Backes' Back, Alright!

We don't have the video to prove it, but we know from experience that when the Blues win, they play turbo-shitty puff-pop on the locker room boombox to celebrate it. Thus we figured that a tip of the hat to the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" might be good lead for tonight.

And really, what can we say about David Backes that hasn't already been said about Chuck Norris or will be said by the big bloggers on the block and the mainstream media in the morning?

Well, we'll try. Lost in the media masturbation (and we'll include ourselves in that, though we hardly qualify as 'media') over TJ Oshie and the rest of the Kid Line is the story about the dominant player that David Backes is becoming for this team. He continues to lead the team in hits by a wide margin (196; second closest is Barret Jackman with 120), he's now officially a 30-goal scorer and he's been openly discussed as the next captain of the franchise whenever they break the rivets and pry the C off of Eric Brewer's robotic chassis.

David Backes is 24 years old.

A game like he had tonight against the Red Wings when he put the team on his (no, I'm not gonna do it) shoulders and not only pots four of the team's five goals, but also throws his body around and battles for pucks is a coming-out for people around the league who haven't watched the Blues much this year.

He hardly ever gets included in the conversations about 'the young Blues' but he could end up being one of the cornerstones of the rebuilding that is well underway in St. Louis. When the Vancouver Canucks signed him to a then-exorbitant free agent offer sheet this summer the Blues matched the $2.5 million-per contract almost immediately. Not only did the Canucks and Blues know what they were doing, but Bcakes has made that signing look like a bargain.

The win tonight put the Note back in the playoff picture and in the driver's seat for their playoff drive. Four games to go, all against teams they can beat and playing a style of game that has them sitting on top of the 2009 Calendar Year Standings as the hottest team in the NHL since Jan. 1.

During 2009 the Blues have now beaten the Red Wings, Sharks, Flames, Canucks, Blackhawks and Blue Jackets.

Why are wins over those teams important? Check the standings, friends.