Niklas Oskar Bäckström (Swedish: [ˈnɪkːlas ²bɛkːstrœm]; 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. He also has won both Urpo Ylönen trophy and Jari Kurri trophy twice. Bäckström is a Swedish-speaking Finn, but also speaks Finnish.\n', '

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.\n', '

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. 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. 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.\n', '

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