A good day for hockey, a bad day for the rest of the west.

[rustybadcock]

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=224476&hubname=

Well Neids is back. I gotta say I am pretty happy about it. Not for the fact the Canucks will have their hands full but for the fact it's good for hockey.

RB

[J0e Th0rnton]

Nice to see the NHL getting back another great Dman. We have been notoriously short as it is.

[KB in Kelowna]

If you like hockey you have to like the way Niedemayer plays. Brian Burke will have do some manoevering around the salary cap from what I understand.

[Mel]

Hmmm, maybe Burke could find some under-performing, over-paid guy on his roster, and over-compensate some under-cap team with draft picks in a trade for said guy... This hypothetical other team could then absorb the bad guy's salary against their own cap and voila, the Ducks have room for Neidermayer

It's not a totally crazy idea. There was once a guy from New Jersey who did exactly that (who ironically was heavily in favor of the salary cap system that he later walked right around) much to the distaste of other GM's around the league.

But back to the Ducks... this trade bait guy would have to be a kinda injured, useless cap liability.

I don't know of any Bert... uhhnnh I meeeaaan person - on the Ducks who fits that description, do you?

[Mel]

Actually the better solution would be to trade Schneider. I mean seriously they won the cup last year without him, they already have Pronger and now Neidermayer back. How many top pair d-men does one team need?

I think he makes in the 5 mill neighborhood.

[MadDevil]

Actually the better solution would be to trade Schneider. I mean seriously they won the cup last year without him, they already have Pronger and now Neidermayer back. How many top pair d-men does one team need?

I think he makes in the 5 mill neighborhood.

Schneider's cap hit is 5.6 million, although it would be slightly less right now. He'd actually help fill a need the Devils have, but they just don't have the cap space to make it work. Besides I don't know how much they want to mess with the chemistry in the locker room right now.

Although I wonder how much room the Ducks really need. According to nhlnumbers they have 6.2 million in cap space (including 2 million in a bonus cushion), so they could actually move a guy like O'Donnell (1.25 million) and still have room for Niedermayer. I don't know how accurate those numbers are though.

[KB in Kelowna]

This may shed some light on Burke's next move : http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/mckenzie/?id=224549

[AtLossForWords]

I think this is really a weak and classless move by Scott Nidermayer. He would never call it quits althroughout the off season, and he wouldn't sign any contract he was offered either.

I think this is classless, because he selectively retired. I remember when Dominik Hasek retired from Detroit and then came back. The difference is that Hasek had to wait a year in retirement before the Red Wings could bring him back.

Where would the Ducks be had Scott Niedermayer made a decision and retired when he refused to sign a big money contract and in order to get him back, he would have to wait a year and then sign, or have all NHL teams approve his return. Can't all of you see the San Jose Sharks signing their approval for his return to the Ducks with a smile on his face?

Classless move by Nidermayer refusing to go either way.

[Mel]

I have to agree. This is weak. Ditto for Selanne. Play or retire, don't just get around to deciding when you feel like it. He should have more responsibility toward his employer.

If a player is having a hard time deciding in the off-season that's understandable. But this here in December is just plain unprofessional. Especially when team's have cap considerations now.

[MadDevil]

Well, Niedermayer dragging his feet is hardly something new. I seem to recall him holding out during contract negotiations with the Devils years ago, then leading the Devils to believe he could be coming back before he bolted to Anaheim (costing the Devils any chance at free agents who signed elsewhere, and consequently leading to Lou panicking with the Malakhov/McGillis disaster), and now this latest waffling on whether or not he's coming back.

He's a great player, and I have a lot of respect for what he's done on the ice, but I think he's done a piss poor job of handling this and a couple other situations. I don't know if he just enjoys dragging things along or he can't make up his mind. This whole thing should have been resolved a long time ago...

[AtLossForWords]

I'm not even thinking of what Niedermayer is doing to a team, but just coming back to sign a contract in December is without injury considerations is just bullshit.

