EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -Most mothers would find a way to be politically correct, try to dance around the question. But not Carol Niedermayer.
“Mrs. Niedermayer, so who are you rooting for?”
As Anaheim’s Rob and New Jersey’s Scott Niedermayer set to square off against each other in the Stanley Cup Finals, mother Carol – and not so reluctantly, we might add – admits that she will be rooting for just one of her sons.
That would be Rob and his Mighty Ducks.
“Where I’m at is that Scott has won two (Stanley Cups) and Robbie hasn’t won one,” Carol said. “And although I’ll be cheering for both of them to do their best on the ice, I would like to see the Ducks win the Stanley Cup.
“I can’t imagine where one son is going to be going against another one for his dreams and ultimately one will be a loser. I think that they will be glad for one another, whoever does ultimately win it. Although I’ll be very pleased when it’s over. I guess the only reason that I can pick is that one hasn’t won it.”
See, mom always did like Robbie better.
“It’s nice to have mom behind you, for sure,” Rob said.
“I got a lot of grief from my teammates,” Scott said. “It might backfire on my mom. Hopefully my brother will have another chance somewhere down the road.”
This is nothing like 2000 when the brothers, who are
16 months apart, met in the first round – Scott’s Devils swept Rob’s Panthers in four games.
“It wasn’t as bad since it was at the beginning (of the playoffs),” Carol said. “Sort of the prize wasn’t at stake. This is for the Stanley Cup. And every hockey player dreams to have that. It’s just sort of an unbelievable thing that both of them would be in the Finals together.”
Rob, 28, and Scott, 29, have always been close. Carol knows that whatever the outcome, it won’t affect their relationship.
“I know that they’re going
to play their very best for
themselves, for their team,” Carol said. “And I am just so proud of them that they have that integrity that they’re
going to go out and perform during the game, but after
the game they’re brothers.”
Nieuwendyk is iffy
Devils center Joe Nieuwendyk, who was injured in Game 6 of the conference finals and only played three shifts in Game 7, did not practice Monday and is questionable for tonight’s game.
Nieuwendyk called it a “lower-body injury.” Most believe it to be a knee.
“I’m hoping that one of these days it’s going to come around, but I would say we’ll see how it is (today),” Nieuwendyk said. “I just feel it in a lot of different areas.”
If he can’t play, Nieuwendyk quipped that he’d make sure goalie Martin Brodeur “gets some energy bars in between periods.”
Oates is optimistic
Adam Oates, a veteran of 18 years, will be looking for his first Stanley Cup.
“When I was with Washington (in the 1998 final), I don’t think we felt we could beat Detroit,” Oates said. “With this team, there’s a sense this can be done. I think we’ve got a lot of hockey left.”
—
Send questions/comments to the editors.
