But what will Mike Mottau do?

Scott Niedermayer returns to Jersey tonite, as the Devils face the Ducks at the Rock in hockey mesopotamia, Newark. Lamoriello told the official newspaper of Tony Soprano, The Star Ledger that he plans on retiring Niedermayer's #27 after he retires.

I'm glad Lou isn't being stubborn or stupid about this. Any true hockey fan is aware of how valuable Niedermayer was to the Devils. The more neutral hockey fans on SUS could give a better perspective, but over the last 15 years, Niedermayer has been at least one of the top ten defensemen in the game, if not higher. The fact that no Devil defensemen score anymore and they have had power play issues since after the strike? That's because they still haven't replaced Niedermayer. Truth is, it's going to be a long time before they'll be able to replace someone like him. Anyone who watched the '03 stanley cup vs. the Ducks knows that he was responsible for seemingly every goal that the Devils scored that series. Ironic that Giguere got the Conn Smythe that season and Niedermayer got it last summer with the Ducks when Giguere deserved it.