After a few of days to deliberate, Scott Niedermayer’s not feeling retirement remorse.

Last Tuesday, the Cranbrook product called it quits on a professional career that began in 1992 and has been a success in every measurable way.

“I know it will be difficult once the season gets started again in the fall, but right now I’m very comfortable with the decision and excited about being able to do some different things,” he said from Southern California.

The 36-year-old defenceman had contemplated retirement before, deciding to return to the Anaheim Ducks a few months into the 2007-08 season. Niedermayer said that experience helped him make his decision this time.

“That was a situation where we’d won the Stanley Cup and at that point I felt my motivation just wasn’t there. But as time passed, it did come back. I’m thankful that I came back and played. I probably enjoyed the day-to-day life of a hockey player more the last three years because of that than I have at any point in my career.”

Niedermayer said that earlier in his career, pro hockey sometimes felt like a grind.

“When you get close to the end and you realize it doesn’t go on forever, you sort of forget the little things that you complained about and just enjoy the great things about it.”

He said he would miss playing hockey with and against the best players in the world.

“Hockey’s a game I’ve played a lot — pretty much my whole life, as long as I can remember. To have that be a much smaller part of my life now is going to be a lot different and will be a challenge.”

He’s being deliberate when it comes to future endeavours. Niedermayer has taken Ducks’ GM Bob Murray’s offer to be a consultant for the NHL squad. Among other things, he’ll mentor their first-round pick from Friday, defenceman Cam Fowler.

Niedermayer said he wants to see how the business side of hockey works.

“Something like that could lead to more, so I think that’s just how I’ll start out — a bit slow. One of the other reasons is I want to free up some time to be able to do some other things, so I don’t want to jump into anything too quickly.”

One of the things he’s looking forward to most is spending more time with his wife Lisa and their four sons: Logan, Jackson, Joshua and Luke.

“The oldest is 11 already — it’s hard to believe it,” marvelled Niedermayer, who’s still not sure if the family will remain settled in Anaheim.

“We always thought we’d end up back close to home eventually. That will be a decision we’ll have to make this winter.”

If they do decide on Cranbrook, that would put him closer to the Kootenay Ice, of which he and brother Rob have about a quarter share.

“We’re proud of the team, we want that team to do well and the people, when they show up at the rink, to enjoy what they’re doing and what they’re watching for sure.”

Scott, Lisa and the gang will be back in Cranbrook for a couple of months this summer. Speaking to the Townsman on Friday, Niedermayer said he was preparing to get in the truck for the drive back, after which he’d board a plane for Edmonton to join an Olympic-team celebration.

Although winning Olympic gold in February as team captain in his home province was one of his career highlights, Niedermayer said getting that chance couldn’t have been the only reason to play last season.

To not be 100 per cent committed and ready to go from the NHL season’s first puck drop would have been unfair to his Ducks’ teammates.

“If I didn’t feel I was ready to do that, then it wouldn’t have been right to move ahead and stick around for the Olympics,” he said. “I tried my best to do that. It was a disappointing season here for the Ducks, for who knows how many number of reasons, but my focus was to try and help the team here do as well as we could.”

After finishing six points shy of a playoff spot — the first time since 1996 that Niedermayer’s team would be on the outside looking in — he wanted to take some time for the disappointment to ebb before deciding on his playing future.

He said he got plenty of advice between the end of the season and last week — some of it solicited, much of it not.

“One of the things that honestly made it difficult was a lot of fans coming up and saying. ‘Please don’t retire. We love to watch you play.’ It feels good that people enjoy what you do and appreciate it, and that makes it tough when you hear people say that, but it came down to being a personal decision for sure,” he said.

Having won pretty much every accolade and an unparalleled number of world and professional championships, having nothing left to prove made Niedermayer’s decision easier.

“If you hadn’t won a Stanley Cup, your motivation to do that would burn probably stronger than ever. One thing I didn’t experience was playing for a long period of time before you reach that goal. I imagine it would be pretty satisfying to do,” he said.

“All of that is probably part of it, for sure. Like I said, I was fortunate to win a Stanley Cup at an early age (22). The trick then is just to want to do it again, and it is such a special feeling and a feeling of accomplishment that you do want to do it again. That motivation doesn’t go away because it’s that much fun to do.”

With a career that’s bound to have him in the Hockey Hall of Fame by 2013, Niedermayer felt he’d be remiss if he didn’t thank his parents Bob and Carol, who did so much.

“I realize that now as a parent.Getting a little guy dressed to play hockey is one of the greater challenges as a parent. It’s like putting a sweater on 20 times in a row,” he said, with a laugh.

“My mom and dad did a lot for both Rob and I. A lot of driving, a lot of time at the rink, a lot of organizing, making sure everything was just right for our teams and ourselves. Taking us in the summer to hockey camps, doing all that stuff. They definitely lead the pack.”

Also in the mix were a plethora of local coaches and instructors. Working off the top of his head, he listed Len Bousquet, Peter Leiman, Frank Spring, Gordie Ratcliffe, Marv Ferg, Irene Bischler, Gary Knox, Pud Downey, Bill Calder and Ted Hurd.

“I’m sure I’ve forgotten some, but I was definitely fortunate (to have had their help),” he said.