Some off-season deals seem pre-ordained.  It’s hard to argue with the suggestion the Wild should trade goalie Manny Fernandez, use the contract savings to re-sign Niklas Backstrom and promote Josh Harding to No. 2 status. 

Backstrom and Fernandez won the NHL’s William Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders for the club finishing the regular season with the fewest team goals against.  The trophy is awarded to the goaltenders that played in a minimum of 25 games on the team allowing the fewest goals in the regular season. The Wild allowed a league-low 191 goals.  Backstrom played in 41 games, Fernandez in 44. 

Backstrom, 29, signed a one year contract with the Wild prior to last season.  He went from backup to star in one season after Fernandez was injured.  Fernandez played enough to become the first goalie in franchise history to win a career 100 games. 

Talk is the Los Angeles Kings may be interested in acquiring Fernandez, 32, during the off-season.  Three years younger, Backstrom is closer to his peak years than Fernandez.  Then, too, it’s hard to imagine losing a guy who performed so spectacularly. He becomes a free agent, able to sign with any team, on July 1.   

Backstrom led the NHL with a 1.96 per game goals against average and had a 93% save average during the regular season.  He had five shutouts and in 38 of 41 games allowed three goals or less.  He even became the first goalie in the NHL’s modern era to earn two wins without starting the games.

Backstrom finished the season by making news in the North American hockey world.  He was honored with the NHL’s Third Star for his final three games performance. He had a 3-0-0 record, 0.33 goals-against average, a 99% save percentage and two shutouts as the Wild (48-26-8, 104 points) finished second in the Northwest Division and seventh in the Western Conference. 

With goal scoring absent in three of four games so far, the Wild haven’t been successful in the playoffs but Backstrom has been effective.  He’s continued his consistent play from the regular season and allowed only eight total goals. 

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.  

If Fernandez doesn’t return and Backstrom does, Harding, 22, presumably has the opportunity to become the No. 2 goalie.  He played in seven games for the Wild during the season, starting four.

 

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You can listen to Vikings coach Brad Childress read his favorite poem tomorrow (The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole) at the downtown Minneapolis Public Library.  Childress and other celebrities are at the library from noon to 1 p.m. in recognition of National Poetry Month.   

On Tuesday, November 27 Tubby Smith’s Gophers will play at Florida State as part of the ninth annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge.   The Gophers are 3-5 in the series.  Other challenge games next fall include Wisconsin-Duke and Ohio State-North Carolina.

Look for 24-year-old Glen Perkins, the Twins left-hander from Stillwater who recently was recalled from Rochester, to improve his breaking pitches as he gains more experience.

The new Twins ballpark, with a capacity of 40,000, will be one of the smallest in the major leagues.  Compared with current stadiums only two have smaller capacities, Boston and Pittsburgh. 

NHL phenom Sidney Crosby, who this spring became the first teenager in major sports history to win a scoring title, will be coming to Xcel Energy Center next season with his Pittsburgh Penguins.  The Penguins didn’t play here this year.

The Wild have five players who were on the roster of the 2003 team that played in the Stanley Cup playoffs:  Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Manny Fernandez, Marian Gaborik, Nick Schultz and Wes Walz.  

Mark the date:  the 36^th annual Tapemark Charity Pro-Am is June 8-10 at Southview Country Club in West St. Paul. Dave Tentis returns to defend his championship. He’s won four Tapemark titles. The field includes six-time Tapemark champion Don Berry and 2005 champ Tim Hegna. Since 1972, the event has raised and donated more than $5.5 million to non-profit agencies serving children and adults with developmental and learning disabilities.  The public is welcome at the tournament and admission is free. Golfers can still register at www.proam.mn.

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Today’s column offers cereal and candy.  Huh?  Read on.

Wheaties Field is my name of choice for the new Twins stadium.  The ballpark named after the hometown cereal.  Wheaties: the “Breakfast of Champions.”  What name could be more appropriate?

The Twins should aspire to build on their legacy of success when the downtown stadium opens in 2010.  Their mission statement: Minnesota Twins, World Series champions.  Feed the boys Wheaties and watch them win.

The Twins are likely to expect a hefty rights fee and long term agreement for any stadium naming rights deal but General Mills and its famous cereal can benefit from more than hometown pride by stepping up to the plate.  The Twins and the stadium will be a cultural force in this marketplace via merchandising, advertising, promotion, news coverage and stadium events including 81 baseball games per year.  Only the bean counters and the Lord himself know how many times per year consumers will hear or read the name Wheaties Field. 

Why not include a Wheaties Hall of Champions in the stadium? Display all the famous athletes who have been on the Wheaties cereal boxes over the years.  The Wheaties name could be branded on the Twins’ youth clinics at the stadium and other sites.  Kids attending the clinics receive some good advice on nutrition and a free box of Wheaties.  And those Wheaties box tops could be good for half off admissions on Wheaties Days for kids and families. 

Let the whole country in on the wholesome theme with a Wheaties-scholar athlete program.  The winners receive college scholarships and a trip to Minneapolis where they attend a Twins game and are honored at a special General Mills luncheon attended by Twins stars. 

In the early years of the stadium the Twins are likely to host major league baseball’s all-star game.  Wheaties Field will be showcased across the country, just as it will be most summer nights on ESPN SportsCenter. 

Back in the 1930’s Wheaties had signage in Nicollet Park, home of the Minneapolis Millers.  Wheaties sponsored the Millers on radio broadcasts.   Wheaties can tie its local baseball past to even more prominent future branding if the new stadium is named Wheaties Field. 

If the Twins nix the idea of using any corporate name on the new facility, call the stadium Pohlad Park.  Carl Pohlad’s piggy bank has helped save the franchise and the elderly Twins owner deserves the honor. Please, no more politically correct names like Metropolitan Stadium, Met Center and Metrodome. Boring!  And by the way, not one of these facilities was ever financed by the seven county metro area.   

Now back to the candy topic.  How about a candy bar named after Joe Mauer?  I approached the subject playfully with the Twins’ hometown hero and received this response regarding possible interest in a bar made locally by Pearson’s Candy Company:  “Maybe.  I don’t know.  That’s the first I’ve heard about it. Yeah, definitely.” 

Mauer’s buddy, Justin Morneau, good naturedly endorsed the idea.  “Well, I am sure people will buy it,” he said.   

Would it be a best seller here?  “Joe can put his name on anything here and people will buy it,” Morneau answered.   

Neither Mauer or Morneau offered a name for the candy bar.  How about Pow-Mauer?

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