Just got off the phone with Niklas Backstrom, who infuriated me because he was sitting by the pool at the Palms.

Tough life, pal. Me, I just walked the Stone Arch Bridge. Nice, but not the same.

Backstrom’s jacked to be in Vegas, where I gave him some advice on must-see’s, like the “Love” Beatles’ Cirque du Soleil show at the Mirage. He’s a Beatles fan, as his girlfriend, Heidi. I gave him some other advice, too.

He’ll be up for the Vezina (Best Goalie) on Thursday night’s NHL Awards Show, which can be seen on VERSUS at 6:30 p.m. He’s a finalist with Boston’s Tim Thomas and Columbus’ Steve Mason. At the Show with Bax offering him support so to speak will be Heidi, Wild goalie coach Bob Mason, GM Chuck Fletcher and P.R. guru Ryan Stanzel — yes the same Stanzel who constructs the famed R.S.S. Feed on the Wild’s web site.

I talked to Backstrom about a variety of things that you’ll see in future sports sections, but here’s a few quotes I’ll offer up now.

On Vegas, Awards Show: “I haven’t been here before. Just to be part of it, it’s going to be one of the biggest days of your career personally. You never know if you ever get the chance to do it again. It really kicks in when you get here and you see all the guys – you know all these stars – and posters all over the city. I’ve never seen the Awards Show before. I don’t know how big it is. But when you get here, you start to feel it’s a pretty big thing.”

What do you think of Vegas: “I cant complain about the weather.”

How’s the surgically-repaired hip: “I feel really good actually. I’m going to see the doctor on Monday. I fly from here to Vail. I’m excited to see him there because it feels so good. I’ve never looked so forward to a doctors appointment before. Hopefully I’ll get permission to go full.

Nervous about being on camera and the Vezina? “Every athlete, you want to win. But when you go to a normal hockey game, you feel more that you want to win. It’s a great honor just to be here. You look at all the goalies, there’s only three who will be here tomorrow, but you look around the league, you could easily take 20, 30 goalies. So for sure it’s a great honor to even be here. Just looking back to where I have come from. Couple years ago, I played in Europe, and now you’re here up for such an award. I don’t want to say it’s enough. You want to be the best everyday and all the time. But it’s really good even to be here.”

Richards says the D will be running wild. Does that concern you? ”My job is going to be the same – stop the puck. If we win, it doesn’t matter how you play. That’s the only thing you’re concerned about – to win. If you’ve got a system that all the players believe in, and everybody really jumps into that, then every system is good. You look the way hockey is played now, you look at the good teams who were in the Final, even if they play some offensive hockey, I think everything starts from the defense. Even if it would be fun to have the 80s and 90s Edmonton Oilers here and score six, seven goals, I don’t think it’s possible in today’s NHL. So I think you can have a good offense, but everything still starts from the defense. Like I said, it doesn’t matter how we play, the only thing that matters is that we win.

You could be facing a few more odd-man rushes, but are you willing to give that up if it means you won’t have to be holding onto tie or one-goal games anymore? “It’s part of hockey. You have to live with that. You can’t worry about it. You have to make sure you’re ready for whatever happens. Goalies, we have to be there, we have to help the guys if that’s the case. On the other hand, if we play more offense, score more goals, maybe every now and then our goalies can make a mistake and we have a chance to win. So there’s some good and some bad things with every style. The only thing that matters is that you play good hockey. Then that gives you a chance to win.”

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So, it’s the morning after, and the new era of the Wild feels just a little more complete. GM and coach … in place.

Next up the Draft (and perhaps trades), and then free agency.

By the way, I’m not a Twitter guy yet, although you can follow this blog on there. But after seeing Wolves spokesman Kevin Love breaking the Kevin McHale news on Twitter just after midnight, I may have to scour the Twitter universe for Wild players.

First, here’s the coverage from Wednesday’s paper:

I wrote a Todd Richards profile in Tuesday’s paper, which quotes Richards’ mentor Claude Noel, his former teammate and agent Ben Hankinson and his former teammate Pat Micheletti.

So Wednesday’s main story was more focused on Richards and what he specifically sees from this team. Here’s that story

Here is the notebook on Tommy Thompson still working even with an uncertain job status, Fletcher talking about Gaborik and a note on the search for Richards’ coaching staff.

Here’s Jim Souhan’s column on Richards growing up in the State of Hockey.

After the news conference, Chuck Fletcher immediately turned his attention to the Draft, the trades that surround it and Marian Gaborik.

Fletcher planned to call agent Ron Salcer yesterday, and I’m not sure if that conversation took place. But Salcer is supposed to be back in the country by now. As you can see from Fletcher’s quotes in the paper, he still believes it’ll be a longshot to get Gaborik to stay this late in the game, but he’s certainly going to try.

