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Patience Pays Off for Wild’s Backstrom
Does life begin at 30 in the NHL?
Well, that’s almost the truth for goalie
Niklas Backstrom of the Wild. Backstrom, 29,
signed with the Wild as a free agent last June, having played for
several years in his native Finland. Yesterday he was named by the NHL
as its First Star for the week ending February 25 after producing a
record of 3-0-0 with 1.62 goals-against average and .933 save
percentage.
Since replacing the injured
Manny Fernandez, Backstrom's record is 9-2-1. He has improved his season record to 13-7-4. He
ranks third among NHL goaltenders in goal-against average (2.23) and
save percentage (.923).
“I’ve tried to enjoy every moment out there because
you’ve been dreaming about playing here and I am not that young
anymore,” Backstrom said yesterday. “I am really thankful to have a
chance to play here. I just tell myself don’t think too much, have fun
and these are the games you are going to remember when you retire.”
Backstrom said “every kid back home who plays
hockey dreams about playing over here.” He wondered, though, if
his opportunity would come. He had thoughts that he “missed” his
chance so he’s grateful for the opportunity now.
Backstrom played the past four seasons with Karpat
Oulu of the Finnish Elite League, including back-to-back championship seasons in 2003-04 and 2004-05. He won 104 of the 177
games he played in the Finnish league, with a 104-36-37 record. He had
18 shutouts in four seasons with Karpat and never had a goals against
average over 2.17.
He had an outstanding final season in Finland,
compiling a 32-9-10 record. He ranked first in the league with a
career-low 1.68 goals against average and finished second with a .939
save percentage.
The
Wild (35-23-5, 75 points) are second in the Northwest Division, two
points behind first-place Vancouver. They begin a three-game road trip
Wednesday against the Calgary Flames, who trail Minnesota by two points
in the division.
Backstrom is 1-1 with a 1.86 goals
against average versus Calgary this season.
Fernandez has been out with a knee
injury since January 30. Although Fernandez was the team’s regular
goalie, Backstrom won two games earlier in the season he didn’t start.
A Wild spokesman reported that Fernandez’s return date hasn’t been
decided. |
Niklas Backstrom
“I’ve tried to enjoy every moment
out there because you’ve been dreaming about playing here and I am not
that young anymore.”
Niklas Backstrom
Manny Fernandez
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Slowey Moves Fast with Twins
General manager Terry Ryan is counting on some young pitchers to
emerge in spring training and complete the pitching
roster. None of them has less experience than
Kevin Slowey, the team’s second round draft choice in 2005. Still,
Slowey wouldn’t have received an invitation to the team’s major league
camp if Ryan and others didn’t think it was possible that the
23-year-old right-hander will make the team.
Last
season Slowey pitched in the minors as a starter for both Fort Myers and
New Britain. With Fort Myers in High Single-A, he was 4-2 with a 1:01
ERA in 14 starts. At Double-A New Britain the record was
4-3 with a 3.19 ERA. His overall
minor league numbers last year: 8-5, 1.88 ERA, 148.2 innings, 102 hits,
22 bases on balls, 151 strikeouts. His ERA was the best of any Twins
minor leaguer. He walked a batter only once about every seven innings.
“He
had one of those years statistically that really catches your eye,” Ryan
said. “He hasn’t been a professional that long but he’s certainly made
rapid progress.”
Any
conversation about the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Slowey is almost certain to
include discussion about his control. Ryan said he “pounds strikes” and
that even as an amateur (the Twins drafted him out of Winthrop
University in South Carolina) he was a “strike machine.”
Talk
to Ryan and you have the impression that Slowey, who only throws his
fast ball at 88 to 90 miles per hour, has a confidence and maturity that
is unusual for such an inexperienced player. “You put him out there
and he just has a mound presence,” Ryan said. “He’s confident. He’s got
enough pitches, he’s got enough stuff and he gets people out. It’s
maybe not lighting up a radar gun but he finds ways to get people out.
He knows how to sink the ball, and he knows how to pitch in and he knows
how to put people away, and he certainly knows how to put the ball in
play and pitch to contact. … He’s a joy for a defensive club to play
behind.”
Ryan
makes no prediction about whether Slowey will join the Twins in the
majors this season but is clearly impressed with him. “I don’t want to
cut anybody short here,” Ryan said. “If they have got an invitation to
major leave spring training they ought to come in with the objective to
try to make the club and that’s what Kevin ought to do. Just because he
might not be a household name or hasn’t appeared in the major leagues
that doesn’t mean he couldn’t come in here and force the issue. ”
While
Slowey and other young pitchers will be followed with sharp interest,
there’s another pitcher whose future really makes Twins fans hold their
breaths. Francisco Liriano, who was a phenomenal rookie last
season with his gaudy 12-3 record and 2.16 ERA, had reconstructive elbow
surgery last fall and will not pitch in 2007. Ryan was asked for an
update on Liriano.
“There’s no reason he can’t be the same pitcher that he was this year
when he was doing a tremendous job,” Ryan answered. “He’s young and
he’s strong. Obviously this is a major surgery but people come back
from these. I would think he would fine starting in spring training in
2008.” |
Photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins
Terry Ryan
"He knows how to sink the ball, and
he knows how to pitch in and he knows how to put people away, and he
certainly knows how to put the ball in play and pitch to contact."
Terry Ryan on Kevin Slowey
Photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins
Francisco Liriano
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Worth Noting & Quoting
A
source told Sports Headliners that John Tice, once a Vikings
assistant coach under his brother Mike, is the new offensive line
coach at Army. Former Gophers assistant coach Gordy Shaw had
been a candidate for the position.
Herb Carneal,
who has been broadcasting Twins games since 1962, will do radio
play-by-play on “approximately 35 home games,” according to Twins
president Dave St. Peter. He said in an e-mail that Carneal will
not broadcast any spring training games.
Timberwolves rookie point guard
Randy Foye on his team’s potential: “I think we have a lot more that
people haven’t seen. If we get into that sixth or eighth place spot in
the playoffs we can make some noise there. We just have to keep working
and make things happen.”
Sidney Lowe
had losing records in two head coaching jobs in the NBA and his
frustrations have continued in his first season as a college coach back
at his alma mater, North Carolina State. Lowe, who coached the Timberwolves and later the Grizzlies in the NBA, has a 4-10 record in
the ACC, 14-13 overall.
The Golden Dunkers booster group
will hold its annual banquet for the Gopher men’s basketball team
beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 12 at the Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis. Tickets, $45 each, are available to the public. For more
information, contact Neal Johnson, 952-929-4154, njohnson233@comcast.net.
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Photo
courtesy of Minnesota Twins
Dave St. Peter
"If we get into that sixth or
eighth place spot in the playoffs we can make some noise there. "
Randy
Foye |
