Click here to launch - Minnesota Wild

32 Backstrom25 Belanger47 Bergeron24 Boogaard96 Bouchard15 brunette8 burns26 foster10 Gaborik29 Harding5 johnsson9 koivu20 miettinen11 nolan2 reitz55 schultz51 Sheppard41 skoula19 Veilleux12 Weller3 ZidlickyNiklasBackstrom32GOALTENDERCatches: LeftHt: 6-1 • Wt: 189Born: 2/13/78Helsinki, FinlandVS. NHLTEAM GP W-L-OT GAA SHO SV%ANA 2 1-1-0 2.02 0 .932ATL 1 0-0-1 1.85 0 .923BOS 1 1-0-0 1.00 0 .967BUF – – – – –CGY 13 4-4-2 2.06 1 .914CAR 1 1-0-0 4.00 0 .846CHI 2 1-1-0 1.51 1 .950COL 9 7-1-1 2.06 0 .926CBJ 5 3-1-0 2.31 0 .921DAL 7 2-3-2 2.25 0 .916DET 4 0-2-1 4.00 0 .901EDM 11 9-0-0 1.64 3 .934FLA 2 2-0-0 2.00 0 .948LA 3 2-0-1 1.28 1 .951MIN – – – – –MTL 1 0-1-0 3.00 0 .912NSH 5 5-0-0 2.58 0 .922NJ 1 0-0-1 2.77 0 .900NYI 1 1-0-0 2.86 0 .897NYR – – – – –OTT – – – – –PHI 1 0-1-0 3.00 0 .880PHX 6 6-0-0 1.17 2 .963PIT – – – – –SJ 5 0-3-2 3.13 0 .891STL 4 3-1-0 2.43 0 .908TB 1 1-0-0 2.00 0 .939TOR – – – – –VAN 12 7-1-3 2.03 1 .928WSH 1 0-1-0 4.00 0 .846CAREER HIGHLIGHTSRanks third all-time on Wild list in wins (56) and games played and third in shutouts(nine)...18-2-6 with a 1.60 GAA in his career in the regular season from March 1 onward...Has started 93 NHL games – and has allowed two goals or less 56 times (60.2 percent), andhas allowed three goals or less 81 times (91.2 percent)...Is 44-3-5 with four no decisionswhen yielding two goals or less...Is 6-0-0 in his last six home regular season starts, with twoshutouts, a 0.83 GAA and a .970 SV pct., and unbeaten in regulation at 6-0-2 in his last eighthome starts, with a 1.22 GAA and a .955 SV pct...Hasn’t been beaten in regulation in a regularseason game overall since March 4, 2008, a 4-2 home loss to Chicago. In 12 starts since then,he is 7-0-4 (with one no decision) with a 1.61 GAA and a .941 SV pct...Went 15-0-2 with a 1.33GAA and a .947 SV pct. from March 8-Oct. 21, 2007....Backstrom’s 2.17 GAA in his first twoNHL seasons was the second best of any NHL goalie since the 2006-07 season began, trailingonly the recently retired Dominik Hasek (2.09). His .923 SV pct. leads all NHL goalies over thelast two seasons....Won back-to-back Finnish League Championship seasons in 2003-04 and2004-05...Posted a 104-36-37 record in 177 Finnish League contests...Tallied 18 shutouts infour seasons with Karpat and never posted a GAA in excess of 2.17...Backstopped the squad in46 postseason games, posting a 29-16 record and five shutouts...2007-08 HIGHLIGHTSEstablished franchise record in wins (33), saves (1,498), tied team record for games played(58) and played second-most minutes (3.409) in team history...Ranked eighth in NHL in GAA(2.31) and tied for ninth in wins...Won seven of last eight decisions (7-0-1) with a 1.41 GAAand a .950 SV%...7-0-4 in his last 11 decisions to tie his own team record for unbeaten inregulation streak, with a 1.61 GAA and a .944 SV%...Went 6-0-0 in his last six home startswith a 0.83 GAA and a .970 SV%...Made 27 saves for sixth NHL shutout in 1-0 win over CHI(10/4) in home opener...Stopped 21 shots for second shutout in three games