Over the summer, Nicklas Backstrom was looking at his 6-year-old son’s hockey schedule for the upcoming season when it hit him.
“I was like, ‘Wait. Chevy Chase? Isn’t that John (Carlson’s) club? The outdoor rink?’ Backstrom recalled. “So I texted John and said, ‘Hey, I think our boys are playing each other this season.’”
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Indeed, when the 8U teams from The St. James and Chevy Chase Country Club face each other next month, there’s a good chance the longtime Capitals teammates — and alternate captains — will have rival cheering interests.
Vince Backstrom, like his father, wears No. 19 for The St. James. Seven-year-old Lucca Carlson wears No. 74, just as his father does, and hopes to play travel hockey for Chevy Chase, which forms its teams later in the fall than other area clubs. Positions for both boys remain TBD but you can probably guess which way they’re leaning.
“When I told Lucca that he could play Vince this year, he got all excited. He was like, ‘When’s my test?’” Carlson said. “I told him it’s not a test, they’ll assign you to whatever level team you should be on.”
Fans of a certain vintage will recall the “Young Guns” — a nickname given to the high-octane Bruce Boudreau era Caps. Now the “Young Guns” have young’uns of their own, with Vince Backstrom, Lucca Carlson and a couple others set to take their first strides as club hockey players in the D.C. area this winter.
Vince Backstrom and Lucca Carlson just having themselves a time at tonight's game 🥰 pic.twitter.com/7IpTRE7ASA
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 25, 2022
Although next month’s game between The St. James and Chevy Chase Country Club figures to be the first known game between the sons of “Young Guns” Caps, it likely won’t be the last. Braden Holtby’s son, Ben, is a 10U goalie at MedStar Capitals Iceplex and Karl Alzner’s son, Anson, plays 6U in The St. James’ program. (Alex Ovechkin’s 4-year-old son Sergei is taking lessons but is not playing organized hockey this fall.)
“Those first couple of years after your kids are born, you don’t think about this kind of stuff,” Carlson said. “But it happens fast, especially around here, where people take everything so seriously.”
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“Everything becomes a big deal quickly,” he added with a chuckle, “and that’s where we’re at.”
Carlson and Backstrom plan to attend as many practices and games as their hectic schedules will allow this season, including the 7 a.m. faceoff next month at Chevy Chase’s outdoor rink.
“John’s an early bird, so he’ll be okay,” Backstrom cracked.
“Back home in Sweden we had pretty good ice times,” he added. “Seven a.m. is pretty tough. But at the same time, it’s good for them, too. It teaches them discipline, go to bed early and be ready for the game.”
These days, Backstrom is working his way back from offseason hip surgery, so he is around more than usual. As disappointed as he is to be sidelined, there is one upside. He’s available to shuttle Vince, who is the second of his three children, to weekday practices in Springfield, Va., as well as home and road games on the weekend.
“It’s really cool,” said Tim Graham, the hockey director at The St. James. Graham is also one of the coaches on Vince’s team and has a son on the squad as well. “I’ve become a Caps fan since I moved here in 2006. So my career as a hockey coach has kind of followed Nick’s.”
“Nick is such a normal guy. You realize that he just wants to be a hockey dad. He doesn’t go on the ice with us. He sits up in the stands. It’s funny, the first couple of weeks, the kids on all of our other teams were like, ‘It’s Backstrom, it’s Backstrom.’ He was so generous with his time. He took pictures with everyone. Now it’s like old hat. It’s like, ‘Oh there’s Nick Backstrom who just walked by.’”
Graham continued: “I think my son said it best: To the kids on the (8U) team, it’s hey, ‘There’s Vince’s dad.’ To them, it’s not Nick Backstrom. It’s starting to become that way with our parents, too. Now he’s just becoming a hockey parent.”
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It’s different when Backstrom attends a road game, though.
“On weekdays, on our practice days, when it’s just St. James people, no one really bothers him,” Graham said. “But the weekends? That’s where it gets a little overwhelming for him, when we’re playing outside teams and they have that first, ‘Oh my God, it’s Nick Backstrom!’ moment, which is totally understandable. Everyone gets it.”
After 16 seasons in the NHL, Backstrom said he’s grown accustomed to drawing a crowd, particularly in a hockey setting.
“Obviously people recognize me, especially in the hockey arena,” he said. “It’s same as people watching our practices. They want to meet, get an autograph or a picture. I’m fine with that. That’s all part of it.”
Graham said he once asked Backstrom for his input on some puck protection drills for an older team that he coaches, and Backstrom gave him some pointers. But, for the most part, he lets Backstrom be. And Backstrom, for the most part, seems content to be a spectator.
“I think Nick is paying me to allow him to be a hockey dad,” Graham said. “Don’t get me wrong, if he said, ‘Hey, do you want my help on the ice?’ I would 100 percent welcome it with open arms and give him a station to run. But I’m not holding my breath nor am I expecting it. I feel he respects what I do.”
Carlson’s experience as a hockey dad has been much like Backstrom’s to this point. He allows the coaches to coach and because his family has had a membership at Chevy Chase for several years now, no one makes a fuss when he shows up to watch Lucca, the oldest of his three boys.
“I’m totally trying to not be a backseat driver,” Carlson said. “Lucca loves all sports, which is important to me.”
“I think he might have gotten a little bit bored of hockey last year because there were no games against other teams or schools and no uniform with a number on it. The fact that he’s getting a uniform this year has given him a big boost in terms of his interest.”
“If I had to guess,” Carlson continued, “this will be the year that he’ll take a jump in terms of his interest in playing hockey. But I’m just letting it happen and not pushing anything on him.”
Backstrom is taking a similar approach.
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“Vince started skating last year,” he said. “He likes it, and that’s all that matters. He’s having fun.”
Coach Peter Laviolette smiled when told that Backstrom and Carlson’s boys could be playing against each other soon. Although he’s 20-plus years older than his star center and defenseman, he’s still a hockey dad. His oldest child, Peter, trained with the Caps this offseason and now is a forward for ECHL Wheeling (WV), the town where the younger Peter was born and the elder one got his start in coaching.
Asked if he had any advice for Backstrom and Carlson, Laviolette said it would be this — be a parent first, a hockey dad second and enjoy the ride.
“My wife and I have never been the crazy parents, the parents who bang on the glass or yell at the coach, the referee.” he said, “We’ve just enjoyed it, we really have. But that doesn’t mean that when they come home we don’t try to coach them up in a way any parent would. The fact that John and Backy know a little about the game, how to handle different situations, that’s a good thing. But as far as watching the games, we’ve just enjoyed being spectators. We watch our kids and stay out of all that other stuff that can sometimes happen with parents.”
Even if they heed their coach’s sage words, next month’s game figures to mean a little more to a pair of NHL All-Stars.
After a recent practice, the conversation in the locker room turned to youth hockey. Backstrom couldn’t help but remind Carlson of the upcoming showdown.
“November 12th,” Backstrom said with a grin. “Big game!”
Carlson laughed.
“Big, huh?” he shot back.
(Photo of John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom in 2020: AP Photo / Nick Wass)
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