For Niedermayer, the issue was not his health and it was not his money. He wouldn't formally announce his retirement, so that way he could come back to the league when he felt like it.

If the Ducks give this guy a letter, I'll be sick being as I don't think a guy with a letter gets it done when he feels like it. I hope Niedermayer comes back and the Ducks sink out of the playoffs with his "I do it when I feel like it" letter leading them where they are going.

Niedermayer has shown with his decision to comeback in December that he is anything but a model hockey player.

[gordphish]

I'm not expecting a huge impact from Neidermayer. He's a great player, but history has shown us that players that miss camp usually have a terrible year. I'm not saying the Ducks won't get better with him in the lineup, but this doesn't automatically make them the number one favourite to win the Cup IMO.

[rustybadcock]

Well I don't know about all this classless talk.....:confused: I mean, to me it's more like Burke and Neids knew exactly what they were doing. To a T. And even if they didn't, how taking an extended leave of absence is classless I am just no sure. Same with Selanne. I think it actually lends more to how great a relationship Burke has with the men who work for him. They commit to each other and give each other what the other needs/requires.

I have respect for that level of friendship and business relations.

RB

[AtLossForWords]

Well I don't know about all this classless talk.....:confused: I mean, to me it's more like Burke and Neids knew exactly what they were doing. To a T. And even if they didn't, how taking an extended leave of absence is classless I am just no sure. Same with Selanne. I think it actually lends more to how great a relationship Burke has with the men who work for him. They commit to each other and give each other what the other needs/requires.

I have respect for that level of friendship and business relations.

RB

There's nothing Burke could've said to Niedermayer that could've made him come back. Scott Niedermayer just decided he wanted to play hockey again when he turns on TSN at 10 and doesn't see his name in the box score when his team's highlights finish he gets depressed.

This is a guy who couldn't commit to what he wanted to do when just about every other player in the league had to.

I'd say the league should have the same policy for hold outs as they do for retirements. When camp roles around and you won't sign, say goodbye to hockey for at least the season. The only exception to this being injury leave.

How would any of you guys look at someone like Vincent LeCavalier if his team won the Cup, and he then loafs around life and doesn't sign a contract until December of the following season?

[gordphish]

There's nothing Burke could've said to Niedermayer that could've made him come back. Scott Niedermayer just decided he wanted to play hockey again when he turns on TSN at 10 and doesn't see his name in the box score when his team's highlights finish he gets depressed.

This is a guy who couldn't commit to what he wanted to do when just about every other player in the league had to.

I'd say the league should have the same policy for hold outs as they do for retirements. When camp roles around and you won't sign, say goodbye to hockey for at least the season. The only exception to this being injury leave.

How would any of you guys look at someone like Vincent LeCavalier if his team won the Cup, and he then loafs around life and doesn't sign a contract until December of the following season?

I'd say it's his career and his perogative. Neidermayer has played a lot of hockey over the last few years, what with his commitment to Hockey Canada and all the playoff hockey he has logged.

Actually, I suprised he's coming back. By all acounts that I've heard, he's been a guy that could take or leave the game. And he certainly doesn't need the money. From my take, he thought he'd had enough of the game at that level but then realized he still missed it and still wants to play. Or he could feel a sense of obligation to the team his brother plays for, with them being on the cusp of a playoff spot.

I certainly don't see the prima donna that you are referring to Lossy. Yeah, were I his team mate I'd be a bit frustrated at his indecisiveness, but when a guy like Neidermayer comes back to my team, I wouldn't complain or hold a grudge. This is a guy that belongs in the same class as Messier, Yzerman and Beliveau when it comes to the best leaders in the game's history. I'd welcome him back with open arms and get ready to take another run at the Cup.

[rustybadcock]

There's nothing Burke could've said to Niedermayer that could've made him come back. Scott Niedermayer just decided he wanted to play hockey again when he turns on TSN at 10 and doesn't see his name in the box score when his team's highlights finish he gets depressed.

