Niklas Oskar Bäckström (; born 13 February 1978) is a Finnish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

and current goaltending coach for the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

. He played ten seasons for the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

and

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL), during which he won both the

William M. Jennings Trophy The William M. Jennings Trophy is an annual National Hockey League (NHL) award given to "the goaltender(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it ... based on regular-season play." From 1946 until ...

and

Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award The Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award, officially billed as the MBNA/MasterCard Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award, was an award in ice hockey given annually to the goaltender who finished the regular season with the best save percentage in the Natio ...

. He also has won both

Urpo Ylönen trophy The Urpo Ylönen trophy is an ice hockey award given by the Finnish Liiga to the best goalie of the season. It is named for Urpo Ylönen, former goaltender and later goaltender coach. In 2019 it was awarded to Veini Vehviläinen of Kärpät. Troph ...

and Jari Kurri trophy twice. Bäckström is a

Swedish-speaking Finn The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names; fi, suomenruotsalainen) can be used as an attribute., group=Note—see below; sv, finlandssvenskar; fi, suomenruotsalaiset) is a linguistic minority in Finl ...

, but also speaks

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 Olli Veli Pekka Jokinen (born December 5, 1978) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings third overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, with whom he made his NHL debut. He has also played for the Ne ...

Niklas Hagman Niklas Hagman (born December 5, 1979) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He was a third round pick of the Florida Panthers, 70th overall, at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft and made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut with Florida ...

Mika Noronen Mika Noronen (born 17 June 1979) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 71 games n the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks between 2000 and 2006. The rest of his career, which laste ...

Niko Kapanen Niko Klaus Petteri Kapanen (born 29 April 1978) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey centre, who last played for HPK of the Finnish Liiga. Playing career Kapanen was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the 6th round as the 173rd overall pick i ...

, Toni Dahlman and

Eero Somervuori Eero Somervuori (born February 7, 1979) is a Finnish people, Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He was drafted 170th overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, but played mainly in the Finnish Liiga and Sweden, S ...

. Bäckström was the third goaltender for Finland in the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, but did not play any games. In the Finnish

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

, he played for

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

SaiPa SAIPA ( fa, سایپا, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'') was established in 1965 as with 75% Iranian ownersh ...

and Kärpät. Bäckström led Kärpät to two consecutive league titles in 2004 and 2005. Subsequently, Bäckström signed a one-year contract with the

of the NHL on 1 June 2006.

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 The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

. In his seventh career game, Bäckström continued to impress in recording his first career shutout in a 4–0 victory over the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

on 24 November 2006. 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 Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

(GAA) and

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

, while tying

Dwayne Roloson Albert Dwayne Roloson (born October 12, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and former goaltending coach of the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently the Goaltending Coach and Director of Pla ...

's team record with 5 shutouts in just 36 starts. Backstrom - Blues vs

Upon the trade of Fernandez to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

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 The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

, which Colorado won in six games. Though he was due to become an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on 1 July 2009, Bäckström signed a four-year, $24 million contract on 3 March 2009, to remain with the Wild. Despite Bäckström's 37 wins and strong goaltending, the Wild ultimately did not qualify for the playoffs in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. In that season, Bäckström finished as the runner-up for the

Vezina Trophy The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's (NHL) goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the thirty-two NHL general managers vote to determine the winner. It is named in ...

, 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. BackstromGlendale

In the following seasons, Bäckström played on-and-off with the additions of goaltenders

Ilya Bryzgalov Ilya Nikolayevich Bryzgalov (; russian: Илья Николаевич Брызгалов; born 22 June 1980) is a Russian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Anaheim Ducks, Phoenix Co ...

Darcy Kuemper Darcy Kuemper (born May 5, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the sixth round, 161st overall, of the 2 ...

and

Devan Dubnyk Devan Dubnyk (born May 4, 1986) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, 14th overall, of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft ...

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

(along with a draft pick in the

2016 NHL Entry Draft The 2016 NHL Entry Draft was the 54th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Auston Matthews going to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine go ...

) in exchange for forward David Jones. 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. In May 2018, Bäckström signed a one-year contract with

Tappara Tappara (; Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. They play at ''Tampere Deck Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 18 Finnish league championships (1959, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, ...

Personal life

Bäckström and his wife Heidi have two children: Benjamin and Isabella.

Records

Minnesota Wild

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

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Backstrom, Niklas 1978 births Ice hockey people from Helsinki Swedish-speaking Finns AIK IF players Calgary Flames players Finnish ice hockey goaltenders Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the United States HIFK (ice hockey) players Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Living people Oulun Kärpät players Minnesota Wild players Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics National Hockey League All-Stars Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Finland SaiPa players Tappara players Undrafted National Hockey League players William M. Jennings Trophy winners