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The Boston Bruins Should Give David Backes A Letter

By Andrew Thompson

May 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues center David Backes (42) against the San Jose Sharks in game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
May 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues center David Backes (42) against the San Jose Sharks in game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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When the Boston Bruins brought over David Backes from free agency, they found themselves a player that could help the Bruins get back on the playoff track. They found a physical player that the B’s needed, and another strong voice in the locker room.

Now the Black and Gold have a serious question to answer. It’s looking less and less likely that Chris Kelly is coming back to Boston. Loui Eriksson is also gone.  David Krejci could be a question mark for opening night. With so many ‘lettermen’ out of the lineup, do the Bruins give Backes a letter to wear on his sweater?

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It certainly won’t be the ‘C’. That captaincy belongs to Zdeno Chara. The only person on the team right now that has the right to wear that letter is Patrice Bergeron. But there are several letter ‘A”s available.

The Bruins could split up an assistant captaincy again. Brad Marchand (if he’s gotten all the stupid hits that get him suspended out of his system) will likely be sharing one of those letters. If it plays out like that, and a letter is still available, the Boston Bruins organization should sit Backes down and offer him an ‘A’.

It’s not a bad idea. Backes has been a leader for the Blues . He wore some kind of letter with St.Louis for seven years. He wore the ‘C’ for five. He’s the kind of guy that could be a solid leader for the Black and Gold. He’s proven he can talk the talk already in Boston.

“You’ve got to be the first guy willing to put team success ahead of individual success,” Backes said last Friday at his conference call with the media.

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“If prominent players are putting the team first, the rest of the guys have no choice [but to follow], and that’s a really great culture to cultivate winning and have that be the way that things go.

And as a group, when you win it doesn’t matter who’s got the statistics personally, everyone’s happy, everyone gets rewarded, and if you win your last game of the year you get to have a bunch of parties and parades. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

Backes is listed as a right-wing on the Boston Bruins homepage. Backes is a natural center, but he’s shown enough flexibility in his 727 NHL game career that he could be placed on the wing. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to bother the 32-year old Backes one bit. That’s the kind of leadership the Bruins also need.

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“I’m into winning games, so if Claude thinks that we’re going to win more games with me playing wing then I’m in,” said Backes of his possible posting as a winger and not a center. “If he thinks that we’re going to win more games with me playing center, I’m in. Whatever he thinks, I’ll do it to the best of my ability.”

A lot of Bruins fans miss Boston’s style of old-time hockey. Backes is that kind of player. He’ll quickly become a fan favorite, the same way Matt Beleskey did with his seriously physical play. Making him an alternate captain is a smart move that many of the fans could get behind, and the Bruins will hopefully consider it.

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