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The Reddit "Ask Me Anything," or AMA, thread is one of those chances where people and personalities can come together and ask honest questions to get honest answers. Some of them are political, some are actors, and some are sports personalities. Today Blues captain David Backes, along with Kevin Westgarth and Mathieu Schneider, participated in an AMA on /r/hockey. There're some pretty interesting questions in there, and some outstanding replies from the three players. It's worth a read through of the thread, but here's the highlight:
jokanee 16 points 2 hours ago
David Backes, you dismantled Team Canada with your fists prior to the 2012 Olympics. Given that you have a very particular set of skills. Skills that you have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make you a nightmare for people negotiating on the other side of the CBA...
Can you unleash Inglorious Backes before it's too late and get us our hockey back?!ThePlayers[S] 25 points 2 hours ago
While the ideas that you present seem to be out there, I can neither confirm nor deny the allegations. And these skills you talk about are not very useful in a board room, let alone one fully occupied by lawyers! - DB
Oh, I think they would be, David. It just depends on who happens to be in that boardroom when you go all Inglorious on them.
Seriously, though, this was a great chance for some open and honest discussion between players and fans, which is something that the players have been very good at so far this lockout. Bill Daly has been accessible to the media whenever they have questions, which he deserves credit for, but the players have been accessible to the people who really matter.
To be fair, an executive did an anonymous AMA a while back, and it was extremely enlightening, but this was a conversational chance to shoot the breeze with some players, and it was fun to read. Fun fact: Backes studied electrical engineering at Minnesota State. It's a shame that the school won't let him finish the degree on-line; what a fun bragging point for Blues fans that their captain is an engineer. So much for that stereotype of a knuckleheaded hockey player, huh?