The Calgary Flames and Jarome Iginla go hand in hand.
But on Thursday night, Mikael Backlund is going to break one of Iggy’s all-time franchise records when they open their 2026-27 NHL season.
The Flames will be at home against the Seattle Kraken, and Backlund will break a record simply by taking the ice.
Mikael Backlund Breaks Jarome Iginla Record
Backlund will be playing in his 16th season opener with the Flames on Thursday night.
Iginla only played in 15 season openers for Calgary.
Backlund officially surpasses that mark.
Mikael Backlund is set to play in his 16th season opener, breaking a #Flames franchise record he shares with Jarome Iginla
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) October 1, 2026
Sure, it’s a very specific achievement, but it also emphasizes that Backlund has been there when the Flames have needed him to start pretty much every season possible.
Mikael Backlund’s Flames Career
Mikael Backlund has spent his entire NHL career with Calgary.
The Flames took him as the No. 24 overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft.
He’s originally from Sweden, and he played before the professional ranks with the Kelowna Rockets.
Backlund made his Calgary debut with one game in the 2008-09 season, then got 23 games in 2009-10 before really becoming a full-time Flames player with 73 games and 25 points in 2010-11.
Backlund hasn’t always stayed healthy for entire seasons, but he has been there at the outset pretty much every year.
Backlund’s top season for the Flames by points was 2022-23. He had 19 goals and 37 assists that year for 56 points.
He also had 53 points in 2016-17 when he had a career-high 22 goals to go with 31 assists.
Backlund has scored at least 32 points in each of the past 11 seasons.
He’s never been a prolific first-line player, but the Flames have always had a spot for him.
Entering the 2026-27 season, Backlund has played in 1,148 NHL games. He has scored 232 goals and dished out 374 assists for 606 points.
Backlund also has dished out 817 hits and 516 blocked shots in his NHL career.
Backlund’s biggest honor in the NHL came in 2022-23, when he was the winner of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy — that’s given out for his leadership and humanitarian contributions.
Now, Backlund is 37 years old, but he hasn’t given up on his hockey career yet. He’ll still be a reliable veteran and leader for a Flames team that is trying to turn things back into a better direction.
The fact that he has broken this Iginla record doesn’t change anything about Iginla’s incredible Flames legacy.
It simply shows that Backlund has been a special player in his own reliable way in his time in Calgary, and his Flames career isn’t done yet.
Flames’ Mikael Backlund Breaks Jarome Iginla’s Historic Record