Christian Bäckman

Christian Rune Bäckman (born 28 April 1980) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played over 300 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets, and spent the latter part of his career with Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League.

Playing career Bäckman was drafted by St. Louis Blues in the 1998 NHL entry draft, 1st round, 24th overall. It was not until the 2002–03 NHL season that he got a contract for play in the NHL. He only played four games for St. Louis in his first season, spending the rest of the season playing for Worcester Ice Cats in the American Hockey League (AHL). Between 2003–04 and 2007–08 he was a regular for St. Louis recording 64 points (19 goals, 45 assists), and 130 penalty minutes in 228 games.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout Bäckman played for his Swedish youth club Frölunda in Elitserien where he totalled 19 points in 50 games, winning the Elitserien playoffs. According to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet the contract gave Bäckman 50 million Swedish kronor (approx. $7 million) over three years.

On 26 February 2008, Bäckman was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for a 4th round draft pick. On 2 March 2008, in his second game as a Ranger, Bäckman scored his first goal as a Ranger on Antero Niittymäki of the Philadelphia Flyers, off assists from Brendan Shanahan and Scott Gomez.

On 2 July 2008, Bäckman was traded, along with Fedor Tyutin, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche. In October 2009, Bäckman signalled the conclusion of his North American career by signing with Frölunda HC.

Personal life Bäckman was born 1980 in Alingsås. He has two siblings. He grew up in mostly Alingsås but moved to Gothenburg to start his ice hockey career.

Bäckman is married to Jeanette Bäckman. Together they have three children. He spends his off-season in Gothenburg.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1996–97 Västra Frölunda HC J20 26 2 5 7 16 — — — — — 1997–98 Västra Frölunda HC J20 28 5 14 19 12 — — — — — 1998–99 Västra Frölunda HC J20 9 0 4 4 12 — — — — — 1998–99 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 49 0 4 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 1999–00 Västra Frölunda HC J20 3 1 1 2 0 3 1 1 2 0 1999–00 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 27 1 0 1 14 5 0 0 0 0 1999–00 Gislaveds SK SWE-2 21 5 2 7 8 — — — — — 2000–01 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 50 1 10 11 32 3 0 2 2 2 2001–02 Västra Frölunda HC SEL 44 7 4 11 38 10 0 0 0 8 2002–03 St. Louis Blues NHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2002–03 Worcester IceCats AHL 72 8 19 27 66 3 0 1 1 5 2003–04 St. Louis Blues NHL 66 5 13 18 16 5 0 2 2 4 2003–04 Worcester IceCats AHL 4 1 2 3 2 — — — — — 2004–05 Frölunda HC SEL 50 4 15 19 40 14 2 7 9 10 2005–06 St. Louis Blues NHL 52 6 12 18 48 — — — — — 2006–07 St. Louis Blues NHL 61 7 11 18 36 — — — — — 2007–08 St. Louis Blues NHL 45 1 9 10 30 — — — — — 2007–08 New York Rangers NHL 18 2 6 8 20 8 0 0 0 12 2008–09 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 56 2 5 7 32 — — — — — 2009–10 Frölunda HC SEL 47 10 18 28 46 7 1 2 3 6 2010–11 Frölunda HC SEL 21 4 13 17 8 — — — — — 2011–12 Frölunda HC SEL 55 11 16 27 48 6 0 2 2 2 2012–13 Frölunda HC SEL 57 7 15 22 36 6 1 3 4 0 2013–14 Frölunda HC SHL 50 2 5 7 36 7 1 1 2 2 2014–15 Frölunda HC SHL 33 4 3 7 16 13 0 2 2 8 SEL/SHL totals 480 51 103 154 318 75 5 19 24 38 NHL totals 302 23 56 79 182 13 0 2 2 16

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1997 Sweden EJC18 4 0 0 0 2 1998 Sweden EJC18 6 2 6 8 2 1999 Sweden WJC 6 0 3 3 0 2000 Sweden WJC 7 1 1 2 6 2004 Sweden WC 9 1 2 3 6 2005 Sweden WC 9 1 1 2 6 2006 Sweden OLY 8 1 2 3 6 2010 Sweden WC 9 0 3 3 10 Junior totals 23 3 10 13 10 Senior totals 35 3 8 11 28

Awards and honors Award Year SHL All-Star Team 2005 Le Mat trophy (Frölunda HC) 2005