Nino to the rescue

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This article was published 29/12/2024 (283 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This has all the ingredients for the next heartwarming, made-in-Manitoba holiday Hallmark movie.

Winnipeg Jets forward Nino Niederreiter and two visiting buddies from Switzerland found themselves playing the role of Good Samaritans as they saved some stranded motorists from the side of a snow-swept road last week.

“You could just tell they weren’t going to be going anywhere,” Niederreiter told the Free Press on Sunday as he recounted the Boxing Day incident near La Salle in a one-on-one interview following his team’s practice at the Hockey For All Centre.

“It was pretty windy out there, and some of the side roads were blown over and hadn’t been plowed. We saw a couple cars had got stuck, someone was out shovelling, so we pulled one family out, and then went a different way and there was another guy who was struggling. We helped that guy out, too.”

In the first case, a young couple and their mother had been trying to shovel their way out of trouble.

“The one guy recognized me immediately,” Niederreiter said with a laugh.

The 32-year-old is a true power forward who isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty in front of the opposing net, so his strength came in handy for this non-hockey related task.

“We helped him shovel out the car, and then we all pushed him out. We got some good grip there,” he said.

In the second incident, Niederreiter used his vehicle to tow a stuck truck out of the snowbank.

“He had everything pretty much set up so we just hooked him on to my car and pulled him out that way,” he said. “It definitely was cold. The wind was really going. But we were ready for it.”

Indeed they were, since the purpose of this excursion about 30 kilometres south of Winnipeg was to go snowmobiling. Niederreiter’s financial planner, who lives in Winnipeg, had arranged for them to go on a guided tour.

Given that there was no way to go all the way home to Switzerland for what was just a three-day player break, this seemed like a perfect way to enjoy some time away from the rink — even if it didn’t initially go as planned.

“What should have probably taken 30 minutes to get to ended up taking about an hour and a half. We were way late to get there,” said Niederreiter.

“But once we did, it was a lot of fun. We snowmobiled down the rivers, and it was just awesome.”

Niederreiter is no stranger to snow and cold given his roots, but this was actually his first time on the back of a snowmobile.

“It was very cool. The first 30 minutes we were kind of really cautious, but then as you go along you start racing a little bit,” he said.

Niederreiter is now in his second full season with Winnipeg, and third overall, and said this really drove home what a tight-knit and hockey-crazed community this is.

“It was fun. And it’s probably also good for them to see that we are just regular people like everyone else,” he said. “Obviously we are fortunate to have certain talent to play in this league, so it’s kind of cool to see that everybody is the same.”

Niederreiter is under contract for two more years at US$4 million and has become an integral part of the NHL’s No. 1 team at 26-10-1 following Saturday’s 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators as the post-Christmas schedule got underway.

While playing on a shutdown line with Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton, he has 19 points (10G, 9A) in 37 games so far this year, which has him on pace for his most productive offensive season since 2016-17 when he was a member of the Minnesota Wild.

Niederreiter will face his former team, the Nashville Predators, on Monday night at Canada Life Centre — career game No. 925. He’s on track to hit the 1,000 game mark early next season.

While Winnipeg has been one of the league’s biggest success stories so far, Nashville is the polar opposite. They limp to town with an 11-18-7 record — 30th overall in the 32-team league. This, despite adding prominent free agent forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault in free agency last summer, along with defenceman Brady Skjei.

“I would say the whole league is surprised where they are in the standings,” said Niederreiter, who was acquired by the Jets in a trade with the Predators in February 2023.

“If you look at some of the moves they made in the summer and if you look at them on paper, they’re supposed to be a powerhouse. But they’re kind of struggling. Who knows if they will find their way, find their groove, but obviously they have a lot of catching up to do if they want to get into the playoffs.”

The Jets will fly to Denver immediately after Monday’s game to face the Colorado Avalanche on New Year’s Eve. They’ll then return home to play eight straight games at Canada Life Centre, which should provide Niederreiter with plenty of opportunities to hit the trails another time.

“My girlfriend has never done it, so I’m definitely going to back there on a day off and go for a cruise for a couple hours down the river,” he said.

“I’m into nature. It’s so beautiful out there. Just have to make sure it’s a day where it’s not too cold.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg