David Backes has been maturing into his role as captain of the St. Louis Blues with the help of coach Ken Hitchcock. Backes was named captain of the Blues in the off-season when Davis Payne was the coach and Hitchcock had questions about his captain when he was hired 13 games into the season. "Ken is really big into ... his belief is the leadership has to be strong in order for the team to be successful, and I echo that," GM Doug Armstrong said. "If it's the coach having to steer the ship all the time, then I don't believe you have success. It's when you have that internal accountability that makes a team good. He was asking about Backes' leadership qualities and I was honest with him. I said, 'I think they're strong. But this is his first time, and you're going to have to work with him. You're going to have to figure it out with him.' And to David's credit, he was like a sponge with Ken, and now he's starting to feel comfortable expressing himself with the players." Backes will look to bounce back from a weak first series against the Sharks.