Sharks Draft Goalie 2nd Overall !

(Boston,MA) The New England Sharks today drafted goaltender Niklas Backstrom 2nd overall in the 2007 HBMHL Entry Draft, held annually in Boston, MA. Everyone at the draft, including some HBMHL General Managers, were surprised when Sharks GM Robert Dumont announced Backstrom's name at the podium. Backstrom was chosen after Centerman Evgeni Malkin and ahead of future super stars Paul Stastny and Anze Kopitar.

"Before the draft during the summer, we were saying that we were drafting a Centerman like Malkin, Stastny or Kopitar, even Jordan Staal, said Sharks boss Robert Dumont, but in actuality, we had our eye on Niklas the whole time. He was our first choice since his eligibility. He was our man from the get go".

The 28 year old native of Helsinki , Finland was a star goalie in the Finnish SM-Liiga league and decided he wanted to take his chance on the HBMHL this year.

"We talked to some GM's around the league about who was going to draft who, said Dumont, and we made it look like we were going after one of the future star centermen available. We did this so as to not put any ideas in Detroit's head. We didn't want to publicly announce that we wanted Niklas in case Detroit would realize that they should draft Niklas. In my opinion, they should have. Great goalies are almost impossible to come by. It's the most difficult position in hockey with regards to success of a team".

True. Excellent goaltenders are hard, if not impossible to come by in this league and with Dominik Hasek, Evgeni Nabokov and Niklas Backstrom as the threesome in between the pipes in Hartford, the Sharks will have the strength in net they lacked somewhat last year.

"It hurt us last year in the playoffs when Doms went down with an injury, said Dumont, and unfortunately, Evgeni was not up to par to take us passed London in the semi-finals. This year, Evgeni is better and we feel our other two will be added insurance".

So now the #1 goaltending battle begins in Hartford. With Nabokov most likely to be the 3rd string, Niklas Backstrom will challenge Dominik Hasek for the #1 spot. But could Hasek eventually be traded?

"It's doubtful, said Dumont, but we'll listen to all serious offers. There are teams out there who know we want a centerman who can put up 70 to 80 points a year and if the right offer comes along, we might do it. At the same time, these 3 guys provide us with 3 of the best goalies in the league. Talk about insurance for a cup run. And if we don't make a deal for a centerman before the UFA market, then we will most likely hang on to Doms and sign a UFA centerman".

Look for the Sharks to sign Backstrom to a 3 year entry level contract before the start of the 2007-2008 season.

*In other Shark bytes, the team has placed Eric Lindros, Stephane Yelle and Scott Nichol on waivers.

-Netcam Neely