Unthinkable
02-05-2004, 11:36 PM
http://nhl.speedera.net//image-upload/niedermayer103003_cu_iso.jpg
"It's my first time to go (to the All-Star game) as a starter. It's exciting. It's pretty neat that the fans voted me in." - Scott Niedermayer
http://www.nhl.com/allstar2004/features/niedermayer020504.html (http://www.nhl.com/allstar2004/features/niedermayer020504.html)
Niedermayer's time to shine
<!-- Author --> By Shawn P. Roarke | Special to NHL.com
February 5, 2004
The New Jersey Devils always have known what they have in defenseman Scott Niedermayer. Now, the rest of the world is catching on to what Niedermayer has meant to the franchise for the past dozen years.
Just one of four current Devils to play in each of the team's three Stanley Cup championship campaigns, Niedermayer is often lost in the shadows of the team's high-profile defensive bedrock -- all-world goalie Martin Brodeur and hard-hitting defenseman Scott Stevens.
That, however, has not been the case this season. Even before Stevens was knocked out of the lineup a month ago, many believed Niedermayer has been the team's best defenseman in 2003-04, posting a season worthy of consideration for the Norris Trophy.
It is a maturation that has been noticed by outsiders. Team after team has faced the Devils and walked away talking about the confidence Niedermayer is showing in his play -- a confidence many believe is rooted in his dominant showing in last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
In fact, Ken Daneyko, who retired shortly after the Devils defeated the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in a thrilling seven-game series in the Finals, believed Niedermayer should have earned the Conn Smyth Trophy awarded to the MVP of the playoffs. The award instead was given to Ducks' goalie J-S Giguere, another worthy candidate.
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"It's my first time to go (to the All-Star game) as a starter. It's exciting. It's pretty neat that the fans voted me in." - Scott Niedermayer
http://www.nhl.com/allstar2004/features/niedermayer020504.html (http://www.nhl.com/allstar2004/features/niedermayer020504.html)
Niedermayer's time to shine
<!-- Author --> By Shawn P. Roarke | Special to NHL.com
February 5, 2004
The New Jersey Devils always have known what they have in defenseman Scott Niedermayer. Now, the rest of the world is catching on to what Niedermayer has meant to the franchise for the past dozen years.
Just one of four current Devils to play in each of the team's three Stanley Cup championship campaigns, Niedermayer is often lost in the shadows of the team's high-profile defensive bedrock -- all-world goalie Martin Brodeur and hard-hitting defenseman Scott Stevens.
That, however, has not been the case this season. Even before Stevens was knocked out of the lineup a month ago, many believed Niedermayer has been the team's best defenseman in 2003-04, posting a season worthy of consideration for the Norris Trophy.
It is a maturation that has been noticed by outsiders. Team after team has faced the Devils and walked away talking about the confidence Niedermayer is showing in his play -- a confidence many believe is rooted in his dominant showing in last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
In fact, Ken Daneyko, who retired shortly after the Devils defeated the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in a thrilling seven-game series in the Finals, believed Niedermayer should have earned the Conn Smyth Trophy awarded to the MVP of the playoffs. The award instead was given to Ducks' goalie J-S Giguere, another worthy candidate.
.
.
.