With the onset of the New NHL, the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the league’s top defenseman surveyed the new landscape and last August decided to head West – to join his younger brother, Rob, with the Ducks. Of course, Anaheim’s offer of $27 million over four years had a lot to do with Niedermayer’s decision to leave New Jersey, where he had played since 1992.
Niedermayer’s signing was the most prominent of the handful of moves made by new general manager Brian Burke, who had been fired by the Canucks after the 2003-04 season – not so much because of the franchise’s performance, but because of friction over the way he had handled talks regarding a possible contract extension.
After a slow start, and the unloading of Sergei Fedorov to Columbus in November, the Ducks have gotten rolling and now seem in line to secure one of the Western Conference’s final four playoff spots.
And Scott Niedermayer is a major reason. He not only again is playing well, showing why he is regarded as one of the league’s top hybrid defensemen who can be a force at both ends of the ice, but he is providing leadership. He is wearing the captain’s “C,” something he did only at the end of his stay at New Jersey.
“It’s a little different here,” he said last week in Anaheim, where he had two goals in the Ducks’ victory over the Avalanche. “But I think it had gradually progressed in New Jersey, though, especially when Scotty Stevens got hurt and it was, ‘Here’s the C, see what you can do with it and what you’ve learned from Scotty after 12 years.’ I’m still learning about that, and it’s a bigger job maybe than you think when you don’t have it on. I’ve been trying to do my best with that. But there are great guys in this room and I’m enjoying it.”
From his teammates: “He’s just so smart out there,” center Andy McDonald said. “When you’re on the ice with him, he makes everything easy for you. He continues to amaze everybody on this team with the plays he makes.”
Veteran goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere called Niedermayer “the best hockey player I’ve ever played with. He’s our leader. He’s the guy we look to when we need direction, and he’s always showing us the right direction.”
From his coach: “You kind of take Scott Niedermayer for granted,” said Randy Carlyle, a Norris winner as a Winnipeg Jets defenseman. “You don’t worry about that player and you just kind of push him out over the board. He does a lot of things unassuming, but when you really start to dissect him and watch him on a day-to-day basis, he makes the game look easy in a lot of situations.”
First-hand view: The Ducks bring their quest for a playoff spot to Denver this week, facing the Avalanche on Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center.
