Scott Niedermayer
If you thought Anaheim’s other captains, Randy Ladouceur and Teemu Selanne, were going to make this list over Scott Niedermayer, you weren’t paying attention while Niedermayer was captain of the Anaheim Ducks. Their respective captaincies were a blip on the Ducks radar.
The Ducks played in nine playoff rounds during Niedermayer’s four seasons as captain. Before he joined the Ducks, Niedermayer already owned three Stanley Cup rings. Ducks general manager made signing the free agent defenseman a high priority. He started by signing Niedermayer’s brother Rob to a four-year deal. Then he sold Niedermayer on being able to win a Cup with his brother.
Niedermayer was a great leader right off the bat. During his first season in Anaheim, the team made the Western Conference Final. His second season showed his excellent leadership abilities like nothing else did. The team rolled through the first two rounds, then vanquished the rival Detroit Red Wings in the Conference Final. They took the first two tight games at Honda Center in the finals.
The series moved to Ottawa and the Senators rallied to take game three. In game four, late in the second period with the game tied at two, Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson intentionally shot the puck at the Ducks’ captain with time running out. Niedermayer wasn’t pleased. His calm demeanor allowed the tightly wound Ducks to focus on the task at hand.
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They took the lead just over four minutes into the third period and won the game by one goal for the third time in the series. The final game wasn’t that close. But Niedermayer’s leadership gave him the chance to realize his dream of handing the Cup to his brother.