Cory Schneider Cory Franklin Schneider ( born March 18 , 1986 ) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Schneider was selected in the first round , 26th overall , by the Canucks in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft . Following his draft , he began a three - year tenure with the Boston College Eagles , winning two Lamoriello Trophies as Hockey East champions and making two NCAA Final appearances during his college career . Schneider turned professional with Vancouver ' s American Hockey League ( AHL ) affiliate , the Manitoba Moose , in 2007 and was named the league ' s Goaltender of the Year following his second season . After three seasons with the Moose , he became the Canucks ' full - time backup in 2010 – 11 . In his first full season with the Canucks , he won the William M . Jennings Trophy with Roberto Luongo for establishing the best team goals against average in the NHL . Internationally , Schneider has represented the United States at various junior levels . Early in his career , he won gold and silver medals at the 2003 U - 18 Junior World Cup and 2004 IIHF World U18 Championships , respectively . He later competed in the 2005 and 2006 World Junior Championships , finishing in fourth with the United States each time . Early life . Schneider was born to Susan and Richard Schneider in Marblehead , Massachusetts , a suburb of Boston . He began playing hockey around the age of six , trying out for the same team as his older brother , Geoff . He did not become a regular goaltender until the age of 11 , as the Marblehead Youth Hockey teams he played with at earlier ages rotated the position . Growing up , Schneider looked up to Mike Richter of the New York Rangers for being a successful American goaltender . Paying homage to Richter , he chose to wear the jersey number 35 . Schneider earned his secondary education at Marblehead High School in his hometown and Phillips Academy , a prep school in Andover , Massachusetts , where he graduated . In addition to hockey , he was also a varsity baseball player for two years during his time at Phillips Academy . While excelling in sports , Schneider also maintained proficiency in academics . Following his senior year , he received the school ' s Yale Bowl and the Boston Bruins ' John Carlton Memorial Trophy , both for achievement in scholarship and athletics . While enrolled at Boston College , Schneider majored in finance in the institution ' s Carroll School of Management . He continued to be recognized for academic achievement , being named to two Hockey East All - Academic Teams and earning Paul Patrick Daley Student - Athlete Scholarship in 2006 . He is a member of his hometown Friends of Marblehead Hockey Hall of Fame . Inducted on August 18 , 2008 , he is the only born - and - raised native to be drafted into the NHL . Playing career . High school and USNTDP ( 2000 – 04 ) . Schneider played with Marblehead High School in his freshman year before moving to Phillips Academy because of their more prestigious hockey team . In his senior year with the school , he was named the team captain . He posted 17 wins and 4 losses with a . 960 save percentage , while leading Phillips Academy to the New England Prep School semifinals . Schneider was a two - time All - New England selection in his high school career with Phillips Academy . During his senior year , Schneider also joined the United States National Team Development Program . He appeared in 10 games with the under - 18 club and two games in North American Hockey League play . Going into the 2004 NHL Entry Draft , Schneider was the second - ranked American goaltender behind Al Montoya and seventh North American goaltender overall by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau . He was selected in the first round , 26th overall , by the Vancouver Canucks . Boston College ( 2004 – 07 ) . With the option of joining the major junior ranks in Canada or staying in the United States to play college hockey , Schneider prioritized getting an education and committed to the Boston College Eagles . He had also considered Harvard and Cornell . Boston College head coach Jerry York had considered delaying Schneider ' s debut for another season and have him play Junior A in the United States Hockey League . However , when forward Adam Pineault left Boston College to play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League , a scholarship was made available and York decided to keep Schneider on the roster . Schneider made 23 saves in his college debut , a 3 – 2 win against the University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks . He was then chosen as the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on October 19 , 2004 . He later notched his first college shutout against the Yale Bulldogs on January 11 , 2005 . The following month , he was sidelined for three weeks after tearing the medial collateral ligament of his left knee during a game against the Harvard Crimson on February 14 , 2005 . Splitting the goaltending duties with senior Matti Kaltiainen , he appeared in 18 games with a 1 . 90 goals against average ( GAA ) and a . 916 save percentage while finishing with a record of 13 wins , 1 loss and 4 ties . He was named to the Hockey East All - Rookie Team and received Boston College ' s Bernie Burke Outstanding Freshman Award . By the playoffs , York made Schneider his starting goaltending over Kaltiainen . He went on to backstop Boston College to a record - setting sixth Lamoriello Trophy in team history as Hockey East champions . He made 39 saves in a double - overtime semifinal win against the Maine Black Bears , before a 26 - save performance in Boston ' s 3 – 1 final win against the New Hampshire Wildcats . He gained Hockey East Rookie of the Week accolades on March 21 , 2005 , for his semifinal and final wins and was named to the All - Tournament Team for his efforts . Advancing to the 2005 NCAA Tournament , Boston College lost their regional final by a 6 – 3 score to the North Dakota Fighting Sioux . In Schneider ' s sophomore season , he posted a college career - high . 929 save percentage and two team records of eight shutouts and 1 , 088 saves . He posted 242 : 19 consecutive shutout minutes in the month of January , not allowing a goal for more than 11 periods . His streak was broken on January 27 , 2006 , in a game against Boston University . His 1 . 