and third in arow vs. EDM in 2-0 win (10/10)...A 5-3 loss at CGY (10/24) marked first regulation loss in 19starts (15-1-2) since a 3-0 loss vs. SJ (3/16/07)...Made 40 saves in 4-3 win at NSH (11/24)...Made 19 saves vs. VAN (12/2) for second four-game win streak of season...Saw the most shotsin his career (51) and made the most saves (47) of his career vs. DET (12/22)...Recorded 46saves in 3-2 win at PHX (12/27)...Made 33 saves in 4-1 win at CBJ (2/2) to help Wild win bothgames in Columbus this season after winning just once at Nationwide Arena in previous sixseasons...Posted 5-1-2 record stopping 234 of 249 shots faced (.939 SV%) during eight-gamespan (1/16-2/9)...Stopped all 24 shots faced in 2-0 win vs. LA (3/15)...Started season-highseventh straight game and made 30 saves in 2-1 win at VAN (3/21)...Made 28 saves in 4-0win vs. VAN (3/28) to record franchise record 31st win of the season...Made 26 saves vs. CGY(4/3) to up his franchise record win total to 33 as Wild clinched first-ever Northwest Divisiontitle...Missed two games with groin strain (10/28, 10/30).2006-07 HIGHLIGHTSTied the single-season franchise record for shutouts with five...Ranked first in the NHL witha 1.97 GAA and a .929 SV% in 41 games...Teamed with Manny Fernandez to win 2006-07William Jennings Trophy as the Wild allowed a league-low 191 goals...Allowed three goals orless in 38 of his 41 appearances...Became the first goalie in the modern NHL era (since 1943)to post two career wins in zero career starts, stopping all 19 shots he faced in relief vs. VAN(11/2)...Made 35 saves in first NHL start in 3-2 loss at ANA (11/12)...Made 25 saves for thirdstraight relief win at NSH (11/16)...Stopped all 28 shots faced to record first career shutout vs.PHX (11/24)...Recorded second career shutout with 29-save effort in 1-0 win at PHX (2/3)...Notched first career NHL point with an assist at DAL (2/6)...Named NHL’s First Star of the Weekon Feb. 26 after going 3-0-0 with a 1.62 GAA and .933 SV% in three start and became the fifthplayer in team history to be recognized as Player of the Week...Posted 1.53 GAA and .937 SV%during franchise-record seven-game winning streak (3/8-3/20) including one shutout...Recordedback-to-back shutouts vs. EDM (4/3-4/5) and carried a shutout into the second periodvs. STL (4/7) for a 142:47 shutout streak...Missed one game with a lower-body injury (3/1).2005-06 HIGHLIGHTSRanked first in the league with a career-low 1.68 GAA and finished second with a .939 SV%.2004-05 HIGHLIGHTSCollected his third consecutive winning season for Karpat Oulu en route to leading them totheir second consecutive Finnish Championship.2003-04 HIGHLIGHTSWas named the Finnish Elite League Goaltender of Year in his second season with KarpatOulu...Was named Playoff MVP after returning from a knee injury and leading Karpat to theleague Championship.INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTSWas a member of Finland’s silver medal team at the 2006 Winter Olympics and Finland’sbronze medal team at the 2006 IIHF World Hockey Championships, but did not see