Niederreiter has Streit smarts

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This article was published 22/01/2024 (623 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BOSTON — Nino had no idea he had hit the milestone until he was informed by teammate Nikolaj Ehlers.

After recording an assist Mason Appleton’s goal in Saturday’s 2-1 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators, Niederreiter moved into a tie for second place for career points among Swiss-born players with former New York Islanders teammate Mark Streit.

“I didn’t know it was the case,” Niederreiter said before the Jets faced the Boston Bruins on Monday night at TD Garden. “I don’t pay a lot of attention to things like that, to be quite honest with you.”

That Niederreiter was unaware he had caught Streit with his 434th point in his 854th NHL game says more about his humble nature than not appreciating the significance of the moment.

After all, Streit is both a close friend and someone Niederreiter has leaned on as a mentor and example dating back to well before he accomplished his dream of playing in the NHL.

“We played together with the Islanders early in my career, on the national team and at the Olympics,” said Niederreiter. “He’s a really good friend of mine and I feel like he was the mentor for most of the Swiss players growing up. When we were at Under-14 camps or Under-15 camps, they always used Mark Streit as an example. If you did 20 push ups, Mark Streit did 23 push ups.

“All of a sudden, you were playing with him (in the NHL) as an 18 year old. He was definitely a big inspiration (because) he carried the Swiss national team a certain way. He’s a big reason why I’m here.”

What made him a good mentor?

“His work ethic,” said Niederreiter. “He had ups-and-downs in his career. He came over early, didn’t make it. He came back (home) and was really good in the Swiss League. Then he went to Montreal and he started as a D, all of a sudden, he was a forward and then he went back to a D and was an all-star at some point.

“He had a hell of a career, if you look at that. Whatever he went through, he was such a great pro. It was awesome to see him pave the way for us.”

Much like Streit did for him, Niederreiter is now the guy who is inspiring Swiss players who want to play the game like he does when they grow up.

“For him, to be one of those guys who is going to be looked up to for the future generations, you’re going to have some young Swiss kids modelling their game after how he plays.”– Jets captain Adam Lowry regarding his teammate Nino Niederreiter inspiring Swiss players

“Throughout my lifetime, we’ve seen the leaps and bounds that some of the smaller European countries have made, in terms of their international success. How deep the teams are and how highly skilled they are,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “For him, to be one of those guys who is going to be looked up to for the future generations, you’re going to have some young Swiss kids modelling their game after how he plays. That’s the coolest thing, (to see) the impact that he’s going to have on the next generation of Swiss born kids growing up.”

Niederreiter embraces the responsibility that comes with becoming a mentor, yet he’s more concerned about doing what he can to ensure the next generation of players from Switzerland succeed.

“Obviously, it’s a good feeling. At the same time, I feel like Swiss ice hockey has to make sure that we keep being on it,” said Niederreiter. “There are countries that are kind of surpassing us. Germany does such a great job of developing players, same with Slovakia and Czech (Republic). It’s something we’ve got to be aware of. Obviously we had a first overall pick, with Nico Hischier (of the New Jersey Devils) and after that, we didn’t have a lot of good prospects coming out unfortunately. That’s something we hopefully are aware of and can change at some point.”

Niederreiter is having an excellent season for the Jets and is well on his way to an eighth season of recording 20-plus goals, while also playing a pivotal role on the checking line.

“Everybody loves scoring goals, obviously. It’s something I’ve always loved doing,” said Niederreiter, who had 217 goals going into Monday’s game. “That 20-goal mark is always a bar for myself to reach that — and to reach that, you’ve got to go to the net, you’ve got to work hard and you’ve got to create shots. That’s something I’m proud of doing and hopefully I can reach it again this year.”

“You change your game a little bit, to being strong defensively. It’s something I take a lot of pride in and it’s something I feel my role has turned into,”– Nino Niederreiter

After spending a good chunk of his career playing in the Top-6, Niederreiter has enhanced his all-around game with the work he’s done on a line with Lowry and Appleton.

“You change your game a little bit, to being strong defensively. It’s something I take a lot of pride in and it’s something I feel my role has turned into,” said Niederreiter. “To still be effective offensively, trying to get goals and all of that, but at the same time, when you play against (Connor) McDavid and you play against (Brad) Marchand and what-not, that you make sure that you’re strong in your own zone and your (scoring) chances are going to come.”

For those wondering, Nashville Predators defenceman Roman Josi is No. 1 on the list for Swiss-born players with 641 points (and counting) and Niederreiter is expecting him to retain that standing.

“He will never be caught. He plays such a different game,” said Niederreiter, praising his former Nashville Predators teammate. “I hope he’s going to get many more points.”

As a consistent point producer that likes to mix it up and plays the game the right way, Niederreiter provides a level of security for Jets head coach Rick Bowness.

“He’s a big strong guy that goes to the net. He’s very good on the forecheck, he finishes his checks,” said Bowness. “He’s got a good stick on the forecheck, forces a lot of turnovers. So he does a lot of little things we notice that help us. He’s a competitive guy who can skate. He’s big, he’s strong and his versatility is a big help to us.

“He’s not afraid to go into the tough areas. When you have the skill set that he has and you have that desire that he has around the net, he’s going to score goals whether greasy goals or good goals off the rush. He can score either way.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld