Nik Backstrom has faced 9,528 shots as a Wild goaltender. And when he lays his head on his pillow each night, he still fantasizes about the ultimate game for a net-minder.

"Yeah, that you have the best ticket in the house and you can stand on the ice and watch the guys play down at the other end," Backstrom said with a laugh. "That's your dream. That's what you're always hoping for."

But he knows what is coming. With the NHL suddenly jump-started toward a compressed 48-game season, Backstrom is going to come face to face with anything but peace and quiet. As teams search for chemistry and fluidity, Backstrom likely will be staring at chaos. And keep in mind that goaltenders will be as rusty as everyone else.

"I feel it's going to be a challenge, for sure," he said. "You don't have your couple of preseason games to get into the rhythm. You pretty much jump into it right away. It's not 80 games, it's 48, and you have to be sharp all the time. You can't have days off. You can't have bad games or bad periods."

Left implied: Or else.

That's the doomsday scenario as teams try to get back into the flow of hockey. An out-of-whack goalie could blow a team's playoff chances in the first few weeks of a 48-game season. Not that there's any pressure or anything.

"I think it's going to be fun," Backstrom said. "Every game counts. Every game matters."

Even before the ceremonial first puck is dropped and the ceremonial first groin is pulled, we know this is going to be an interesting season for Backstrom, who turns 35 in February. A fixture in the Minnesota net since 2006-07, Backstrom is entering the final year of his contract. Unless the team does something between now and the end of the season, Backstrom will become a free agent.

He says it is not something he thinks about. And being such a focused guy, he probably is able to put it out of his head. He just shrugs and says he doesn't know what the organization is thinking.

"I have no idea," he said. "You know what? Maybe it's because of the lockout or whatever but I haven't thought about next year. I was only worried about this year and if we were going to play hockey or not. Especially with the lockout, every day was really long.

"It's not my first time. It's part of the game and it's something you learn during the years playing hockey or you learn in life. It's just not good for you to worry about things that are out of your control."

He's certainly been fun to watch, and I can't imagine the Wild without him. He's got that now-famous pregame routine where he walks around the bottom level of the arena, eyes downcast, oblivious to everyone and everything. Say hello and he won't even know you're there as he fixates on the upcoming game.

After the game, he has expended so much physical and mental energy that it takes a while for his body to stop shaking. He's really an interesting character.

"I think especially in my early years we had really good teams here," said. This season "I think if you look on the paper and at the guys we have here and the young guys coming up, it looks really good. But that's never enough. You don't play from the paper, you play in the rink. That's where you have something to prove every day.

"We haven't been in the playoffs for a long time. So to be a playoff team it's going to be hard work. It's going to be fun if we can make it."

Backstrom played through a couple of injuries last season. This fall, at the beginning of the lockout, he went for a skate with several other NHL players and twisted an ankle. He canceled his plans to play in Europe and stayed in the Twin Cities to let his ankle heal.

"I was going to go back there and play but I stayed here, and it feels like the right decision," he said. "It's ready to go. It's been good for a couple of months now."

There's no question that the newcomers have created a lot of excitement among Wild fans. That said, the most important player on the ice will be Backstrom, especially early. Goaltenders always are key players, of course. But especially now with all the wild cards that come with a short training camp and a compact schedule, teams simply must have solid goaltending or else run the risk of falling out of the race early.

"It's a new situation for everyone," Backstrom said. "I think It's all going to go by really fast. You know, I just told someone back home that before you know it, it's going to be April."

Which, if Backstrom stays true to form and all else goes well, could find the Wild in the playoffs for the first time in five years.

Tom Powers can be reached at