This is a guy who couldn't commit to what he wanted to do when just about every other player in the league had to.

I'd say the league should have the same policy for hold outs as they do for retirements. When camp roles around and you won't sign, say goodbye to hockey for at least the season. The only exception to this being injury leave.

How would any of you guys look at someone like Vincent LeCavalier if his team won the Cup, and he then loafs around life and doesn't sign a contract until December of the following season?

Well first Vinnie's gonna need to do some work before he can be compared to the success of Neids. But anytime people need to take a step back, for personal reasons or whathaveyou, I see it as taking personal responsibility for yourself. I tell you this, I sure would rather playing on a team with a guy like Neids who was honest with me instead of him coming into camp half heartedly and dragging his ass around cause all he can think about is the break he needs. It' simply not our place to question why a man needs time to think. Playing pro hockey is all about your team, the media and everything else that goes with it. These guys families suffer huge along the way. So even if he wanted to go play PS2 with his kids, I couldn't care less. From a fan point of view, I thank him for all he's done for this game and me as a fan. This is the least people can do for him far as I am concerned. I mean, the guys won everything....EVERYTHING you could win...

And from what I recall, he's been under contract the entire time. That's why the team had to formally suspend him at seasons start, so they wouldn't have to pay him. This happened with no ill feelings between both parties, it was mutually understood by everyone. That's why I feel Burke wasn't totally in the dark all this time. I am not buying that part. Burke took the first 20 games to see how this team looked without Neids and he didn't like what he saw. Changes are coming and have already come to this team even before the Neids announcement.

Anyway....I certainly don't think this has anything to do with being classless.

RB

[rustybadcock]

I'd say it's his career and his perogative. Neidermayer has played a lot of hockey over the last few years, what with his commitment to Hockey Canada and all the playoff hockey he has logged.

Actually, I suprised he's coming back. By all acounts that I've heard, he's been a guy that could take or leave the game. And he certainly doesn't need the money. From my take, he thought he'd had enough of the game at that level but then realized he still missed it and still wants to play. Or he could feel a sense of obligation to the team his brother plays for, with them being on the cusp of a playoff spot.

I certainly don't see the prima donna that you are referring to Lossy. Yeah, were I his team mate I'd be a bit frustrated at his indecisiveness, but when a guy like Neidermayer comes back to my team, I wouldn't complain or hold a grudge. This is a guy that belongs in the same class as Messier, Yzerman and Beliveau when it comes to the best leaders in the game's history. I'd welcome him back with open arms and get ready to take another run at the Cup.

I am not myself. I felt he would be back, I just couldn't see him packing it in at what? 34....he's got 10 more years in him if he should so decide.

RB

[AtLossForWords]

Maybe you guys are right about the character of Niedermayer, but I don't like how at season birth, the guy acts like he's retired then he comes out of the woodwork to play.

[MadDevil]

Niedermayer belonging on the same level in terms of leadership as Messier and Yzerman? I don't think so. I'm sorry, I know the guy has won a lot in his career, but that doesn't make him a great leader. He's been a captain for a whole 3 seasons in the NHL, and won a Cup with a team that in many respects was very similar to those he played on in New Jersey with a great top defensive pair (playing with Pronger instead of Stevens) and a top 5 goaltender (Giguere). His Conn Smythe was, at least in my opinion, undeserved. I still think it should have gone to Pronger. Although I'll give him this, I think he had a legitimate argument (along with Marty Brodeur) back in the 2003 playoffs for it, but it went to his future teammate Giguere instead.

Is he a good leader? Yes, but I just can't put him in the same category as some of the greatest leaders in the history of the game. And his waffling over whether or not he was going to retire doesn't exactly do wonders in terms of leadership IMO. Yes I understand that he's played a lot of hockey in recent years, but that doesn't give him a free pass to come back whenever he damn well pleases while his teammates show up and work to defend their championship.