Playing career

National Hockey League

Niedermayer was drafted 5th overall by the Florida Panthers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. At the time he was playing for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He started his NHL career right away, without playing a game in the minors. During the 1996 NHL season he set career highs in goals, assists, and points in the regular season. In the playoffs, the Panthers went on an improbable playoff drive to the Stanley Cup Finals, before being swept in four games by the Colorado Avalanche. Niedermayer was hurt by concussions in the next years and has never been able to achieve the same level of scoring ability again. His NHL role soon turned into a defensive forward.

On July 23, 2001, Niedermayer was traded from the Florida Panthers to the Calgary Flames with a draft pick for Valeri Bure and Jason Wiemer. He did not last long in Calgary, and at the 2003 trading deadline he was traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. That same year he helped the Anaheim Ducks make an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Finals, his second such run. But again, Niedermayer's team lost, although this time it was in seven games to his brother's team, the New Jersey Devils. Rob and Scott became the first set of brothers to play against each other in the Stanley Cup Final since Ken and Terry Reardon did it in 1946.

In the summer of 2005, Rob's brother Scott was signed by the Mighty Ducks, and for the first time in their NHL careers, the two brothers were playing on the same team.

Rob Niedermayer and his brother Scott (by this point captain of the Ducks, with Rob as an alternate) won the Stanley Cup together as members of the Anaheim Ducks defeating the Ottawa Senators four games to one in 2007, becoming the first brothers to win the Stanley Cup together since Duane and Brent Sutter accomplished the feat twice with the New York Islanders in 1982 and 1983. After Scott took the first lap around the ice with the Stanley Cup, he handed it to Rob. This was a break with Stanley Cup tradition; normally the alternate captain who has waited longest to win the Cup (in the 2006-07 Ducks' case, Chris Pronger and Teemu Selanne) takes the next lap after the captain takes his lap.

On September 25, 2009, Niedermayer was signed by the New Jersey Devils, a team his brother Scott had previously played on for 14 NHL seasons.

On July 7, 2010, Niedermayer was signed by the Buffalo Sabres to a one-year contract worth a reported 1.15 million dollars.

National League A

After becoming a free agent following the 2011 season, Niedermayer signed with HC Lugano in Switzerland.

Personal life

On July 16, 2006 Rob married longtime girlfriend Jessica Bentall, daughter of Barney Bentall, whom he had been dating since March 2001. Together they have two daughters, Brooke (b April 25, 2008), and Reese (b October 25, 2010).

Transactions

• June 26, 1993 - Drafted by the Florida Panthers in the first round, 5th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft
• June 23, 2001 - Traded to the Calgary Flames with a 2001 second round draft pick (Andrei Medvedev) for Valeri Bure and Jason Wiemer
• March 11, 2003 - Traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Jean-François Damphousse and Mike Commodore
• September 25, 2009 - Signed by the New Jersey Devils as an unrestricted free agent
• July 7, 2010 - Signed by the Buffalo Sabres as an unrestricted free agent

Awards and achievements

• Gold - 2004 World Ice Hockey Championship (Team Canada)
• 2006-07 - NHL - Stanley Cup (Anaheim)

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1990-91	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		71	24	26	50	8		12	3	7	10	2
1991-92	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		71	32	46	78	77		4	2	3	5	2
1992-93	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		52	43	34	77	67		—	—	—	—	—
1993-94	Florida Panthers	NHL		65	9	17	26	51		—	—	—	—	—
1994-95	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		13	9	15	24	14		—	—	—	—	—
1994-95	Florida Panthers	NHL		48	4	6	10	36		—	—	—	—	—
1995-96	Florida Panthers	NHL		82	26	35	61	107		22	5	3	8	12
1996-97	Florida Panthers	NHL		60	14	24	38	54		5	2	1	3	6
1997-98	Florida Panthers	NHL		33	8	7	15	41		—	—	—	—	—
1998-99	Florida Panthers	NHL		82	18	33	51	50		—	—	—	—	—
1999-00	Florida Panthers	NHL		81	10	23	33	46		—	—	—	—	—
2000-01	Florida Panthers	NHL		67	12	20	32	50		4	1	0	1	6
2001-02	Calgary Flames	NHL		57	6	14	20	49		—	—	—	—	—
2002-03	Calgary Flames	NHL		54	8	10	18	42		—	—	—	—	—
2002-03	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL		12	2	2	4	15		21	3	7	10	18
2003-04	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL		55	12	16	28	34		—	—	—	—	—
2004-05	Ferencvárosi TC	HUN		5	2	1	3	14		—	—	—	—	—
2005-06	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL		76	15	24	39	89		16	1	3	4	10
2006-07	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		82	5	11	16	77		21	5	5	10	39
2007-08	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		78	8	8	16	54		2	0	0	0	0
2008-09	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		79	14	7	21	42		13	0	3	3	12
2009-10	New Jersey Devils	NHL		71	10	12	22	45		5	0	0	0	6
2010-11	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		71	5	14	19	22		7	1	3	4	2
2011-12	HC Lugano	NLA		14	2	4	6	12		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1153	186	283	469	904		116	18	25	43	111

[ Source: Wikipedia ]