Ducks' Niedermayer Announces His Retirement | IXGAMES

After 18 long seasons, Scott Niedermayer of the Anaheim Ducks has finally announced his retirement, just four months after clinching the Olympic gold for his team Canada.  It seems like a wise move from a veteran NHL who wants to leave the professional hockey league while still at the top of his game.  In his NHL career that spans 18 years, Niedermayer is known to be a top-notch defenseman, who has in his collection a good number of medals and trophies, from his junior hockey days up to the Vancouver games.  Last Tuesday, he left behind his glorious career with a record of four Stanley Cup trophies.  The defenseman can always look back and say that he did good, as one elite hockey player to grace the professional league. With a hint of humor, Niedermayer said that he’s 100% sure with his decision to retire, since there was a time when he contemplated on retiring and even skipped some games but made the decision to return instead.  This time, however, Niedermayer won’t have a change of mind since he made it official after announcing his retirement in a news conference held at the Honda Center, where his wife and four sons took the front row to show support.  Still, Niedermayer won’t fully turn its back on the institution as he will be working with GM Bob Murray as consultant. Glorious NHL career At 36, Scott Niedermayer was able to score a total of 172 goals and made 568 assists in the league.  He is considered to be among the best and was even awarded the Norris Trophy as a top defenseman.  From a teenage blueliner who played for the New Jersey Devils, Niedermayer also became a key player for the Anaheim Ducks, which won several postseason runs that he led.  This is where he spent the final five seasons of his NHL career until he decided to retire. Compare to other players his age, Niedermayer was among those who was able to win an astounding number of championships at more hockey levels.  He was also awarded a Memorial Cup title during his junior hockey days with Kamloops Blazers.  Aside from winning twice the Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup four times, the now retired defenseman also have gold medals from the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and  IIHF world championships. He missed only two playoffs, one for the New Jersey Devils in 1996 and for the Anaheim Ducks this spring.  All in all, Niedermayer is considered to be one of “the best offensive defensemen” of his generation.  As a rookie for the Devils, the then 19-year old player was able to score 40 points in the 1992 to 1993 season.  Among the highlights of his NHL career is when he won his first ever Stanley Cup in 1995.  In 2000, he won another one for the New Jersey Devils and added one more in 2003.  His latest Stanley Cup title was with the Ducks in 2007, the team’s first.  He became a postseason MVP and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy after scoring 11 points in 21 games. What Niedermayer has to say Niedermayer expressed gratitude to people who have supported him and for the two teams he played for.  He said that they treated him well and that he was also lucky to have made good friends in the league. Coach Randy Carlyle affirmed that he was a player who guaranteed high performance and even led the the team both on and off the ice.  Though sorry about losing its cornerstone defenseman, Carlyle hopes that his legacy will be passed on to younger players.