[irbefan4life]

Born on July 24, 1981 in Skelleftea, Sweden, this goaltender was a star goaltender in the Swedish Hockey League. His name, Johan Backlund. An undrafted goaltender, he was signed by the Philadelphia Flyers after scouts noticed his consistent skill level in the European league. He spent the majority of the 2009-10 season in the American Hockey League with Adirondack, however, he made his NHL debut on March 27, 2010 in relief of Brian Boucher against the Penguins. In that game, he played two periods, and stopped 22 of 24 shots in the team's 4-1 defeat. He made one additional appearance that year in the playoffs against Boston on May 5. He played 1 minute and 24 seconds in relief of Brian Boucher before being replaced again. Backlund played two more seasons in North America before heading back to Europe in 2012-13, hitting the KHL in 2013-14, and then returning to Sweden in 2015-16.

In his NHL career, he recorded an 0-1-0 record with a 3.00GAA, and a 0.917% save average. In one playoff game, he played one minute so he recorded no numbers apart from the game played.

The piece you are looking at right now is a Johan Backlund worn blocker used in his time with Adirondack of the AHL, and possibly in the NHL pre-season as well. Also approved by Kay Whitmore. Some photomatching exists on the blocker but is not entirely perfect on all parts, however, goaltenders nowadays are known to clean puck marks and other such marks off of their pads, gloves, and blockers. The marks that are there are obvious matches.

Acquired from: Collector on eBay

Dates of Game Use: Beginning of the 2009-10 season and possibly NHL pre-season.

Photomatched: Maybe