Could Scott Niedermayer return to the New Jersey Devils this season?

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Scott Niedermayer of the Anaheim Ducks skates around Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury on November 3, 2009 in Anaheim, California.

Photograph by : Getty Images

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"I think it's a possibility," the future hall-of-fame defenceman told the Newark Star-Ledger on Wednesday, before his Anaheim Ducks played his former team. "Last year we were kind of in a situation where we were teetering and there was some talk and rumours. You start to think about it."

The Ducks entered play Wednesday night in 14th place in the Western Conference. The NHL trade deadline is March 3, so there's plenty of time for the Ducks to get their act together and make a run for the playoffs.

But what if the Ducks are out of the playoff picture in March? Niedermayer could return to the Devils, where he won two Stanley Cups (1994-95, 2002-03) and join his brother Rob, a Devils forward, with whom he won the 2006-07 Cup in Anaheim.

So far, Niedermayer isn't paying much attention to such chatter.

"I'm not thinking about that right now," Niedermayer told the paper. "Our goal right now is to do well on this road trip, to play good hockey and get into the playoff picture and compete with this team. When those bridges come, I'll deal with them."

During the summer, Niedermayer agreed to a one-year, $6-million US deal with the Ducks - a deal that doesn't include a no-trade clause.

O'Marra made it to NHL debut in nick of time

Ryan O'Marra needed a police escort to get to the rink in Ottawa in time for his first NHL game Tuesday. The Edmonton Oilers forward missed the entire pre-game warm-up, but the 22-year-old was on the bench for O Canada.

Considering how poorly O'Marra played last season in Springfield of the American Hockey League, where he was a healthy scratch for 20 games, just making it to an NHL game was a feat.

Following practice in Springfield, Mass., O'Marra had only 90 minutes to race home to grab his passport, throw some clothes together and rush to the airport.

"Hardly ideal, but I'd have ridden a horse here," said O'Marra, who didn't make his original connecting flight to Philadelphia.

"Too late to get my bag on that plane by two minutes, but found my way here, luckily through Washington," said O'Marra, who didn't get to Scotiabank Place until 10 minutes before the game started. "I didn't have time to get nervous. No long wait in the dressing room."

Leclaire not worried about soft goals

Ottawa Senators goaltender Pascal Leclaire knows he has been letting in a few bad goals lately, but he's not letting it get to him.

As long as his team finishes in the Eastern Conference's top eight this season, he's perfectly fine with allowing a softy here and there, Leclaire said Wednesday.

He faced criticism after Edmonton's Gilbert Brule squeezed a weak shot past him in the third period of Tuesday's 4-3 shootout win over the Oilers.

"That goal just affects my personal stats. That's not something I worry about too much," Leclaire said. "As long as the team is winning, that's the important thing.

"The thing is . . . you try and forget them as soon as possible, and limit them at critical times," said Leclaire, who is 6-4-1 this season with a .898 save percentage and a 2.71 goals-against average. "You're always going to make mistakes."

Cheechoo gets monkey off his back

Jonathan Cheechoo suggested his goal on Tuesday night against the Edmonton Oilers could open the door to a few more.

The Ottawa Senators acquired the winger in the September trade that sent Dany Heatley to San Jose.

"I hope I can build off of this," Cheechoo said of his first goal of the season. "It's something that, whenever you score, you want to build confidence off of that."

Senators head coach Cory Clouston said he isn't judging the winger on numbers.

"Obviously, part of his game has to help us out offensively and (he has to) produce, but his attitude, his work ethic, his detail, doing the little things well . . . he works hard," Clouston said. "Those are valuable to us, as well, and if we can get him scoring like he did (Tuesday) night, he's going to be a good part of our team, which he is already."

Briere likely to return Thursday

It looks as if Daniel Briere, who hasn't played since Oct. 27 because of a right quad pull, will play Thursday night for the Philadelphia Flyers when they host the Ottawa Senators.

"I feel like I'm ready," he said. "I still have to get clearance from the doctor, but it seems like, in talking to the medical staff, like I'm OK to play."

Left-winger James van Riemsdyk, who was out with a fractured left pinky, will also be ready to play.

Not ready, however, are defencemen Ryan Parent (right groin pull) and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (concussion).

Milestone for Hitchcock

Columbus Blue Jackets' Ken Hitchcock hit a milestone Wednesday, becoming the 16th coach in NHL to hit the 1,000-game mark, when the Jackets played the Detroit Red Wings.

Hitchcock, who entered the game with a 520-350-129 record over 14 seasons with Columbus, the Dallas Stars and the Philadelphia Flyers, made his coaching debut against the Wings on Jan. 10, 1996.

Other than it being Hitchcock's first game, the memories aren't fond.

"It was 4-0, could have been 14-0," Hitchcock told NHL.com. "That's when Detroit was on a roll. They were unbelievable. That one game set my coaching back career about 12 years."

Self-deprecating humour aside, Hitchcock's resume is one worth noting. He won a Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1998-99 and led Dallas to five Central Division titles, two President's trophies and two Western Conference championships.

He won an Atlantic Division championship with Philadelphia in 2003-04 and last season helped the Blue Jackets to their first playoff appearance.

Emery a team player

Is goaltender Ray Emery a changed man?

Philadelphia Flyers coach John Stevens thinks so.

"I've been pleasantly surprised by who he is and how he conducts himself and how team-oriented he is, how hard he works," Stevens told CNS-Philly.com of Emery, who was painted as a bad apple before being banished by the Ottawa Senators two seasons ago.

"He's really a quiet guy. You can almost say he is shy at times. . . . He has a quiet confidence about him you love."

During his time in Ottawa, Emery was vilified for clashing with coaches and teammates and for being tardy for practices and not working hard enough once he arrived.

Senators defenceman Chris Phillips is happy that his former teammate has found a home in Philadelphia, after spending last season in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.

"I don't know if 'wake-up call' is what you would call it, but in the end it might have been the best thing that happened to him," Phillips told reporters in Ottawa. "I think he learned some lessons. It's good to see he's back in the game."

Ice chips:

Although there was no formal announcement from the NHL, a league spokesman confirmed that Vancouver Canucks winger Darcy Hordichuk will serve a one-game suspension for incurring an instigator penalty within the final five minutes of Tuesday's game in St. Louis in a fight with St. Louis Blues' Cam Janssen. As per the league rules, head coach Alain Vigneault also gets a $10,000 fine. . . . The Vancouver Canucks should have winger Jannik Hansen in the lineup Thursday against Detroit for his first game of the season after breaking three knuckles in a fight in the final pre-season game.