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Niklas Bäckström
Niklas Bäckström
Born (1978-02-13)13 February 1978,
Helsinki, Finland
Height
Weight
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
197 lb (89 kg; 14 st 1 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Pro clubs HIFK
SaiPa
AIK IF
Kärpät
Minnesota Wild
Calgary Flames
Tappara
Ntl. team Flag of Finland Finland
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1996–2019


Niklas Oskar Bäckström (Swedish: [ˈnɪ̌kːlas ˈbɛ̂kːstrœm]; born 13 February 1978) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender and current goaltending coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played ten seasons for the Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames in the National Hockey League (NHL), during which he won both the William M. Jennings Trophy and Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award.[1] He also has won both Urpo Ylönen trophy and Jari Kurri trophy twice. Bäckström is a Swedish-speaking Finn, but also speaks Finnish.

Playing career[]

Finland[]

Bäckström won the 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships as a backup goaltender for the Finnish national team, along with players like Olli Jokinen, Niklas Hagman, Mika Noronen, Niko Kapanen, Toni Dahlman and Eero Somervuori. Bäckström was the third goaltender for Finland in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, but did not play any games. In the Finnish SM-liiga, he played for HIFK, SaiPa and Kärpät. Bäckström led Kärpät to two consecutive league titles in 2004 and 2005. Subsequently, Bäckström signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Wild of the NHL on 1 June 2006.[2]

Minnesota Wild[]

At the beginning of the 2006–07 season, Bäckström was the backup for the Wild's starting goaltender, Manny Fernandez. He made his NHL debut on 7 October 2006, notching his first career win in a 6–5 victory over the Nashville Predators.[3] In his seventh career game, Bäckström continued to impress in recording his first career shutout in a 4–0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on 24 November 2006.[4] After Fernandez suffered a knee injury mid-season, Bäckström was forced into the starter's position. He played exceptionally well over the second half of the season, finishing first in the NHL in both goals against average (GAA) and save percentage, while tying Dwayne Roloson's team record with 5 shutouts in just 36 starts.

Backstrom - Blues vs

Bäckström in 2011 while a member of the Wild

Upon the trade of Fernandez to the Boston Bruins in 2007, Bäckström became Minnesota's starting goaltender. He recorded 33 wins in the 2007–08 season and was the starter for Minnesota's first round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, which Colorado won in six games.

Though he was due to become an unrestricted free agent on 1 July 2009, Bäckström signed a four-year, $24 million contract on 3 March 2009, to remain with the Wild.[5] Despite Bäckström's 37 wins and strong goaltending, the Wild ultimately did not qualify for the playoffs in 2009. In that season, Bäckström finished as the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top goaltender. In 2012, Bäckström played very well in the first half the season and the Wild had a chance to make the playoffs. However, in the second half of the season, Bäckström slumped and suffered injuries as the Wild failed to make the playoffs.

In the following seasons, Bäckström played on-and-off with the additions of goaltenders Ilya Bryzgalov, Darcy Kuemper and Devan Dubnyk to the Wild. In the 2015–16 season, he was often a healthy scratch as Kuemper dressed as Dubnyk's backup.

Calgary Flames[]

Having yet to appear in a competitive game with the Wild in the 2015–16 season, on 29 February 2016, Bäckström was traded to the Calgary Flames (along with a draft pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft) in exchange for forward David Jones.[6] He appeared in four games for the Flames, recording two wins and two losses.

Return to Finland[]

On 10 June 2016, Bäckström effectively ended his NHL career after signing, as an impending free agent, a one-year contract with former club HIFK in Finland.[7]

In May 2018, Bäckström signed a one-year contract with Tappara.[8]

Personal life[]

Bäckström and his wife Heidi have two children: Benjamin and Isabella.[9][10]

Records[]

Minnesota Wild[]

  • Most wins: 194
  • Most shutouts in a season: 8 (2008–09)