During my lunch with Fletcher last Thursday, Fletcher said he was in the process on contacting every team in the league to discuss trades. Yesterday, he said that initial process was complete. He’s made some type of communication with all 29 teams.

Remember, Fletcher believes the trade market this summer will be greater than most summers because so many teams have cap issues. In fact, even after the first couple days of free agency is done, Fletcher is willing to go one player short for the first six weeks or so of the summer because he’s so sure you’re going to be able to commit highway robbery in a trade later in the summer.

The theory there: Since teams are allowed to go over the cap in the summer, teams will be forced to shed money, and even good, $3 million type players in late August and September. So Fletcher is willing to take that risk. But he also wants to try to make some moves at the Draft.

“I’ve had a lot of phone calls. I’ve initiated a lot of phone calls. I’ve had communications with every team in the league and probably spoken with the majority of them in terms of what their needs may be and what the interests are from us. That’ll intensify this week. There’s a lot of communication at the Draft, but I would like to maybe have a little more focused approach going into next week. You know, seeing where the fits will be.”

In other words, often times, trades are consummated right at the Draft or on Draft Day. Fletcher wants to have some frameworks in his mind going into Montreal week. So instead of dealing with a broad, 29-team frenzy next week, he’d prefer by Mondayish to have a more focused approach of a handful of teams he’s dealing with on specific ideas.

I’ll write more in specifics next week. Onward…

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I’ll be back on here later on this afternoon or early evening to discuss more in depth the Richards news conference, the nitty-gritty details of what was discussed in the post-press conference scrums (that’s where the most interesting news items or details always come from because that’s when we ask actual specifics) and a number of other items surrounding the Wild.

But I wanted to throw up the presser, as transcribed by Brian Stensaas (many thanks), and San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan, who did a conference call with myself and two other local writers. Remember, not only was McLellan Richard’s boss in San Jose, but he coached for a long time in the Wild organization in Houston. So he knows Koivu, Burns, Veilleux (likely gone), Boogaard, Bouchard, Harding from the Aeros and others like Schultz from training camp.

I also just got off the horn with Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, who was nice enough to call me back between Cup celebrations. I’ll throw that up later.

Here is Todd McLellan:

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Hello from Gate 1 of Xcel Energy Center. The last time I was here, sitting in this exact same setup, Chuck Fletcher was introduced as the new Wild GM. Now he’s running the show, having just introduced Todd Richards as the new coach of the franchise.

It’s a standing room only crowd here in the lobby, with Wild defenseman Brent Burns among those without chairs. Owner Craig Leipold is also standing in the back - don’t you think that he could get a seat?

In introducing Richards, Fletcher said he was “proud and excited” to do so.

“He’s a proven winner and an ideal fit for this franchise going forward,” Fletcher continued,. “He’s earned my trust and I’m confident he’s the right person to coach this franchise at this time.”

Just like Fletcher, Richards received a No. 09 Wild jersey and team cap upon being introduced.

“I am truly, truly excited and honored - and very humbled,” Richards said.

Our own Michael Russo - having some microphone issues - has opened the questioning.

Richards said as a kid growing up on metro area ponds, the Crystal native never dreamed of being a coach.

“The type of hockey we want to play is up-tempo, fast,” Richards said of his style. “You can watch teams that were in the (Stanley Cup) Finals this year and they both play the same style. We believe we have that foundation here. Defenseman have to be part of the rush. Forecheck as a group of five.”

The mics are not working, and I’m in back by the plug-ins so it’s kind of tough to hear. But I believe the topic of Richards having no NHL head coaching experience has come up.

“He’s certainly paid his dues,” Fletcher said, noting Richards’ six years in the AHL. “Talent is the most important thing. How you communicate.”

Said Richards: “In this business as coach, I’m trying to sell something to the players. And I think they’ll buy it.”

Richards’ two sons, 13 and 11 years old both play hockey. He was asked about possibly bringing Minnesota players to the Wild roster.

“Minnesota is rich in hockey players,” he said. “Playing (college) at Minnesota, there was pride in having a roster of all Minnesotans. Us (the Wild) as an organization, it’s about the best fit for the organization. If it happens to be a Minnesota player, that’s great.”

Of course, the Marian Gaborik situation came up. He’s an unrestricted free agent as of July 1.

“It’ll be nice to have a coach to present as a part of our package,” Fletcher said.

Richards has not gotten to talk with current Wild assistants or other possible candidates yet.

A good quote from Richards about receiving the final offer from Fletcher: “It wasn’t like I hung up the phone and said, ‘I have to think about this for a half hour.’”

He had his fingers crossed hoping he would be the one for the job.

Well, that’s it. Russo and columnist Jim Souhan will have it all covered in tomorrow’s paper.

