Patrick Reusse: Wild discovered a gem in goalie Backstrom

The Wild was looking for a body and not a star when they signed Niklas Backstom on June 1, 2006. He was a 28-year-old who had spent the previous four seasons as the No. 1 goaltender for Karpat Oulu in his native Finland.

"I had never heard of the guy," said Bob Mason, the Wild's goalie coach. "Then, maybe the day after we signed him, I got a call from Roli and he said, 'You got a good one in Backstrom.'"

The Roli in question was Dwayne Roloson, who had spent five years playing in goal for the Wild before being traded to Edmonton on March 7, 2006.

Roloson had played 34 games in Finland during the NHL's lost lockout season of 2004-05. It was there that he went against Backstrom.

"We've never tried to fool anyone about Niklas," said Tommy Thompson, the Wild's personnel director.

"We were looking for a third guy, behind Manny [Fenandez] and Josh [Harding]. We thought he would spend most of the season in Houston.

"In fact, that's the main reason we wanted him. He never had played in the NHL. That made him a rookie, so we could bring him back-and-forth from Houston as often as we wanted without putting him on waivers."

Mason was asked if there was a moment in the 2006 training camp when he started to say, "Roloson's right. This guy is good."

He shrugged and said: "It's hard to point to that because Manny and Josh were getting all of the reps in practice. Niklas was a guy down there at the other end of the ice.

"I would say Josh still was written in, maybe in pencil, as the backup as we got near the end of camp. Then, in the second-to-last exhibition in St. Louis, Josh came up with a groin injury during the skate. So, Niklas played that night, and he played very well."

The prognosis was that Harding would miss two weeks. He also was 23. The Wild wasn't going to let a still-developing 23-year-old miss two weeks, then have him return as the backup to Fernandez.

Backstrom opened the season as Manny's backup and Harding became Houston's No. 1 goalie (for the third consecutive season) when he was ready to play.

Coach Jacques Lemaire went with Fernandez as his starting goalie in the season's first 15 games. The Wild was 11-4 at that point, with Backstrom getting victories in relief in games 2 and 12. He made his first NHL start on Nov. 11, a 3-2 loss in Anaheim.

Fernandez had flogged himself in public for a bad stretch of play in November. Still, Lemaire stayed with him as the main goalie. After 52 games, Fernandez had made 42 starts and Backstrom only 10.

Then, Fernandez suffered a knee injury and Backstrom started in Colorado on Feb. 1. He started 26 of the final 30, with Harding getting the other four. The Wild won 21 of those 30 and streaked into the playoffs riding the NHL's hottest goalie.

He was outstanding in the playoffs against Anaheim, allowing only 11 goals in five games to the Stanley Cup champions. He was so good over those final three months of hockey that the Wild's main offseason goal became trading Fernandez. He's in Boston, and off to a shaky start.

Backstrom? Same guy we saw last spring. Unflappable.

The Wild finished the opening homestand at 3-0 by defeating Edmonton 2-0 on Wednesday night. It was Backstrom's second shutout in three starts.

"He gets squared up early and stays quiet in the net," Mason said. "So many goalies are moving all over, and that's when they get caught and give up a goal that maybe they shouldn't.

"He's the whole package, really. Quiet, good glove, good hands. Everything."

And he doesn't get rattled?

"He's a Finn," Mason said. "From my experience, most of those guys are stoics by nature. If he joins in the agitating in the locker room, it's probably to get on Petteri [Nummelin] or Mikko [Koivu].

"You hear him tell Mikko, 'You're still just Saku's little brother.' That's about as tough as he'll get."

Except when he's in the net. Then Niklas is extra tough. Ask the Oilers. He's now 5-0 with two goals allowed in five starts against Edmonton.

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com