BRIGHTON -- After two seasons with the Bruins in an NHL that’s transforming before his eyes, David Backes wanted to change things up a little bit. So the 34-year-old power forward dropped 10 pounds this summer in an effort to get a little faster while retaining the size, strength and power that’s always been a part of his game.
Some of it was clearly about Backes’ bout with diverticulitis last season, in which 10 inches of his colon was surgically removed from his body, and some of it was about making sure that he wasn’t behind the play all too often. He cut out the refined sugars in his diet this summer as well and confirmed that a less sugar-dependent intake has caused him to no longer be “the king of being ‘hangry’ " in a body jonesing for sugar.
“I’m down about 10 pounds,” said Backes. “It was a concerted effort over the summer to continue to clean up my diet after my colon issues last year, and training in a little more of a functional way rather than a bulky football sort of brawn-type of way. Let’s still win the battles, but let’s also make sure that I can get to a few more [battles]. That was the emphasis. Whether it comes to fruition or not we’re about to find out with training camp just getting started.”
This upcoming season is an important one for Backes, who had 14 goals and 33 points in 57 games last season and has averaged 15 goals and 36 points while missing pockets of time in each of his first two years in Black and Gold. Backes was one of the names mentioned, along with David Krejci, as a potential trade chip if the B’s had been successful landing big fish free agent John Tavares during their chase after him this summer.
Between hearing his names loosely linked in trade chatter this summer and the way Backes seemed a bit behind the play during the postseason against Tampa Bay, it’s clear that he knew adjustments needed to be made if he wanted to remain an impact player with the Bruins. The third line might not have been the way either the B’s or Backes envisioned things when he signed the five-year, big money deal with Boston a couple of summers ago. But with the weight loss headed into training camp, it looks like Backes is intent on doing whatever it takes to retain his place in the B’s pecking order among a forward group that’s getting smaller and younger each season.