Boston Bruins: Don’t be foolish and slot David Backes back into the line-up

Sometimes in hockey, teams make decisions that make little sense other than being sentimental moves. The Boston Bruins need to ensure they don’t get sentimental with Game 7 on the horizon; David Backes doesn’t need to be on the ice against his former team.

Making the decision to put David Backes back into the starting line-up after the Boston Bruins’ strong display without him in Game 6 would be incredibly foolish. I’m all for sentimentality but this is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final and it should be a non-factor. Best possible line-up on the ice regardless.

Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a slight against David Backes at all. He’s just not the player best equipped to assist the Boston Bruins to a win in the pivotal game of the Stanley Cup Final. For all of his experience, he’s a shadow of the guy that used to be out there as St. Louis Blues captain. He’s a shadow even of the guy that netted 17 goals in his first year in Boston.

You only need look at Karson Kuhlman‘s performance in Game 6 to see that he offered something different and far more dangerous to the Boston Bruins second line.

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This post-season, David Backes has played his role; he has been a healthy scratch on multiple occasions, but he brought it when he needed to in the opening round as the Boston Bruins turned around a deficit against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Again, he showed up where it counted in the series against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

He has more than played his role, but unfortunately time and a changing style of hockey has made him a role player and not the big impact player he once was. To slot him back into the line-up, just because it’s against his former team and may be his last shot at the Stanley Cup is foolish to the extreme.

You could argue that it’s not at all foolish and that he’d deliver the biggest performance of his career with the odds stacked against him in such a fashion.

But just as equally, you could argue that Karson Kuhlman’s performance ensured the younger guy a second Stanley Cup Final appearance, in the biggest game of the season no less.

David Backes’ five points in his fifteen post-season appearances this year have been just as crucial as anyone else. Should the Boston Bruins win in Game 7, you’d have little doubt that he’d be one of the first guys to be given the Stanley Cup to hoist above his head by his injured captain, Zdeno Chara.

Whether he’s sat in the press-box for the game or not wouldn’t be a factor in that moment. Hockey is a team sport; he’s done his part and doesn’t need to be on the ice for Game 7, regardless of all the potential for a fairy-tale ending.

The Boston Bruins need to be smart, make a decision based on icing the strongest possible group and ignore any noise around David Backes. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final isn’t the one to toy with a winning line-up.