Playing career

Backstrom played junior hockey with the Montreal Junior Canadiens from 1954 to 1956, and the Ottawa Junior Canadiens from 1956 to 1958. He was captain of the team that won the George Richardson Memorial Trophy in 1957 and the Memorial Cup in 1958.

As a professional, Backstrom joined the Montreal Canadiens for the 1958-59 season and was selected the NHL's top rookie, receiving the Calder Memorial Trophy. He played in Montreal for 12 full seasons, winning six Stanley Cups and appearing in six National Hockey League All-Star Games (1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1967). After the 1970-71 season, Backstrom requested a trade and talked about retiring. He reported to training camp, but left the team just before the season opened. After returning to the Canadiens, Backstrom spent most of his time on the bench until being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in January 1971. Just over two years later, he was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks for Dan Maloney and finished the 1972-73 season there.

Backstrom then jumped to the World Hockey Association and joined the Chicago Cougars, where he played for two years, and later became a part-owner of the team. In his first season, he led the Cougars in scoring with 33 goals and 83 points in 70 games. He also represented Canada at the 1974 Summit Series on an all-star team of Canadian WHA players. His offensive production dropped sharply in 1974-75 and at the end of the season the new Denver Spurs selected Backstrom in the WHA's expansion draft. Backstrom was the team's top scorer, but the franchise struggled, and a move to Ottawa—where the team was renamed the Ottawa Civics—did not help. The franchise ceased operations 41 games into the season. Backstrom finished the season with the New England Whalers, scoring 35 goals and 83 points over the year. He played one more year with New England and retired in 1977. He would have turned 40 before the start of the next season. Through his professional career, Backstrom had seven 20-goal seasons in the NHL and two 30-goal seasons in the WHA.

Coaching

Immediately after his retirement Backstrom accepted an offer to join the staff of newly appointed Denver head coach, Marshall Johnston, as an assistant. Three years later Backstrom returned to the NHL as an assistant for the Los Angeles Kings but only stayed for one season before rejoining Denver, this time as the bench boss after Johnston left to pursue opportunities in the NHL. Backstrom led the Pioneers through a few lean years in the early 1980s before having a breakout season in 1985-86 when he led Denver to still-team record 34-win season including a conference regular season title, a conference tournament title (their first in 13 years) and reached the teams first Frozen Four since finishing second in 1973. Backstrom earned both the conference and national coach of the year awards for the impressive season, but he was unable to sustain the high level of play for the remainder of his tenure. Backstrom resigned after the 1989-90 season, turning the team over to Frank Serratore.

Backstrom jumped into the professional ranks in 1990-91 when he took over the Phoenix Roadrunners. After a good first season including pushing the #1 seeded Peoria Rivermen to a seventh game in the Turner Cup semifinals, Phoenix dropped to deal least in the 10-team league and Backstrom was dropped as the coach.

Front Office

Backstrom, along with Dennis Murphy and Larry King, founded Roller Hockey International and served as commissioner for a time but it soon became apparent that the league was in financial trouble and it suspended the entire 1998 season before playing one final campaign in 1999. While the league didn't officially disband until 2001, Backstrom meanwhile returned to the NHL in 1999-00 as a scout for the St. Louis Blues. After three seasons with the blue notes Backstrom founded a new CHL team called the Colorado Eagles. In addition to owning the team, Backstrom served as General Manager and President of the team for the first three seasons, including a league title in 2004-05. With Backstrom as owner, the Eagles finished atop their division six times, made the finals five times, and win the Ray Miron President's Cup twice in eight seasons before making a move to the ECHL, a higher profile league, in 2011-12.

