The son of NHL legend and four-time Stanley Cup champion Scott Niedermayer, BGSU hockey redshirt senior defenseman Jackson Niedermayer was born into the sport of hockey.
“Having your dad play the game is kind of something you’re born into. You learn it from a very young age,” said Jackson Niedermayer. “I’m very fortunate to have him in my life and to have him show me the game. My uncle played too, so it was kind of a no-brainer for me to play hockey, and I ended up loving it.”
For Scott Niedermayer, it was no surprise his son gravitated toward the sport.
“Hockey was a big part of our lives when he was a young kid,” said his father, Scott Niedermayer. “I was still playing in the NHL, and he’d come to games and be around the dressing room a little bit and meet some of the other players. Hockey was a big part of our lives then, and you wonder how much that influenced how much he loved the game or wanted to play. He loved all sports when he was young—soccer, flag football, and different things like that—but hockey was the one he really followed and still plays today.”
Much like his father, Jackson would begin his own hockey career. However, while his father’s career started by playing for the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League (WHL) in the Canadian major junior ranks, Jackson decided to take a different approach.
“It was an interesting process to go through,” said Scott Niedermayer. “I went and played in the WHL, in the CHL in Canada, obviously, in the last year or so, there’s been huge changes where now those players are eligible to play college, NCAA hockey. It wasn’t the case when Jackson was making that decision, so it was an interesting process to go through with him.”
In the end, Jackson Niedermayer decided to go through the college hockey ranks after spending his junior career with the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).
“I think for my development and everything, getting an education, it felt like the right route for me, and obviously it’s done me wonders.”
Jackson Niedermayer’s college career began in Tempe, Arizona, where he played three seasons with Arizona State. During his time as a Sun Devil, Jackson scored 13 goals and six assists while appearing in 59 games, including seven as a defenseman during the 2022-23 campaign. Niedermayer decided to transfer to Bowling Green following the 2023-24 season.
“I think, obviously, with Willi coming in, I talked with him a lot beforehand in the portal, and I loved everything he was about. Agent advisor, they kinda knew him pretty well too, so it was kinda just a perfect fit, right timing with me transferring and then Willi coming in and BG hiring him, and I knew a couple of the guys. Obviously ‘Emer’ (senior forward Quinn Emerson) and ‘JB’ (senior defenseman Jack Blake) and then I knew ‘Woz’ (BGSU alumni Ben Wozney), played at Pen (Penticton) with him so when they reached out I asked them a bunch of question about BG and they had nothing but great things to say about it and I think it’s the best decision I ever made was coming here.”
Niedermayer arrived in Bowling Green as a forward before the 2024-25 season and skated in 33 games while scoring two goals and six assists during the season.
In his second season in the Orange and Brown, Jackson Niedermayer would skate two games as a forward before a meeting with head coach Dennis “Willi” Williams would see the senior move back to a position both he and his family were familiar with.
“Where he was in the forward group, we asked him about flipping back to D,” said Williams. “I remember saying to him, ‘If you don’t want to, no problem.’ When you talk about a great senior and the senior class we have, he said, ‘I just want to win, whatever we need.’ So we put him on the back end and he started breaking pucks out pretty impressively, considering he hadn’t played D at the Division I level in 18 months. I watched him and thought, ‘Man, that’s pretty good — it’s really good.’ Next thing you know, he’s been a huge fixture for us on the back end.”
Niedermayer said the idea started casually but quickly became a serious discussion as the season progressed.
“After the first game, Curtis Carr kind of threw it out there — maybe joking — and I didn’t really think too much of it,” said Jackson Niedermayer. “But as the games kept going, the conversation started to get a little more real when I talked with Willi. You look at the group we have this year — we’re right there, and we believe we can win it. I just wanted to do whatever I could for the team, and Willi thought it would be a great fit for me and help the group out.”
With the move back to defense, Jackson has been able to receive additional tips and advice from his father.
“I got a lot of tips. Obviously, coming from your dad, it probably takes it with a grain of salt and that. Yeah, no, he helps me a lot; they both have. Obviously, with going to defense this year, and a little bit at ASU there before, he helped me a lot with that transition and just making sure that I felt comfortable with everything that I need to do back there.”
Jackson Niedermayer said his father has helped guide him through the transition.
“I try not to be too overwhelming with my advice,” said Scott Niedermayer. “The fact that he’s been playing some defense, I probably offer him a little more advice now, but he’s a smart player. I think that’s one of his strengths as a hockey player, just how he sees the game and understands it, so he’s able to adjust to a new position like that and be effective, so I’ve been impressed, actually, how well he’s done.”
Since moving back to defense, Jackson has displayed the skills of a natural born defenseman and has impressed both coach Williams and reminded father Scott of parts of his own game.
“And his willingness to go back for pucks, break pucks out, get up the ice, his skating is elite of elite, his playmaking is very high end, he sees plays, he develops plays with his speed coming up the ice, he brings it up with his head up, so I’ve been really happy with him,” said Williams.
When asked what parts of Jackson’s games remind him of his own game, father Scott responded, “I would think a bit of our skating, he’s got a pretty smooth, long stride, and that was kinda how I skated around the ice when I was out there, so I think that is a similarity. Neither of us is the biggest guy either on the ice, so we have to defend maybe using our stick and body positioning a little bit, so I would say those two things are similar for sure.”
“When you watch him play, we joke, I tell him he reminds me of Mike Modano with the jersey flapping,” said Williams. “Remember when Mike Modano skated? He was so efficient and smooth, and I always say he looks just like him. When he gets up the ice, his two to three strides create such great separation.”
As someone who has played both positions at the Division I level, Niedermayer can describe the differences between playing the game as a forward and as a defenseman.
“As a D-man, the games in front of you, as a forward, you’re pushing the pace of the game, you’re on the forecheck, it’s more run and gun. On the D side, you gotta set a gap, you gotta create more angles, find different spaces, and going back for a puck when you’ve got a guy barreling down on ya is never fun, but you gotta have poise, make plays, it’s a different kind of game.”
Looking to the future after college hockey, father Scott is proud of what Jackson has accomplished so far both on and off the ice, and is excited to see what happens next in Jackson’s career.
“I think just like any parent, you want him to be happy and sorta doing something he’s proud of in a meaningful way,” said Scott Niedermayer. “Now, whether that’s continuing to play a little hockey in some fashion, if that’s what he wants to do, we’d support that. If it’s to move on into other areas of his life, we’d support that as well. Obviously, it’s a big moment, graduating and moving on, and he’s gonna have to figure that out and see what opportunities wait for him, and we’ll support him either way.”
Niedermayer finished his final season of college hockey having appeared in 32 games, 30 of which as a defenseman, and scored five goals and 12 assists for 17 points.
Niedermayer and his fellow senior hockey players of Emerson, Blake, Jaden Grant, Brett Pfoh, and Dalton Norris were honored before the BGSU hockey game against Minnesota State on Feb. 21 as part of the senior night festivities.
Following BGSU hockey’s season coming to an end, Niedermayer signed a professional contract with the Tulsa Oilers of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). Notably, Tulsa is the ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, who father Scott captained to a Stanley Cup championship in 2007.
