Scott Niedermayer Jersey Card

Congratulations are in for Scott Niedermayer, who was just inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame this week, alongside obvious choice Chris Chelios and dark horse Brendan Shanahan, as well as coach Fred Shero (Philadelphia Flyers, as a ''builder'') and Geraldine Heaney for women.

Although I personally don't feel like the teams he was on wouldn't have won without him, the fact remains: he was on all those championship teams, from winning gold at the World Juniors (1991) to the Memorial Cup (1992) to four Stanley Cups (1995, 2000 and 2003 with the New Jersey Devils, and 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks), World Cup gold (2004) and silver (1996), World Championship gold (2004) and Olympic gold (2002 and 2010). For all those men's teams, only those recognized to be among the best were even invited, and having been the only defenseman not named Nicklas Lidstrom to win the Norris trophy between 2001 and 2008 (he won it in 2004) certainly also proves he was just that.

Maybe I would have been more amazed had he won a Calder Cup (AHL championship) to complete the collection...

Also, he was a member of one of the biggest flops ever, the 1992 World Juniors Team Canada that finished 6th (!!!) of eight teams with a roster that included Eric Lindros, Darryl Sydor, Kimbi Daniels, Patrick Poulin, Martin Lapointe, John Slaney, Turner Stevenson, Paul Kariya and Trevor Kidd. He is now one of the Ducks' assistant coaches.

Still, he's a hockey legend. And this is a beautiful card, from Upper Deck's 2011-12 Artifacts set (card #27):

It's serial numbered 28/125 and is comprised of two black patches matching the card's background and clashing perfectly with the Ducks' white uniform. It's hard to see his captain's 'C' in this position, but we all know it's there. Contemplate it, that's what a winner looks like.

Scott Niedermayer Autograph Card

As I've mentioned in the previous post, I wasn't sure what angle to take when it comes to this player. On one hand, his achievements should speak for themselves; many view him as one of the best defensemen of all time. On the other, he's never had to prove himself on his own, as he always had a supporting cast of superstars to make him look good. So I decided to have it both ways: one post full of positive achievements (this one), and one that concentrates more on a few of his shortcomings.

First of all, not everyone gets drafted in the first round; it's even harder to make it to the top-3. He has. And it's even more difficult, at #3, to have better careers than both guys who were taken before you. Chosen after Eric Lindros and Pat Falloon, Scott Niedermayer has certainly done just that.

Drafted just fresh of a World Junior Championships gold medal, Niedermayer took his momentum to the 1992 Memorial Cup, where he gathered both the trophy with his team, and the tournament's MVP award (the Stafford Smythe Memorial trophy). Then he made the NHL All-Rookie team for 1992-93 (despite losing the Calder trophy to future teammate Teemu Selanne).

In 1994-95, he and the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup, riding Claude Lemieux and Martin Brodeur's coattails to the title against the Detroit Red Wings. He'd win another one with the Devils in 1999-00, and one with the Anaheim Ducks in 2006-07.

In international play, he holds a World Junior gold (1991), a World Junior disappointment (1992), World Cup gold (2004) and silver (1996) medals, Olympic gold (2002), and World Championship gold (2004).

In that regard, he is thought to be the only player to hold all meaningful North American team titles, although I think his missing the AHL's Calder Cup should account for something.

He is also the only defenseman to have won the Norris trophy other than the Wings' Nicklas Lidstrom between 2001 and 2008 (he won it in 2004).

He has played in 4 All Star games, but was named to 5 (he didn't play in the 2006-07 All Star game).

This card is from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Be A Player collection and shows the Anaheim Ducks' jersey prominently; the autograph is from a black sharpie on a transparent sticker that was put on the card.

Scott Niedermayer Jersey Card

I wasn't sure what angle to go with this player. On one hand, he's great. On the other, he's never had to prove himself on his own, as he always had a supporting cast of superstars to make him look good. So I decided to have it both ways: one post full of positive achievements, one (this one) more, shall I say... realistic.

The draft isn't an exact science; Scott Niedermayer was chosen 3rd overall in 1991, behind Eric Lindros and Pat Falloon, but ahead of Peter Forsberg and Alexei Kovalev... (for the record, my draft order would have been Forsberg, Niedermayer, Kovalev, Ozolinsh, Lindros, Palffy, Rolston, Naslund, Perreault, Falloon)

There were high expectations for Niedermayer coming off a World Juniors championship, but he had the luxury of playing behind Scott Stevens, Vyacheslav Fetisov and Bruce Driver - and alongside Eric Weinrich and Ken Daneyko - not too shabby. Not to mention that, should any of the defensemen make a mistake, chances are goalie Martin Brodeur would correct it.

Much has been said of Niedermayer's speed and prowess to start up an attack, but it helps when the guys you can pass the puck to are finishers like Peter Stastny, Claude Lemieux and Stéphane Richer to start, and later Patrik Elias, Alexander Mogilny, Petr Sykora and Jason Arnott...

That's in addition to playing in the trap-controlled New Jersey Devils system.

And then he was named captain of the team, only to leave it in 2005 to join the Mighty Ducks Of Anaheim, where his brother played, a team that had reached the Cup Finals two years before and that could still hope to attain it again, with a goaltending tandem comprised of Conn Smythe winner Jean-Sébastien Giguère and Russian Olympian Ilya Bryzgalov, in addition to proven scorers like Teemu Selanne - willing to play in Anaheim almost for free - kids like Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry - and the best defensive line in the league (led by Samuel Pahlsson and Rob Niedermayer).

But he couldn't make it on his own as the sole leader on the D, so the team went and got Chris Pronger from the Edmonton Oilers to help hold the fort, fresh off a Cup Finals in which he was favourite to win the Conn Smythe had his team won. And Pronger took Niedermayer and the rest of the boys to the promised land.

Sure, Niedermayer won the Conn Smythe that year, but the main reason he did was that the league couldn't possibly give it to Pronger after he'd been suspended twice in the playoffs - and Giguère already had one, for which he had been more than spectacular, in a losing cause, and since that particular trophy doesn't come easy (only one player has won it three times, Patrick Roy) they couldn't just hand it to him again on such a powerhouse team that could have won it five times in a row. So Niedermayer got the pity vote.

After that, he contemplated retirement. Contemplated, yes, but he couldn't quite get to it. Every day, from the start of training camp to the month of December, journalists inquired his teammates about his possible return or retirement. He was a distraction for the first 28 games of the season before he announced he'd be coming back - even after the team had already named another captain (Pronger). His return, instead of sparking his team, just added to the confusion, as they were ousted in the very first round against the Dallas Stars. Some leader, eh?

Also note that this beating around the bush occured in the summer of 2007; we are currently in 2010, and he's still playing. Pronger and François Beauchemin (the other member of the Anaheim Big Three) are gone and, coincidentally, probably, the Ducks could very well miss the playoffs. And what's the biggest story to come out of Anaheim these days? That their captain may have requested a trade to a contender.

Smells like team spirit, eh?

On this card, you can see him wearing the last jersey of the Mighty Ducks - before they became, simply, the Anaheim Ducks. Notice how they were going for a retro feel. This is card #GJ-SN of the 2006-07 Upper Deck Series 1 collection, and sports a white jersey patch.