For those fortunate enough to watch and/or listen to the presser live - what are your early thoughts on the new coach?

First, here is the Todd Richards story for Tuesday’s editions

And, here is the player reaction sidebar and Tom Lynn dismissal short (the Chuck Fletcher quote on Schultz was from a sitdown I had with him last Thursday). 

During the Wild’s month-long GM search, owner Craig Leipold had in-person interviewees give them a list of three coaching candidates they’d likely rank 1-2-3 if they had the opportunity to hire one in Minnesota (at least, this is what I’m told by sources).

As you know by my coverage, I talked to a horde of GM candidates over those several weeks, and I asked them the same question. Of the six or seven that did answer that question for me, Todd Richards was on at least five of the lists, including a few that actually got in-person interviews. He was considered that much of an up-and-comer in his incredible fast track from player (2002) to coach.

So you know Leipold heard this name a lot during that month and thus is very comfortable with this hire, and trust me, this was all Chuck Fletcher. As Leipold said at his news conference to introduce Fletcher, he gave the new GM full authority to build his own Stanley Cup-caliber team from top to bottom. That meant final authority on coaches, players and his hockey ops and scouting departments — as proven by today’s firing of longtime assistant GM Tom Lynn.

So, why Richards? I’ve talked to many of his friends and colleagues the last month because I was 100 percent positive he’d top Fletcher’s coaching search list in particular. So I feel I’ve gotten at least a little glimpse into what type of person he is and his personality (and by the way, everybody says he’s just a great guy with a lot of character). 

First and foremost,

Fletcher feels it imperative to have a close working relationship with the new coach (Fletcher’s going to be around the team every single game the first half of the season), and the two of them became very close and grew a mutual respect for each other after Fletcher hired him in Wilkes-Barre. In fact, Fletcher recommended that Richards stay in Wilkes-Barre instead of taking the San Jose job because he was so certain he’d soon be an NHL coach. Ironically, Michel Therrien was eventually fired by the Penguins, and Richards would have gotten the job in Pittsburgh instead of Dan Bylsma. Well, who would have thought, but Fletcher gets the Wild job and Richards get to return to his hometown.

Second, Richards is an offensive-minded coach. He believes in pursuing the puck and attacking with it. He believes in hard-nosed hockey, up-tempo hockey and an activating blue line. And whattyaknow, Fletcher believes in the same type of hockey. So there’s an immediate mesh.

Third, and this could be the most important,

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According to multiple NHL sources, San Jose Sharks assistant coach Todd Richards will become the second Wild coach in history. A news conference to “introduce the Wild’s new head coach” will  be made by new GM Chuck Fletcher on Tuesday at noon at Gate 1 of Xcel Energy Center.

Sources say Richards will succeed Jacques Lemaire, who resigned after the 2008-09 season.

Richards, 42, a native of Crystal, Minn., and a former Gophers defenseman and captain, spent last season in San Jose as Todd McLellan’s assistant. This came after two seasons as the head coach with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He brought the Baby Pens to the Calder Cup Finals in his final season. That’s where he was hired by and became tight with then-Penguins assistant GM and Wilkes-Barre GM Chuck Fletcher.

Richards spent four seasons as an assistant in Milwaukee. The Admirals won one Calder Cup and went to the Finals another year during his tenure.

He won two WCHA titles with the Gophers as a player, a 1991 Calder Cup with Springfield, a 2001 Turner Cup with Orlando (IHL) and a 2002 Swiss-B League title with Servette Geneve. He was the IHL Defenseman of the Year in 1993-94 while playing in Las Vegas and used to be the U’s assists-record holder. His brother, Travis, also used to be a Gophers captain.

Todd’s got a track record of winning everywhere he’s been as a player and coach.

Over the past month, I’ve talked to scores of people who know and coached with Richards. He is an aggressive, up-tempo coach that fits the style Fletcher wants to play. As one NHL assistant coach who worked with Richards just told me, he’s going to coach the way he played. He won’t be a sit-back and watch coach, the person said. He’s going to activate his defense and go-go-go.

There may be some concern out there that Richards has only been in the NHL for a year as a coach, but remember, you need to start somewhere and there are tons of successful coaches in the NHL that had limited experience in the big league before they got here — guys like Mike Babcock, Bruce Boudreau and most recently Dan Bylsma.

Here is Richards’ bio on the San Jose Sharks’ web site.

Also, assistant GM Tom Lynn has been fired. I felt this was coming, especially after talking with GM Chuck Fletcher a few weeks ago and he made it a point to make clear to me he never ever told Lynn or Tommy Thompson they were staying.

More on this later, including whom I think has a good chance of replacing Lynn.

“We thank Tom Lynn for all his service and contributions to the Wild organization and wish Tom and his family future success,” said Fletcher in a statement.