Just Ducky
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Scott Niedermayer has plenty of experience taking twirls around the ice with the Stanley Cup.
Handing it off to his kid brother, Rob, is a different story.
After three titles on the East Coast with the New Jersey Devils, leading the Anaheim Ducks to the first NHL championship in California history with his brother as a teammate felt pretty good, too.
"They're all different," he said after the Ducks beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2 Wednesday night to end the finals in five games. "People sometimes ask you to pick this or that or to rate. I've never done that. And I'm not going to start now. But this one is you can only dream of passing it to your brother. I never have."
The Ducks were born on the silver screen and came of age by capturing the shiniest of silver cups. They dropped the mighty from their name, but not their game and skated off with the oldest prize in North American sports.
For the first time, the Stanley Cup can enjoy an NHL western home, and the Ducks' victory came at the expense of Canada. The cherished trophy was born in Ottawa, but no team north of the border has won it since Montreal in 1993 — the same year the Ducks joined the league.
"Canada loves their hockey, and from what I heard out there, we have quite a few fans who love their hockey out here, too," said Scott Niedermayer, a British Columbia native and this year's Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoffs MVP.
Calgary, Edmonton and now Ottawa — in its first trip since the Senators were reborn in 1992 — had three straight chances only to be done in by U.S. clubs from the sun belt. Tampa Bay, Carolina and Anaheim aren't traditional hockey hotbeds but they have been the Cup's warm weather homes since 2004.
Wayne Gretzky made the game a happening in Southern California when he came to Los Angeles in 1988, the Ducks made it legit two decades later. No longer Disney's darlings, the Mighty Ducks' movie days are gone and a victory rally awaits them Saturday.
Niedermayer brought his brother and teammates Teemu Selanne and Chris Pronger along for the ride for their first Stanley Cup. Rob Niedermayer, 16 months younger than his brother, is one of three Ducks left from the losing side in 2003 when Scott and the Devils captured their third title in Game 7.
Only Jean-Sebastien Giguere had something to smile about then when he earned the Conn Smythe. This was so much sweeter as he stopped 11 shots in the clincher. The biggest roar for him came when Antoine Vermette had the puck slide wide during a third-period penalty shot, the 10th in finals history.
Scott Niedermayer earned the MVP award many thought he deserved four years ago. After accepting it, he celebrated with Rob, a big reason he left New Jersey for Anaheim before last season. They are the first brothers since Brent and Duane Sutter of the Islanders in 1983 to win the Cup together.
"I don't think I'll ever have a better feeling," Rob said. "I know he turned down a lot from New Jersey and he had a lot of fond memories there.
"I never touched it when he won. He's won so much, but he's never been a guy whose ever rubbed it in a guy's face. He's been rooting for me my whole career, and I'm just lucky to have him as a brother."
Scott came back on the ice about two hours later and blew kisses from center ice to fans still partying in suites.
The 36-year-old Selanne, the Ducks' leading scorer this season, waited 14 seasons to become a champion. Pronger was on Edmonton last season when the Oilers lost in seven games to Carolina. He returned to the lineup for the clincher after serving a one-game suspension.
A perfect finish after demanding a trade from Edmonton last summer.
"This is a special moment," he said. "It's always worth it when you win it."
Senators forward Daniel Alfredsson, the first European captain in finals history, came up short of his first championship in 11 seasons. He supplied all the Ottawa offense despite feeling the wrath of fans, who booed him all night in response to his shooting the puck at Scott Niedermayer in Game 4.
"They had more depth than us," Alfredsson said. "We tried to come back in the second period, but that didn't last. It seemed like they were better than us."
"We had some guys that didn't play to what they were playing," said Senators coach Bryan Murray, a former coach and GM of the Ducks. "I think that's most disappointing and what we and they have to live with through the summer."
