Niklas Bäckström

Did You Know?

• Bäckström is a Swedish-speaking Finn but also speaks Finnish.
• He played his first exhibition game in North America on 28 September 2006 against the St. Louis Blues, stopping 26 of 28 shots.
• In July 2019, Bäckström was hired as European goaltending development coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Playing career

Bäckström was a backup goaltender for the Finnish national team that won the 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, a squad that included Olli Jokinen, Niklas Hagman, Mika Noronen, Niko Kapanen, Toni Dahlman and Eero Somervuori. He was Finland's third goaltender for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin but did not play. In the Finnish SM-liiga, Bäckström played for HIFK, SaiPa and Kärpät, leading Kärpät to consecutive league titles in 2004 and 2005.

On 1 June 2006, he signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Wild. After attending training camp and playing exhibition games, he made his NHL debut on 7 October 2006, entering in relief after the first period and making 17 saves to earn a 6–5 win over the Nashville Predators. Bäckström recorded his first career shutout on 24 November 2006 in a 4–0 victory against the Phoenix Coyotes. When starting goaltender Manny Fernandez suffered a knee injury on 30 January, Bäckström became the main starter and posted an 8–2–1 record over 11 games.

He earned NHL First Star of the Week honors for the week ending 26 February after winning three straight games with a 1.62 goals-against average. Later in the season, he left a game against the Calgary Flames with a lower-body injury but returned a few days later against the Boston Bruins.