action ineither tournament...Appeared in five games with Finland at the 2005 and 2008 IIHF WorldHockey Championships.BACKSTROM’S PLAYING CAREERSEASON TEAM LEAGUE GP W L OT GA GAA SV SV% SO MIN1995-96 HIFK Helsinki Fin-U18 12 – – – 44 3.77 – – – 6991996-97 HIFK Helsinki Jr. Fin-Jr. 21 – – – 57 2.75 – – – 1,243PiTa Helsinki Fin-2 8 – – – 24 3.69 – – – 390HIFK Helsinki Finland 2 0 0 0 3 5.85 – – 0 301997-98 HIFK Helsinki Jr. Fin-Jr. 14 7 7 0 42 2.98 – – – 847Hermes Kokkola Fin-2 9 4 3 1 23 2.95 – – 1 4681998-99 HIFK Helsinki Finland 16 9 5 1 26 1.69 – – 1 923HIFK Helsinki Jr. Fin-Jr. 15 7 7 1 45 3.01 – – 1 8981999-00 HIFK Helsinki Finland 4 0 4 0 17 6.58 – – 0 155FPS Forssa Fin-2 22 13 8 1 50 2.27 – – 1 1,3202000-01 SaiPa Finland 49 22 24 3 120 2.55 – – 2 2,8262001-02 AIK Solna Sweden 40 – – – 111 3.05 – – 1 2,186AIK Solan Swe-Q 9 – – – 20 2.21 – – 0 5432002-03 Karpat Oulu Finland 36 16 8 9 77 2.16 – – 4 2,1362003-04 Karpat Oulu Finland 43 24 8 0 87 2.03 – – 7 2,5722004-05 Karpat Oulu Finland 47 27 10 10 102 2.17 – – 7 2,8192005-06 Karpat Oulu Finland 51 32 9 10 86 1.68 – – 10 3,0772006-07 MINNESOTA NHL 41 23 8 6 73 1.97 955 .929 5 2,2262007-08 MINNESOTA NHL 58 33 13 8 131 2.31 1498 .920 4 3,408WILD/NHL TOTALS 99 56 21 14 204 2.17 2,453 .923 9 5,635BACKSTROM’S POSTSEASON CAREERSEASON TEAM LEAGUE GP W L GA GAA SV SV% SO MIN2002-03 Karpat Oulu Finland 15 7 8 33 2.00 – – 1 9902003-04 Karpat Oulu Finland 15 9 6 36 2.33 – – 1 9272004-05 Karpat Oulu Finland 12 10 2 15 1.25 – – 3 7202005-06 Karpat Oulu Finland 4 3 1 6 1.84 – – 0 1252006-07 MINNESOTA NHL 5 1 4 11 2.22 134 .924 0 2962007-08 MINNESOTA NHL 6 2 4 17 2.83 153 .900 0 361WILD/NHL TOTALS 11 3 8 28 2.55 287 .911 0 658BACKSTROM’S INTERNATIONAL CAREERSEASON TEAM LEAGUE GP W L GA GAA SO MIN2004-05 Finland Worlds2007-08 Finland Worlds 8 6 2 17 2.11 1 483INTERNATIONAL TOTALS 8 6 2 17 2.11 1 483CAREER TRANSACTIONSSigned by Minnesota as a free agent, June 1, 2006.PERSONALNiklas Backstrom is single and lives in Helsinki, Finland during the offseason...Enjoys watchingmovies, listening to music and traveling in his spare time...Lists sushi and steak as hisfavorite foods and Sakura, Origami and Manny’s as his favorite restaurants in the Twin Cities...Nicknames are “Nik” and “Backs”...Says the 2006 Olympics and his first NHL game are his mostmemorable hockey moments...NamesMetallicaas his favorite band and“Prison Break” and “Entourage”as his favoritetelevision shows...ListsJames Hatfield as theperson he would mostlike to meet...Eats cerealNHL HIGHLIGHTSSaves, Game:47 – vs. DET,12/22/07Shots Against, Game:51 – vs. DET,12/22/07Goals Against, Game:5 – at STL, 2/18/07Consecutive Starts:12g – 2/1-2/28/07Winning Streak:7g – 3/8-3/22/07Losing Streak:3g – 12/16/06-1/9/07Undefeated Streak:11g – two timesWinless Streak:5g – 12/2/06-1/20/07for breakfast and pasta for a pre-game meal...Soccer ishis favorite sport...Says his parents and grandparentsmost inspired his hockey career.Niklas BackstromTable of contents Hockey Operations Wild THings The Players Team History Team Records Playoff History The NHL