The wait is finally over.
Goaltender Niklas Backstrom will be between the pipes for the Calgary Flames for the first time in 14 months when they take on the Montreal Canadiens, and he is relishing the opportunity.
"It's fun," Backstrom told Aaron Vickers of calgaryflames.com. "Playing β¦ that's the most fun part about this game and you want to go out there and compete and compete against other teams, but compete against yourself too to see where you are. For sure it's fun to have a date now."
The 38-year-old, whose last game came as a member of the Minnesota Wild back on Jan. 13, 2015, was a victim of multiple injuries, and the Wild's solid one-two combo of Devan Dubnyk and Darcy Kuemper.
Backstrom was acquired by the Flames at the trade deadline, along with a sixth-round pick, in exchange for forward David Jones. And while he hasn't made a start in more than a year, he isn't ready to hang up the skates just yet.
"He still wants to play," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "As soon as we made the trade we sat with him, and he doesn't want to retire, he wants to keep playing. He came in with a great attitude, lots of energy, lots of work on the ice, in the gym. He works relentlessly, so we felt that we needed to be honest with him also, and that's why he's going to get the start in Montreal."
Backstrom has 409 career games under his belt, boasting a 194-142-50 record with a .915 save percentage and a 2.48 goals-against average.
