World U18 Championships: Mikael Backlund Interview

During the ongoing U18 WJC in Sweden, McKeen's Hockey got a chance to sit down and talk to one of the most highly touted players for the 2007 NHL draft – the Swedish centre Mikael Backlund.

At the time of interview, the Swedish team has just arrived to Angelholm from Halmstad, where the quarterfinal game against Czech Republic will be played tomorrow night. The whole Swedish team is set for an early afternoon practice, well, everyone except for the dazzling centre talent Mikael Backlund.

"I got an concussion in the game against Canada and I'm still not ready to go yet. We will see what happens later in the week, as of now we are taking it on a day-to-day basis. Hopefully I can play later on in the tournament", Backlund says.

Backlund agrees with the general consensus that the Swedish team have been improving steadily throughout the tournament.

"In the opener against Norway, we basically just did our job. We got the win, but nothing fancy about. Against Finland we were off to an awful start, being down 3-0. But we bounced back in the second period and my line really got it going when Mario Kempe was put on the wing. We suddenly got our legs going and nearly tied the game", says Backlund, who scored one of the Swedish goals against Finland in what ended in a 4-3 loss for the Swedes.

"Then we went on and had a really grinding game against Canada, were we managed to come out on top thanks to our hard work and some great goaltending by Jhonas Enroth. In the final game against Slovakia we scored some powerplay goals, got the big lead early and controlled the game, although we got a little sloppy and allowed them to score two goals at the end".

No fear of the Czech's

Although he won't be on the ice himself, he is confident that his teammates will dismiss a so far very low scoring Team Czech Republic in the quarterfinal.

"We know that they will be a tough opponent for sure, but I think we are better and we have an advantage as we have beaten them before. Apparently they also have some problems getting their supposedly best player, Michael Frolik, going in the tournament", Backlund analyzes the oppostition.

Michael Frolik, and the rest of the his Czech team, was shut out by Russia as well as the United States in the group stage.

When not in the national team, Mikael Backlund plays for Vasteras in the Allsvenskan, the 2nd league in Sweden. This season Backlund made the club's men's team and scored his first goals in the second highest level in Sweden.

"Obviously my goal is to keep my spot on the roster in Vasteras for next season and to improve my game further to make a bigger impact for the team", Backlund says.

"The game in Allsvenskan is more tactical compared to international junior hockey. Here skating and physical play are more important factors. You basically just go out there and run with it", he says about the difference with his domestic hockey compared to the U18 WJC.

Looking forward to NHL

Just as with any young talented hockey player, NHL is a dream for Mikael Backlund as well. A dream which he is realzing coming closer and closer towards him.

"I've started to think a little bit about next year's draft already. Obviously I want to be picked as early as possible, but he doesn't matter which team that picks me as I have no real favorite team over there or anything".

But not expect Backlund to rush over the Atlantic with the first plane possible after getting drafted though.

"I definitly want to play in the Swedish Elite League before leaving for the NHL. The ideal situation would be to do it in Vasteras of course, if we can gain promotion. I can't say that I've got any solid offers from SEL teams already, it's more like 'we'd want you in two years from now', or stuff like that", Backlund says about his future.

Backlund has three teammates from Vasteras, Patrik Berglund, Viktor Sjodin and defensemen Dennis Persson with in the Swedish U18 team, which is something he tributes the club's strong junior program.

"We got some good coaching that puts out the best of you. A guy like Johan Tornberg (Swedish World Champion defensemen in 1998), has been great at that. We also have a group of guys that really are prepared to work hard in order to succeed."

"I mean, I hardly knew who a guy like Dennis Persson was before I got promoted the Vasteras juniors, but know he is our best defenseman in the tournment", Backlund added.