He has his roots in Västerås and was drafted to Canada and Calgary in 2007. Before the match, the 35-year-old told the ice hockey league's website that it had been tough for a long time. Injury problems played a part.
There were moments when I didn't know if I would stay in the league. It took a long time before I managed to establish myself here, said Backlund and continued:
And even when I finally did... it wasn't until my 500th match that I started thinking it would be cool to get to 500 more. It's the first time I can remember thinking about 1,000 matches.
Backlund becomes the 19th Swede in the league's history to reach the milestone. The most so far is Detroit's Nicklas Lidström, who reached 1,564 during his career, with Toronto's Mats Sundin about 200 matches behind.
Mikael Backlund is one of three currently active Swedes in the league who have played 1,000 games. Tampa's Victor Hedman and Pittsburgh's Erik Karlsson are a little ahead.
How did the match go? Backlund will probably remember the evening in Salt Lake City for the figure 1,000 and the visiting friends, not because Calgary lost 5-1 and he was point-less.
It was absolutely a special feeling. But it sucks that the feeling didn't carry over into the match, said Backlund about the special match and the tough loss.