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1994–95 HIFK FIN U18
1995–96 HIFK FIN U18 12 700 44 3.77 4 203 9 2.66
1996–97 HIFK FIN U20 21 1244 57 2.75 .914
1996–97 HIFK SM-l 2 0 0 0 30 3 0 6.00 .824
1996–97 PiTa FIN.2 8 390 24 3.69 .875
1997–98 HIFK FIN U20 14 7 7 0 846 42 2.98 .907
1997–98 Hermes FIN.2 9 4 3 1 468 23 1 2.95 .912
1998–99 HIFK FIN U20 8 3.01 .902
1998–99 HIFK SM-l 16 9 5 1 923 26 1 1.69 .932
1999–00 HIFK SM-l 4 0 4 0 155 17 0 6.58 .785
1999–00 FPS FIN.2 22 13 8 1 1322 50 1 2.27 .928 3 1 2 178 8 0 2.69 .913
2000–01 SaiPa SM-l 49 22 24 2 2826 120 2 2.55 .924
2001–02 AIK SEL 40 2186 111 1 3.05 .897
2002–03 Kärpät SM-l 36 16 8 9 2136 77 4 2.16 .929 15 7 8 990 33 1 2.00 .939
2003–04 Kärpät SM-l 43 24 8 8 2572 87 7 2.03 .936 15 9 6 926 36 1 2.33 .925
2004–05 Kärpät SM-l 47 27 10 10 2819 102 7 2.17 .927 12 10 2 720 15 3 1.25 .950
2005–06 Kärpät SM-l 51 32 9 10 3078 86 10 1.68 .940 4 3 1 195 6 0 1.85 .897
2006–07 Minnesota Wild NHL 41 23 8 6 2227 73 5 1.97 .929 5 1 4 297 11 0 2.22 .924
2007–08 Minnesota Wild NHL 58 33 13 8 3409 131 4 2.31 .920 6 2 4 361 17 0 2.83 .900
2008–09 Minnesota Wild NHL 71 37 24 8 4088 159 8 2.33 .923
2009–10 Minnesota Wild NHL 60 26 23 8 3489 158 2 2.72 .903
2010–11 Minnesota Wild NHL 51 22 23 5 2978 158 3 2.66 .916
2011–12 Minnesota Wild NHL 46 19 18 7 2590 105 4 2.43 .919
2012–13 Minnesota Wild NHL 41 24 15 3 2368 98 2 2.48 .909
2013–14 Minnesota Wild NHL 21 5 11 2 1094 55 0 3.02 .899
2014–15 Minnesota Wild NHL 19 5 7 3 1005 51 0 3.04 .887
2015–16 Calgary Flames NHL 4 2 2 0 232 13 0 3.35 .881
2016–17 HIFK Liiga 17 8 5 4 382 32 1 1.87 .923 2 1 1 105 6 0 3.42 .864
2017–18 HIFK Liiga 7 2 2 2 314 13 1 2.48 .894
2018–19 Tappara Liiga 15 11 1 2 863 26 2 1.73 .921 1 0 0 50 0 0 0.00 1.000
Liiga totals 287 151 76 20 28 16,098 589 35 2.20 49 30 18 2986 96 5 1.93
NHL totals 413 196 144 50 23,481 975 28 2.49 .914 11 3 8 658 28 0 2.55 .911

International[]

Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1998 Finland WJC 2 1 0 1 120 5 1 2.50 .911
2005 Finland WC 5 1 1 3 310 12 1 2.32 .902
2006 Finland OG DNP
2006 Finland WC DNP
2008 Finland WC 8 6 2 483 17 1 2.11 .922
2010 Finland OG 2 1 0 110 2 1 1.09 .952
2016 Finland WC DNP
Senior totals 15 8 3 3 903 31 3 2.06 .919

Awards[]

Finnland-torhueter

Bäckström during the 2005 IIHF World Championship

Award Year
SM-Liiga
Kanada-malja Champion 2004, 2005
Runner-up 1999, 2003
Bronze 2006, 2018, 2019
Jari Kurri trophy 2004, 2005
Urpo Ylönen trophy 2004, 2005
NHL
Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award 2007
William M. Jennings Trophy 2007
Vezina Trophy finalist 2009
NHL All-Star 2009

References[]

External links[]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Jussi Markkanen
Winner of the Urpo Ylönen trophy
2003–04, 2004–05
Succeeded by
Juuso Riksman
Preceded by
Esa Pirnes
Winner of the Jari Kurri trophy
2003–04, 2004–05
Succeeded by
Miika Wiikman
Preceded by
Miikka Kiprusoff
Winner of the Jennings Trophy
2007 (with Manny Fernandez)
Succeeded by
Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek
Preceded by
Cristobal Huet
Winner of the Crozier Award
2007
Succeeded by
Final winner
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