There was a chuckle and a shake of his head when I asked Scott Niedermayer if the most captain-like thing he's ever done was raise the Stanley Cup first in June 2006 when he helped the Anaheim Ducks become champions just two years after he signed with the team.

"It wouldn't matter whether I was the first or the last to raise the Cup," Niedermayer explained. "You don't have to wear a letter on your jersey to show leadership. A lot of players here lead by example. But it's a role I accept. Wearing the 'C' is a nice challenge, a nice honor.

"What does being captain mean to me? It helps to understand in a game what affects your team and what you can do to point the team in the right direction. But usually it means that you have to compete hard and compete smart."

Niedermayer credited being around Scott Stevens in New Jersey was one of the best examples of what makes a good captain.

"He was quiet, too, but very intense," Niedermayer added. "His approach rubbed off on everybody."

Niedermayer has that same kind of effect on the Ducks.

You can argue that Niedermayer is the most important figure in club history. Before he showed up, the Ducks had played in seven playoff series. In his first two years in Anaheim, the Ducks also played in seven and won their first Cup. In other words, he can make the difference between a real good team and maybe a historically good team.

When it becomes a game of inches -- like it so often does in the Stanley Cup Playoffs -- you want a skilled player on your side to give you the edge, a player who can turn a game around, a player who can pull you out of your seat and turn a seemingly harmless-looking play into a home run. That's the part we see. The off-the-ice home runs don't come with boisterous headline-making predictions in the playoffs or big speeches in front of a throng of reporters.

When I asked teammate Teemu Selanne, himself a captain at one point in his career, where he would rank Niedermayer among the captain's he's played with, he quickly responded, "He's tops on my list.

"He has the charisma it takes to be captain and have players follow his lead. Most of the time, he leads by being the best example of professionalism. However, when he stands up and says something, you'd better listen."

Defenseman Chris Pronger watched Niedermayer, trying to learn from a player with such championship credentials, when he first arrived in Anaheim from Edmonton for the 2006-07 season. Said Pronger, "You learn a lot just from the way he prepares, from watching the way he's focused before games and the way he interacts with teammates."

In other words, actions and preparation are just as captain like. But it's that combination -- an off- and on-the-ice aura of professionalism -- that makes Niedermayer so good at his job.

"What you can say about Scott Niedermayer is that he has a calming effect to your group," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "When things get a little hairy, and they always do, he has the ability to slow down the tempo or speed up the tempo at the right time.

"He's an amazing athlete. He's an amazing individual. He's so unassuming. You feel fortunate that you're able to coach players like that. Talk about low- and no-maintenance people. He's at the top of that list. He's our leader -- and you can put another exclamation point behind all the things he's been able to accomplish."

Certainly, no one in the game today can boast of the championships that Scott Niedermayer can -- 1991 World Junior Championship, 1992 Memorial Cup, 1992 Memorial Cup MVP award, 1995 Stanley Cup, 2000 Stanley Cup, 2002 Olympic gold, 2003 Stanley Cup, 2004 Norris Trophy, 2004 World Championship and 2005 World Cup of Hockey and 2006 Stanley Cup.

"I've probably lost almost everything as well," Scott laughed, when asked about his winning ways. "You don't win things by not sticking your nose in there and taking your licks and getting beat at different times."

But it's the winning and the winning attitude and all the little things he does that catch his teammates attention in this business where consistency is paramount.

It's not as though Scott is a different person because he's wearing the "C." The goals he sets for the Ducks and himself are the same as they always have been -- and that starts with being the best.

"How can you not follow a player who takes his game to such a high competitive level?" Selanne said.

Niedermayer said he'd prefer to stay in the background since no one player can win a championship by himself. His four Stanley Cups underscore that his way works. But as captain, he knows he has to speak up occasionally.

"I wouldn't say it happens every couple of weeks," he explained, "but when we run into some rough times I might get up and say something. If you do it too often it loses its effect."

He remembers how Stevens and veterans like Bruce Driver, Ken Daneyko, Slava Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov and other veteran Devils defensemen showed him the user's guide to the NHL, in his early days.

New Jersey is also where he got his first taste of wearing the "C" -- on one occasion when Stevens was ill and later when he sustained what proved to be a career-ending symptoms of concussions. "Yeah," Niedermayer laughed, "the guys had a little fun with me -- saying things like, 'What does that 'C' stand for?'

"We all knew that when Scott came back the 'C' would be his when he returned."

That the Ducks players voted him captain before he played in a single game three summers ago is a testament to the respect they hold for him as a player and his wide-ranging resume.

"I was a little uncomfortable with that at first," he said. "Mainly because I didn't know anybody here and I was just settling in myself."

But that shouldn't have been a concern. With Scott Niedermayer, the respect and ability to tell a leader just oozes out in him.