiens | OHA-Jr. | 18 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1956–57 | Ottawa-Hull Canadiens | EOHL | 18 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1956–57 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1956–57 | Ottawa-Hull Canadiens | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | 17 | 11 | 28 | 19 | ||
| 1957–58 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1957–58 | Ottawa-Hull Canadiens | OHA-Jr. | 26 | 24 | 27 | 51 | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1957–58 | Ottawa-Hull Canadiens | EOHL | 33 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1957–58 | Montreal Royals | QHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1957–58 | Ottawa-Hull Canadiens | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | 17 | 9 | 26 | 24 | ||
| 1958–59 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 64 | 18 | 22 | 40 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | ||
| 1959–60 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 64 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 1960–61 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 44 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1961–62 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 66 | 27 | 38 | 65 | 29 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1962–63 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 23 | 12 | 35 | 51 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1963–64 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 41 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 1964–65 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 25 | 30 | 55 | 41 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||
| 1965–66 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 67 | 22 | 20 | 42 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 1966–67 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 39 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 1967–68 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 20 | 25 | 45 | 14 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 1968–69 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 72 | 13 | 28 | 41 | 16 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | ||
| 1969–70 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 72 | 19 | 24 | 43 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1970–71 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 16 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1970–71 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 33 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 76 | 23 | 29 | 52 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 63 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 16 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0 | ||
| 1973–74 | Chicago Cougars | WHA | 78 | 33 | 50 | 83 | 26 | 18 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 4 | ||
| 1974–75 | Chicago Cougars | WHA | 70 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics | WHA | 41 | 21 | 29 | 50 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | New England Whalers | WHA | 38 | 14 | 19 | 33 | 6 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 | ||
| 1976–77 | New England Whalers | WHA | 77 | 17 | 31 | 48 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| NHL totals | 1,032 | 278 | 361 | 639 | 386 | 116 | 27 | 32 | 59 | 68 | ||||
| WHA totals | 234 | 85 | 129 | 214 | 76 | 38 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 12 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Canada | SS-74 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | |
| Senior totals | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | |||
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver Pioneers(WCHA)(1981–1990) | |||||||||
| 1981–82 | Denver | 21–19–3 | 9–15–2 | 4th | WCHA Semifinals | ||||
| 1982–83 | Denver | 15–22–0 | 11–15–0 | 5th | WCHA Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1983–84 | Denver | 14–25–0 | 8–18–0 | 5th | WCHA Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1984–85 | Denver | 19–17–3 | 16–15–3 | 2nd | WCHA Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1985–86 | Denver | 34–13–1 | 25–9–0 | 1st | NCAA Consolation Game (Loss) | ||||
| 1986–87 | Denver | 19–18–3 | 16–16–3 | 3rd | WCHA Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1987–88 | Denver | 20–17–2 | 19–14–2 | 3rd | WCHA Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1988–89 | Denver | 22–19–2 | 16–17–2 | 5th | WCHA Runner-Up | ||||
| 1989–90 | Denver | 18–24–0 | 13–15–0 | 5th | WCHA Quarterfinals | ||||
| Denver: | 182–174–14 | 133–134–12 | |||||||
| Total: | 182–174–14 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
Source:[24]
Montreal gifted the talented player to Los Angeles to ensure the draft pick they held from another team would allow them to select Guy Lafleur.
Janet, Backstrom's wife of 18 years
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Winner of theCalder Memorial Trophy 1959 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | WCHA Coach of the Year 1985–86 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Spencer Penrose Award 1985–86 | Succeeded by |