Center David Backes has deemed that it's time for him to hang up his skates. After 15 seasons in the NHL, the 37-year-old Backes has announced that he's retiring from the game as a player via a heartfelt message published on the St. Louis Blues' website. But before that, he inked a special one-day contract with the Blues, so he could retire as part of the team that he spent the most seasons with as a professional.
Backes played a total of 10 years with the Blues, and while he was never able to raise and kiss the Stanley Cup in all his time in the NHL, he definitely collected a ton of unforgettable memories on the ice. One of which was when he and the Blues finally solved and defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“The best on-ice memory I have from St. Louis is during the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. We were once again playing that team from northern Illinois. The narrative was pervasive: we couldn't beat them in the Playoffs. Game 7 at the Scottrade Center was electric. The building had never been louder and we were able to shake their hands while they were dejected and we were elated to be moving on to the second round to play (and beat) Dallas.”
At the end of that season, Backes moved on from the Blues and signed a five-year deal with the Boston Bruins. He was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in 2020. He played 15 games for the Ducks, scoring just three goals and dishing out a lone assist.
Overall, the Blues great mustered 206 goals and 254 assists in 727 games in the regular season.