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Ducks’ Rob Niedermayer on sitting out

November 18th, 2008, 3:04 pm · 4 Comments · posted by Curtis Zupke, Staff writer

It probably didn’t need to be spelled out to him, but Rob Niedermayer understood why Coach Randy Carlyle benched him for last Sunday’s game after he met with Carlyle.

“I think any time we have a losing streak, there’s going to be changes,” Niedermayer said. “He’s not happy with the way I’m playing.”

The move was surprising given that it was Niedermayer, a 14-year veteran and an assistant captain the past three seasons who has been a mainstay on the checking line.

Then again, Carlyle benched veteran wing Todd Marchant last season.

Sunday was the first time Niedermayer had been a healthy scratch as a Duck, a stretch of more than 300 games. His last such benching was for two games with Calgary more than five seasons ago.

Niedermayer said Carlyle told him he wanted him to be stronger along the boards and to reduce turnovers in the neutral zone. Niedermayer, who has a minus-2 rating in his past three games, said he couldn’t really blame Carlyle for the move.

“As a player you believe that you ought to be out there playing,” he said. “But that’s the (consequence) of losing.”

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 4 Comments

  • Marc says:
    November 18, 2008 at 4:08 pm

    I still think it runs deeper. Niedermayer sits while Morrison plays?

  • Itlan says:
    November 18, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    Morrison has excuses: new team, recovering injury. I often say Niedermayer looks lazy out there at times. Next to be benched should be Moen. When he was skating on the top line in the pre-season he was awesome. Then the regular season started and he disappeared. Now it continues even though he’s back on the third line. It’s hard to say it but Selanne needs to get his head straight, too. How many one-timers did he miss in the last 5 games? I mean totally missed the puck? How many “way too soft passes” did he commit which lead to a turnover? These guys are professionals, they need to hone their skill and be consistent every night.

  • PuckUpdate :: The Hockey Blog » Brother Trouble in Anaheim? says:
    November 19, 2008 at 5:08 am

    [...] Over in Anaheim, Rob Niedermayer is in coach Randy Carlyle’s dog house. You don’t often see a respected veteran benched like Niedermayer was. I’m most [...]

  • quack2u says:
    November 19, 2008 at 8:29 am

    I’ve been surprised at Scott’s performance too. I’m not sure if he’s getting too old… or he’s thinking he should’ve retired??