Awards and achievements

• George Richardson Memorial Trophy champion — 1957
• Memorial Cup champion — 1958
• Calder Memorial Trophy — 1959
• NHL All-Star Games — 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1967
• Stanley Cup champion — 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969 (with Montreal)
• Paul Deneau Trophy — 1974

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1954-55	Montreal Jr. Canadiens	QJHL		21	7	6	13	2		5	2	1	3	4
1955-56	Montreal Jr. Canadiens	QJHL		18	10	8	18	4		—	—	—	—	—
1955-56	Montreal Jr. Canadiens	M-Cup		—	—	—	—	—		10	5	4	9	6
1956-57	Ottawa Jr. Canadiens	OHA-Jr.		18	10	8	18	4		—	—	—	—	—
1956-57	Ottawa Jr. Canadiens	EOHL		18	7	10	17	4		—	—	—	—	—
1956-57	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1956-57	Ottawa Jr. Canadiens	M-Cup		—	—	—	—	—		15	17	11	28	19
1957-58	Ottawa Jr. Canadiens	OHA-Jr.		26	24	27	51	64		—	—	—	—	—
1957-58	Ottawa Jr. Canadiens	EOHL		33	21	25	46	13		—	—	—	—	—
1957-58	Montreal Royals	QHL		1	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
1957-58	Ottawa Jr. Canadiens	M-Cup		—	—	—	—	—		13	17	9	26	24
1958-59	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		64	18	22	40	19		11	3	5	8	12
1959-60	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		64	13	15	28	24		7	0	3	3	2
1960-61	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		69	12	20	32	44		5	0	0	0	4
1961-62	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		66	27	38	65	29		5	0	1	1	6
1962-63	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	23	12	35	51		5	0	0	0	2
1963-64	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	8	21	29	41		7	2	1	3	8
1964-65	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	25	30	55	41		13	2	3	5	10
1965-66	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		67	22	20	42	10		10	3	4	7	4
1966-67	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		69	14	27	41	39		10	5	2	7	6
1967-68	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	20	25	45	14		13	4	3	7	4
1968-69	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		72	13	28	41	16		14	3	4	7	10
1969-70	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		72	19	24	43	20		—	—	—	—	—
1970-71	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		16	1	4	5	0		—	—	—	—	—
1970-71	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		33	14	13	27	8		—	—	—	—	—
1971-72	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		76	23	29	52	22		—	—	—	—	—
1972-73	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		63	20	29	49	6		—	—	—	—	—
1972-73	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		16	6	3	9	2		16	5	6	11	0
1973-74	Chicago Cougars	WHA		78	33	50	83	26		18	5	14	19	4
1974-75	Chicago Cougars	WHA		70	15	24	39	28		—	—	—	—	—
1975-76	Ottawa Civics	WHA		41	21	29	50	14		—	—	—	—	—
1975-76	New England Whalers	WHA		38	14	19	33	6		17	5	4	9	8
1976-77	New England Whalers	WHA		77	17	31	48	30		3	0	0	0	0
NHL totals				1032	278	361	639	386		116	27	32	59	68
WHA totals				234	85	129	214	76		38	10	18	28	12

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	P	PIM
1974	Canada	Summit-74		8	4	4	8	10
Senior totals				8	4	4	8	10

College Head Coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Denver Pioneers (WCHA)
1981-82	Denver	21-19-3	9-15-2	4th	WCHA Semifinals
1982-83	Denver	15-22-0	11-15-0	5th	WCHA Quarterfinals
1983-84	Denver	14-25-0	8-18-0	5th	WCHA Quarterfinals
1984-85	Denver	19-17-3	16-15-3	2nd	WCHA Quarterfinals
1985-86	Denver	34-13-1	25-9-0	1st	NCAA Consolation Game (Loss)
1986-87	Denver	19-18-3	16-16-3	3rd	WCHA Quarterfinals
1987-88	Denver	20-17-2	19-14-2	3rd	WCHA Quarterfinals
1988-89	Denver	22-19-2	16-17-2	5th	WCHA Runner-Up
1989-90	Denver	18-24-0	13-15-0	5th	WCHA Quarterfinals
Denver:		182-174-14	133-134-12
Total:		182-174-14

[ Source: Wikipedia ]