January 11, 2013 - 10:56 AM
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Former star defenceman Scott Niedermayer is taking on a new role with the Anaheim Ducks.
The team announced Friday he will serve as an assistant coach effective immediately. Niedermayer retired from the NHL in June 2010 and remained with the Ducks as a hockey operations consultant.
“I'm very excited to expand my role with the Ducks and take on a new challenge,” Niedermayer said in a release. “I'm grateful to (GM) Bob Murray, (head coach) Bruce Boudreau and the Ducks organization for giving me this opportunity and can't wait to get started.”
Niedermayer will work with fellow assistant coaches Bob Woods and Brad Lauer on Boudreau's staff.
“As a player, Scott was one of the great leaders and winners of all time, making him a tremendous addition to our coaching staff,” Murray said. “His knowledge of the game and relationship with the players will be a great benefit for us. And he's even a better person than a hockey player.”
Niedermayer, 39, signed as a free agent with the Ducks in August 2005 and was named team captain a few months later. He led Anaheim to its first Stanley Cup in 2007 and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs.
He is the Ducks' all-time leader in goals, assists, points among club defencemen. Niedermayer is the only player in hockey history to have won a Stanley Cup, Olympic gold medal, world championship, World Cup, Memorial Cup and world junior title.
The Cranbrook, B.C., native also won three Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils and captained Team Canada to Olympic gold at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013