Niedermayer 'humbled' by having No. 27 retired by Ducks

Scott Niedermayer hopes his experience with the New Jersey Devils will help him Sunday when the Anaheim Ducks retire his No. 27.

Niedermayer, who will receive that honor prior to the game against the Washington Capitals at Honda Center (9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, PRIME, NBCSWA, NHL.TV), went through this before when the Devils retired his No. 27 on Dec. 16, 2011, but expects it to be an emotional evening nonetheless.
"Even though I do have experience, it still feels overwhelming and it will be a tremendous honor," Niedermayer said. "It's obviously something that doesn't happen every day and for the team in Anaheim to feel that during my time there my contribution warranted some sort of recognition like this means a lot.
"I'm still humbled from the honor, for sure."
Niedermayer will be the ninth player to have his number retired by two NHL teams, joining Bobby Hull (Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes), Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes), Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, League-wide), Ray Bourque (Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche), Mark Messier (Oilers, New York Rangers), Patrick Roy (Montreal Canadiens, Avalanche), Tim Horton (Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres) and Red Kelly (Red Wings, Maple Leafs).

The 45-year-old will be the third player in the Ducks' 25-season history to have his number retired, joining Teemu Selanne's No. 8 and Paul Kariya's No. 9.
A 2013 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Niedermayer had a much longer tenure with New Jersey, playing 13 seasons there, winning the Stanley Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003, and winning the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman in 2004. But in his five seasons with Anaheim before retiring in 2010, he helped establish a winning culture, leading the Ducks to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2007 and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Niedermayer, who works in player development for the Ducks, had 264 points (60 goals, 204 assists) in 371 games with Anaheim, including an NHL career-high 69 points (15 goals, 54 assists) in 2006-07.
During the 2006-07 regular season, Niedermayer was second in the NHL in averaging 27:31 of ice time, behind Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins (27:58). In the playoffs, he averaged 29:51 of ice time.
"You get a guy that's won and plays that many minutes, he's going to change your team," former Ducks center Rob Niedermayer said. "When he came, he's such a calm guy, he's quiet, he doesn't talk a lot, but he leads by example. Everyone sort of watched the way he practiced and played. He changed the culture we had there."
As Scott's younger brother, Rob, 44, might be a bit biased. But he played in Anaheim for two seasons before he arrived, so he can speak firsthand about the culture change.
Rob also was the biggest attraction then-Anaheim general manager Brian Burke used to convince Scott to leave the Devils as an unrestricted free agent in 2005.
"We attacked it from a lot of different angles, but that was a big one, for sure," Scott Niedermayer said of getting to play with his brother. "The experience we had playing against each other prior to me going there, that sort of put us in a little different mindset."
The seeds for the Niedermayers becoming NHL teammates initially were planted when Scott and the Devils defeated the Rob and the Mighty Ducks in seven games in the 2003 Stanley Cup Final.
"That really kind of brought it into perspective crystal clear," Scott Niedermayer said. "Before we were playing each other whenever. But playing each other in the Stanley Cup Final, and at the end of it, one of us was on one side and the other on the other side. And we were older at that point. We had played the majority of our careers and recognized the reality of a career and how short it is, and the opportunities to win a Stanley Cup are limited.
"So, absolutely, going through that really had a big impact."
Rob Niedermayer said playing together for Canada at the 2004 IIHF World Championship further fueled the brothers' desire to be NHL teammates. So when Scott signed a four-year contract with Anaheim on Aug. 4, 2005, Rob, who was a restricted free agent that summer, signed a four-year contract to stay with the team that same day.
After Anaheim reached the 2003 Stanley Cup Final, it went 29-35-8 with 10 ties in 2003-04 and failed to qualify for the playoffs. Scott Niedermayer's arrival following the 2004-05 lockout, sparked an immediate turnaround.

Anaheim went 43-27-12 with 98 points in 2005-06, setting team records for wins and points, and advanced to the Western Conference Final before losing to the Edmonton Oilers.
"As soon as he walked in, just with the pedigree he had and the winning caliber player he was and everything he did, he did things the right way, on and off the ice but also in that locker room," former Ducks forward Chris Kunitz, now with the Blackhawks, said of Niedermayer. "[He did] whatever it took for standing up for a young guy or someone else on the team, or to talk to management or coaches or the referees."
Niedermayer's championship experience gave him credibility in any locker room whether it was as captain of the Devils, the Ducks or the 2010 Canadian Olympic team. He not only won the Stanley Cup four times, but also the 1991 IIHF World Junior Championship, the 1992 Memorial Cup with Kamloops of the Western Hockey League, the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, the 2004 IIHF World Championship, the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Niedermayer wasn't overly talkative as a captain, but his quiet confidence provided an important steadying presence during Anaheim's run to the Stanley Cup in 2007. He was the only player on that team who had previously won the Cup.
"He's a very laid-back, easy-going guy. Nothing really bothers him," former Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger said. "Certainly, with that group, the way we played, I think that calming influence certainly helped us to keep everybody on the rails. We were a pretty physical group and I think having him be that voice at reason at times and that calming factor really helped us certainly down the stretch and into the playoffs."
Understanding that Cup championship is the main reason why his number is being retired, Niedermayer said he'll think about it again when he watches his No. 27 being raised to the Honda Center rafters.
"Just to be a part of it, be a small piece of a championship team, you have sort of a special reason to remember each other," he said. "But it's funny. The further you get from playing, it's the little things that I find myself remembering fondly: the friendships, the experiences, the laughs that you have with your teammates. Obviously, winning was the icing on the cake, but the whole thing is pretty special."
NHL.com Staff Writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report