Minnesota
Niklas Bäckstrom is a former National Hockey League goaltender who played for the Minnesota Wild and the Calgary Flames during his career in the NHL. Born on February 13, 1978, in Helsinki, Finland, he played most of his career in the Finnish league (Liiga) before signing with the Wild in 2006. During the 2006-07 season, he led the NHL with a 1.97 goals-against average (GAA) and won the William M. Jennings Trophy, awarded to the goaltender(s) for the team with the fewest goals scored against them. Backstrom stayed with the Wild for nearly a decade before briefly playing for the Calgary Flames and then returning to Finland to finish off his hockey career. Backstrom retired from hockey in 2019 and moved into coaching and serves as the goaltending coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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