After 18 years in North America and Washington, the superstar was back in SHL and his Brynäs.
When he summarizes the afternoon, it's not just disappointment over the loss, but also gratitude and pride in his words.
The tribute from the Brynäs crowd in a sold-out arena with Bäckström on a megabanner and the greeting: "Once Brynäs, always Brynäs - welcome home" touched.
As did the hurricane-like cheering when he was presented as the last man in Brynäs' starting lineup.
It was an incredible experience and a setting that I will never forget, a very nice tribute too. It was an incredible feeling, he says.
"Set it aside"
On the other hand, the match - it can be put in the archives. Or as coach Niklas Gällstedt put it:
It's just a matter of drawing a line over this and setting it aside.
Brynäs is tipped by many as a gold team - not least thanks to Bäckström's homecoming - but there was not much gold sparkle in the premiere.
Brynäs conceded four goals in a numerical disadvantage and seven goals on 18 shots.
The performance in their own zone was poor.
There's a lot of will in there (in the locker room), premiere, many who want to move forward. Sometimes maybe it gets a little too much, we need to calm down and play our game and focus on what we can do better, Bäckström means when he tries to explain the loss.
On the other hand, he says he doesn't pay much attention to the fact that it was seven conceded goals.
If I'm going to be completely honest, if you lose, you lose. It may not be optimal, but at the same time, it can only get better.
"Can do better"
About his own performance, he says:
It was fun to be back, but you can do better. You're not satisfied when you lose.
The veteran who has won the Stanley Cup and two World Championship gold medals says he was nervous beforehand.
You're expecting, it's been a while since you played. So it was a bit more than usual. It's of course fun to be back, but damn annoying to lose.
Brynäs plays at home again on Tuesday, then in a World Championship final replay against Luleå.
