Height: 6-1
Weight: 185
Shoot: R
Born: 11 Mar 1946, Detroit MI (d. 2022)
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1972-73 | Los Angeles | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | Los Angeles | |||||||||||
| 1974-75 | Phoenix | |||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Phoenix | |||||||||||
| 1976-77 | Phoenix | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
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Jim Niekamp a Rare Breed • by Dan Hafner • The Hockey Spectator • October 26, 1973
Jim Niekamp, one of the rugged Sharks defensemen, is a hockey rarity in a couple of ways. First, he is one of the few American-born players to make it big in the major leagues. Second, he is one of the last of the defensive defensemen. Niekamp, who was voted the outstanding defenseman on a team which made the playoffs last year strictly on the strength of a tough defense, became a Shark almost by accident and by the persuasiveness of Coach Terry Slater. Upset with the Detroit Red Wings, the club which "owned" him from the time he left Detroit to play junior hockey in Hamilton, Ontario, the 27-year-old Niekamp planned to retire after playing with Tidewater in the American League in 1971-72. In five years as a professional Nickamp had played only 29 games in the National Hockey League and believed the Red Wings would never give him a chance. But when the Sharks were organized Slater remembered Niekamp from his amateur days with the Toledo Blades of the IHL. "He was a winner," said Slater, "so I tracked him down. I finally located him and persuaded him to join us. 1 wasn't about to let a player of his calibre retire." At that, Niekamp only became a Shark because neither Detroit nor Vancouver (NHL) got around to informing him that he had been traded to the Canucks on March 6, 1972, until he had signed with the Sharks. "I wasn't unhappy with hockey," said Niekamp, "just with the Detroit organization, 1 would have welcomed a chance to play for Vancouver. But it all turned out for the best and I'm happy to be with the Sharks and playing for Slater." Nickamp does not feel that being an American handicapped him as a hockey player. He is more inclined to believe that the fact there were only six major league teams when he was through playing junior hockey was more responsible for him not making the majors earlier. "The Detroit area had a fine program for kids," said Niekamp. "We played many games with Canadian teams and did rather well. But there was no program for youngsters between the start of high school and college. That's why I went to Hamilton. I was determined to make the National Hockey League and I knew that was my only chance. "My dreams were almost shattered when I went to camp with the Red Wings. They never even gave me a look and I had to play amateur hockey in Toledo. Maybe it was really a break, though, because I met Slater." Scoring goals may be a thrill to some players, but to Niekamp, not especially big for a backliner at 6-0 and 170, it is more fun to block a shot or prevent a goal in any manner. The most goals he ever scored were 13 in 63 games for Fort Worth in 1968-69. For the Sharks. he scored only seven goals in 78 games. When he scored two goals in last year's playoff opener with the Houston Acros, he was singularly unimpressed. "We lost, didn't we." he said, "and we gave up seven goals, How could you be happy about that? I'd much rather not score and win." Nickamp is a goaltender's delight. The Sharks were third best in the league at refusing to yield goals. Nickamp teamed with such other stalwarts as Ralph MacSweyn, Bart Crashley, Jim Watson and Gerry Odrowski to make life more comfortable for goaltenders Russ Gillow and George Gardner. "Everybody talks about the saves I make," said Gillow, who had the second-best goals against record in the WHA, "but if it hadn't been for Jim Niekamp and his friends I would have had a much tougher time. There were many games in which he made five or six difficult saves on shots I might not have been able to handle. You really learn to appreciate having someone like him in front of you." For Niekamp those are nice words to hear, because he admits defensemen are often overlooked. "Sometimes on the way to a game," said Nickamp, wonder if a man's crazy to play defense. I've had a broken toe and a cracked ankle stopping shots, but when you participate in a shutout or help win a big one, you know you're not really crazy." |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander Complete Hockey Handbook, 1976-77 (by Reyn Davis) Ranks with Edmonton's Paul Hurley and Winnipeg's Thommie Bergman as the WHA's premier shot blocker ... Once stopped seven shots in a row on the Phoenix net, including three by Bobby Hull ... Missed only one game all season but lost almost all of his teeth when struck by Cincinnati forward Dale Smedsmo's stick ... Had a healthy efficiency rating of +21 ... Friendly fellow. |
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