Right winger David Backes is listed at six-foot-three, 225 pounds in the Blues players' guide, which seems impossible — he has to be at least seven feet tall and weigh 340 pounds, all of it whalebone, steel and guts. A hard-checking, hard-skating, hardheaded player with soft hands, Backes makes his money the old-fashioned way: He goes into the corners and elbows chumps off the puck; he stands in front of opposing goalies while Erik Johnson's slap shots whistle past him; and he cleans, fieldstrips and resets unwary forwards' clocks with legal 'n' brutal hits. And when all else fails, he'll drop the gloves and demolish you. Backes is the type of player who inspires diehard fans to make their own T-shirts honoring his bloody commitment to the world's finest sport, as Nicholas Maggio did with his "Inglorious Backes" design in the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Most Blues fans would like to see him with a "C" on his sweater this year, and Barclay Plager willing, it'll happen sooner rather than later. For now, he'll just have to settle for being the best all-around player on the team.
Ryan O'Reilly
| Oct 2, 2019
Brian Elliott
| Sep 25, 2014
David Backes
| Sep 27, 2012
David Backes
| Sep 22, 2011
T.J. Oshie
| Sep 30, 2009
Erik Johnson
| Sep 24, 2008
Lee Stempniak
| Sep 26, 2007
Jason Bacashihua
| Sep 27, 2006
Jamal Mayers
| Sep 29, 2005
Chris Pronger
| Sep 29, 2004
Chris Pronger
| Sep 29, 2004
Barret Jackman
| Sep 24, 2003
Barret Jackman
| Sep 24, 2003