David Backes reveals the ‘something’ Steve Ott gave him that wasn’t PEDs
David Backes of the St. Louis Blues gave one of the most emotional postgame interviews in recent memory after the San Jose Sharks eliminated them in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final.
His face was haggard. His eyes were red with tears. His voice cracked. And he wanted to take a moment to thank a teammate.
“He’ll kill me for telling this story, but in Game 5 I’m not feeling well. And Steve Ott brings me something that helped me feel better,” said Backes, choking back the waterworks. “And knowing that he’s the guy coming out of the lineup if I can play, that’s pretty selfless. That’s the kind of guys we have in here.”
It was quite a moment, as the captain thanks a teammate who sacrificed his … wait, what? ‘Brings me something that helped me feel better?’
This naturally led to a Barstool Sports story that “speculated” that the entire St. Louis Blues playoff run was the result of performance enhancing drugs.
But seriously, what did Steve Ott give David Backes to make him feel better?
Words of encouragement? His childhood stuffed animal? A stick to the groin? (This is Steve Ott here we’re talking about.)
Backes met the media again on getaway day on Saturday. “I think I’m getting a Visine endorsement after that interview. That was real, that was raw, that was my heart right on my face and coming right out of my tear ducts,” he said.
OK, OK … but what magic elixir did Steve Ott give you?
Via the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Backes clarified:
In the interview after the game, Backes joked that Ott would not be happy with him about him telling the story to reporters, who weren’t clued in on exactly what Ott gave him.
(It was later learned that it was an infrared healing mat).
So did Ott ever give Backes trouble like he expected. “Someone said that it was performance-enhancing drugs,” Backes joked, “so now he wants to sue me for defamation. That’s how he spun the whole thing. He didn’t give me any grief.”
So there you go. An infrared heating mat. Well, that and the humility of healing a teammate that you know will take your spot in a big game.
“He knows that we’ve got a great relationship and we know each other wants to give everything we have to try to win a Stanley Cup,” said Backes.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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