VANCOUVER–No matter how often the video of David Backes' powerful 190-foot sweep down the ice for a goal is replayed, it offers no real insight into what the 6-foot-3 centre adds to the United States' chances of taking home a medal from this Olympic hockey tournament.
More telling is the blood-soaked cotton batting stuffed up his left nostril; this is a player willing to get his nose dirty.
He will bleed for his team.
Backes was a physical force the Swiss defence couldn't handle Tuesday. He scored once, slammed bodies and trash-talked relentlessly as one of the Americans' emotional leaders in a 3-1 tournament-opening victory over Switzerland.
Backes teamed with Bobby Ryan, who also scored, Ryan Callahan and sometimes Chris Drury to form a fourth line that gives the Americans depth that may not be apparent on paper.
That line basically wrested the game into submission through a dominant second period, as the U.S. overcame some fine early checking by the Swiss.
"David Backes does a lot of pick-and-shovel jobs on a team well," U.S. general manger Brian Burke said. "The goals we got from that line is a bonus. Their role later in the tournament is going to be different. But when you get unexpected sources that chip in, that's a very important part of being successful in a tournament."
Backes came into the game with an interesting back-story, or perhaps that should be neck story. He broke the neck of Swiss forward Julien Sprunger with a crunching bodycheck at last spring's world championship.
Sprunger thought his career was over, but he recovered to reach the Olympics.
When Backes saw Sprunger throwing his weight around in the first period, the American skated over for a chat.
Sprunger claims Backes threatened to break his neck again, but the American from the St. Louis Blues says his chirping wasn't that specific.
"He said something to the effect of, `I'll do it again to you if you want,'" Sprunger told ESPN.com.
Backes recalls the encounter differently.
"He ran a few of our guys into the wall and I said, `Keep you're head up.' But I explained it," Backes said.
"I said, `If you're going to hit our guys, we're going to respond and take the body on your guys.' We're going to play hard and trash talk. I don't know where the break-your-neck stuff came from," said Backes, who jokingly referred to himself as Pinocchio because his nose swelled up after taking a stick in the face.
Another story that might follow Backes are his fights with Canadian Olympians Corey Perry, Jonathan Toews and Rich Nash this NHL season. Backes said he didn't do it to fuel a fire for the tournament.
"Good fights. I'd call one a draw (Perry), one a loss (Nash) and one a win (Toews)," he said.
"If they're thinking about fighting me instead of scoring goals, that's better for the St. Louis Blues."
Source:Toronto Star
More telling is the blood-soaked cotton batting stuffed up his left nostril; this is a player willing to get his nose dirty.
He will bleed for his team.
Backes was a physical force the Swiss defence couldn't handle Tuesday. He scored once, slammed bodies and trash-talked relentlessly as one of the Americans' emotional leaders in a 3-1 tournament-opening victory over Switzerland.
Backes teamed with Bobby Ryan, who also scored, Ryan Callahan and sometimes Chris Drury to form a fourth line that gives the Americans depth that may not be apparent on paper.
That line basically wrested the game into submission through a dominant second period, as the U.S. overcame some fine early checking by the Swiss.
"David Backes does a lot of pick-and-shovel jobs on a team well," U.S. general manger Brian Burke said. "The goals we got from that line is a bonus. Their role later in the tournament is going to be different. But when you get unexpected sources that chip in, that's a very important part of being successful in a tournament."
Backes came into the game with an interesting back-story, or perhaps that should be neck story. He broke the neck of Swiss forward Julien Sprunger with a crunching bodycheck at last spring's world championship.
Sprunger thought his career was over, but he recovered to reach the Olympics.
When Backes saw Sprunger throwing his weight around in the first period, the American skated over for a chat.
Sprunger claims Backes threatened to break his neck again, but the American from the St. Louis Blues says his chirping wasn't that specific.
"He said something to the effect of, `I'll do it again to you if you want,'" Sprunger told ESPN.com.
Backes recalls the encounter differently.
"He ran a few of our guys into the wall and I said, `Keep you're head up.' But I explained it," Backes said.
"I said, `If you're going to hit our guys, we're going to respond and take the body on your guys.' We're going to play hard and trash talk. I don't know where the break-your-neck stuff came from," said Backes, who jokingly referred to himself as Pinocchio because his nose swelled up after taking a stick in the face.
Another story that might follow Backes are his fights with Canadian Olympians Corey Perry, Jonathan Toews and Rich Nash this NHL season. Backes said he didn't do it to fuel a fire for the tournament.
"Good fights. I'd call one a draw (Perry), one a loss (Nash) and one a win (Toews)," he said.
"If they're thinking about fighting me instead of scoring goals, that's better for the St. Louis Blues."
Source:Toronto Star
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