Niedermayer Brothers

If you grew up playing sports with a sibling, I'd bet at least one of these fantasy scenarios will sound familiar:

1. Your sibling has the basketball near the top of the key. He's double-teamed and passes you the ball in the corner with seconds remaining on the clock. You plant your feet, square your shoulders, and take the shot. Three... two... one... swish! You've won the championship.

2. Your sibling walks up to the line of scrimmage behind the center. You line up wide, knowing a long "Hail Mary" pass is the only play that'll work. The ball is snapped. You sprint toward the end zone while your sibling drops back, waits, and then heaves the football. Looking up, you track its flight, and diving across the goal line, you make the grab. Touchdown! You've won the championship.

3. You stand on the mound, wiping sweat off your brow. There are two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and you need one more strike. Your sibling crouches behind the plate and gives you the sign you're looking for: Fastball, high and inside. He opens his mitt and provides the target. You wind up, uncoil, and let the pitch go. There's no way the batter can catch up to it. Strike three! You've won the championship.

4. You and your sibling skate across the offensive blue line on a two-on-one. The game is tied with seconds to go. As you reach the slot, your sibling slides the puck under the stick of the lunging defenseman and right toward you. Your one-timer speeds past the outstretched leg pad of the goaltender and into the back of the net. Goal! You've won the championship.

So much excitement. So many recreated triumphs. 

 

That last scenario in particular must have been played out thousands of times by a young Scott and Rob Niedermayer on the ponds of British Columbia. But it didn't stop there.

Scott, the older brother by about a year and a half, exhibited enough talent in his teenage years to be taken in the first round (third overall) by the New Jersey Devils in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. Just two years later, in the 1993 Draft, young Rob was also selected in the first round (fifth overall). He'd go straight to Florida and sign a contract with the Panthers. Neither brother played a single minor league game before stepping onto NHL ice.

Here are both Niedermayers, looking quite sharp on vintage-inspired cardboard.

 

1994-95 Parkhurst Vintage #V22 Rob Niedermayer and SE Vintage #seV12 Scott Niedermayer

Scott and Rob both had early success with their respective teams, and as the years went on, Scott would really rack up the accolades in New Jersey. An All-Rookie Team award, three Stanley Cups, and numerous All-Star selections. Rob was no slouch either, playing solid two-way hockey at center and at times earning quite a good amount of Selke Trophy consideration (awarded "to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.") 

 

Scott continued on and on in New Jersey, while Rob was part of a couple of trades—first to Calgary in 2001, and next to Anaheim in 2003. Then something interesting happened.

In 2005, after 13 seasons with New Jersey, Scott signed as a free agent with that same Anaheim team.

The brothers had been reunited. And with the whole team taking shape (Teemu Selanne, Chris Pronger, and a young Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry), it wouldn't take long before the Niedermayers would recreate some of those childhood hockey fantasies.

The 2006-07 version of the team finished first in the Pacific Division, and rolled through the first two rounds of the playoffs, defeating Minnesota and then Vancouver, losing just one game against each.

Then, in Game 2 of the Conference finals against Detroit, this happened:

 

Not quite a game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Finals, but still pretty special for the Niedermayers. A few days later, Scott assisted on Rob's empty-net goal to wrap up Game 4.

And that wasn't all, of course. After the Ducks took down Detroit, they went on to the Stanley Cup Final and took down Ottawa, four games to one. Scott, the captain of the team, was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. After that, he was given the Stanley Cup to hoist. After his turn with the Cup was finished, who do you think he handed it over to?

That's right, younger brother Rob. What a great moment.

 

Here are some numbers for both brothers:

CAREER TOTALS

	SCOTT (18 seasons)	ROB (17 seasons)
GAMES PLAYED	1263	1153
GOALS	172	186
ASSISTS	568	283
POINTS	740	469
PENALTY MINUTES	784	904
GAME-WINNING GOALS	39	29

 

 

BEST INDIVIDUAL SEASON
(Career highs in bold)

	SCOTT (2006–07, Anaheim)	ROB (1995-96, Florida)
GAMES PLAYED	79	82
GOALS	15	26
ASSISTS	54	35
POINTS	69	61
PENALTY MINUTES	86	107
POWER-PLAY GOALS	9	11
GAME-WINNING GOALS	3	6

 

Rob was a little on the chippy side, as you can see by his 904 penalty minutes in 1,153 games. He was a very smart player though, capable on both the penalty kill and the power play. He suited up for Florida, Calgary, Anaheim, New Jersey, and Buffalo across his 17 NHL seasons.

 

In that 2006-07 Stanley Cup playoff run with Anaheim, he posted 5 goals and 5 assists for 10 points, and added a league-leading 39 penalty minutes. For his career, in 116 playoff games he totaled 18 goals, 25 assists, 43 points, and 111 penalty minutes. (4 power-play goals and 3 shorthanded.)

 

Also notable is that Rob earned two gold medals with Team Canada: At the 1993 World Junior Championships and the 2004 World Championships.

 

As for Scott, he played in a remarkable 202 playoff games across his career, which puts him in the top 25 all time as of this writing. In those games he scored 25 goals and added 73 assists for 98 points. He was a plus-20 overall, and scored 12 of those 25 goals on the power play and 3 of them shorthanded—as a defenseman!

In the 2002-03 Stanley Cup playoffs with New Jersey, he led the league in assists (16) and tied for the lead in points (18). He suited up for the Devils and Anaheim across his 18-season career.

 

One more interesting fact on Scott: He's a member of the "Triple Gold" club, having won the Stanley Cup, plus a World Championship title (2004, with brother Rob) and the Olympic gold medal (2002, 2010) with Canada. For good measure, he was also part of a World Junior Championship team (1991), a Memorial Cup–winning team (1991-92), and a World Cup of Hockey championship-winning team (2004). Corey Perry is the only other player to have won all six of those titles. 

 

So here's to the Niedermayer brothers. Two great careers, and some childhood fantasies played out for real on the highest stage.