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Report: Scott Niedermayer expected to announce retirement today

Vancouver Canucks v Anaheim Ducks

# of the Vancouver Canucks # of the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center on April 2, 2010 in Anaheim, California.

Jeff Gross

It seems like every summer people complain about humidity, get bad farmer tans and wonder if Scott Niedermayer will retire. If Orange County Register reporter Eric Stephens is correct, the talented defenseman is expected to announce his retirement today.

I must admit that I had little clue that Niedermayer was leaning toward hanging up his skates. Sure, he seemed to lose a step or two on the offensive end (dropping to 48 points in 09-10 after scoring an impressive 59 during the 08-09 season), but he still logged more than 26 minutes per game for the Anaheim Ducks.

While it wouldn’t have stunned me if he left Anaheim - especially to play with his brother Rob in New Jersey - I’m a little surprised he’s probably going to retire. Then again, the man once known as “Lightningbeard” (because of his magnificently mixed salt-and-pepper playoff beard) has been mulling it over for years.

With 740 points in 1263 career regular season games plus four Stanley Cups, one Norris Trophy, one Conn Smythe and five All-Star appearances, it’s not as if Niedermayer has much to prove. That being said, he could still garner a nice paycheck with his smooth skating and veteran presence.

We’ll let you know if he makes it official, but it sounds like the end is near for a near-certain future Hall of Famer.