96 GAA was first among goaltenders in conference play , earning him the Hockey East Goaltending Award ( his overall GAA including inter - conference play was 2 . 11 ) . He was named to the Hockey East Second All - Conference Team and was a co - recipient with teammate Chris Collins for both the Hockey East Three Stars Award and Boston College MVP . At the 2006 Beanpot , he received the Eberly Trophy as the tournament ' s best goaltender with a . 924 save percentage . His 24 wins in 39 regular season appearances helped Boston College to a successful regular season . In the playoffs , they failed to defend their Hockey East championship , losing to the Boston University Terriers in the final . Qualifying for the 2006 NCAA Tournament , Boston College met Boston University again in the regional final . Shutting the Terriers out to advance to the Frozen Four , Schneider was named the Northeastern Regional Tournament MVP . Boston College then defeated North Dakota in the semifinal before losing the national championship to the Wisconsin Badgers 2 – 1 . In his third season with Boston College , Schneider recorded a college career - high 29 wins in 42 games , along with a 2 . 15 GAA and . 925 save percentage . He led the Eagles to their second Lamoirello Trophy in three years , defeating New Hampshire by a 5 – 2 score in the final . He made his second consecutive appearance in the NCAA final , but lost to the Michigan State Spartans . Following his third college season , Schneider chose to forego his senior year to turn professional . He left Boston College with a career record of 65 wins , 25 losses and 7 ties in 97 games , as well as a college career mark of 15 shutouts . Manitoba Moose ( 2007 – 10 ) . Schneider signed an entry - level contract with the Vancouver Canucks on July 3 , 2007 . He was regarded as the Canucks ' third - string goalie behind Roberto Luongo and the newly - acquired backup Curtis Sanford . Following his first NHL training camp , he was assigned to the Canucks ' minor league affiliate , the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League ( AHL ) . After a shaky start to the 2007 – 08 season ( 3 - 7 - 0 record , 3 . 69 GAA and . 872 save percentage in 11 games ) , he was privately called out by head coach Scott Arniel in mid - December after being pulled the previous game . In recalling the meeting , Schneider has commented that " [ Arniel ] was one of the first guys to . . . tell me I wasn ' t good enough , something that I hadn ' t really heard a lot growing up . Sometimes it ' s something you need to hear . " From that point on , he emerged as Manitoba ' s starting goalie over fellow Canucks prospect Drew MacIntyre , and was named the AHL Rookie of the Month for March . He finished the season with a 21 - 12 - 2 record , 2 . 28 GAA and . 916 save percentage . Although the Moose were eliminated in the first round by the Syracuse Crunch , Schneider had an impressive playoffs , recording a 1 . 92 GAA and . 938 save percentage over six games . Going into training camp for the 2008 – 09 season , Schneider was expected to compete for the Canucks ' backup position with Sanford , who had been re - signed in the off - season . He was assigned to the Moose for a second consecutive season where he continued as the minor league team ' s starting goalie . He received his first NHL call - up from Manitoba on November 22 , 2008 , following an injury to Luongo . At the time of his call - up , he was leading the AHL in both wins and GAA in addition to establishing a team record with 10 straight wins . After sitting on the bench as Sanford ' s backup for two games , Schneider made his first NHL appearance and start on November 29 against the Calgary Flames , making 28 saves in a 3 – 1 loss . He subsequently recorded his first NHL win in a 16 - save , 2 – 1 victory against the Minnesota Wild on December 5 . After appearing in eight games for the Canucks , goaltender Jason LaBarbera was acquired in a trade from the Los Angeles Kings and Schneider was sent back to the Moose on January 5 , 2009 . During his time in Vancouver , Schneider had been named AHL Goalie of the Month for November . Upon returning to Manitoba , he extended his record - setting win streak to 13 games . He was also chosen as the starting goalie for PlanetUSA for the 2009 AHL All - Star Classic . He was named Top Goaltender in the Skills Competition , then helped PlanetUSA to a 15 – 11 win over the Canadian All - Stars . Near the end of the season , he was chosen as AHL Player of the Week on March 30 , 2009 , after allowing five goals in three starts . He completed the campaign with team records of 28 wins , 2 . 04 GAA and . 928 save percentage . Additionally the league - leader in GAA and save percentage , Schneider was awarded the Aldege " Baz " Bastien Memorial Award as AHL goaltender of the year . He also received the Harry " Hap " Holmes Memorial Award as the goaltender on the team with the lowest goals against . His award - winning campaign helped the Moose to the best regular season record in the league . In the proceeding 2009 playoffs , Schneider backstopped the Moose to the Calder Cup Finals , losing the championship in six games to the Hershey Bears . He finished the playoffs with a 2 . 15 GAA and . 922 save percentage in 22 games . In September 2009 , Vancouver re - signed Luongo to a 12 - year extension . As such , it was widely speculated that Schneider would inevitably be traded . Despite his success in the AHL , his chances of competing for a starting position with the Canucks were seen as unlikely by the media due to Luongo ' s prominence on the team . Regardless , he publicly maintained he was unfazed by his position on the Canucks ' depth chart and that he was focused on competing with the newly - acquired Andrew Raycroft for the Canucks ' backup position in 2009 – 10 . Schneider was , however , sent back to the Moose out of training camp . Less than a month into the season , Schneider received his second NHL call - up with the Canucks to backup Raycroft after Luongo was sidelined with a rib fracture on October 28 , 2009 . He remained with the Canucks for nearly two weeks , earning one start against the Dallas Stars on November 6 , stopping 45 shots in a 2 – 1 loss . He was returned to the Moose on November 10 . Despite being the reigning goaltender of the year in the AHL and having a comparable season in 2009 – 10 , Schneider was not named to PlanetUSA for the 2010 AHL All - Star Game . The non - selection drew public criticism from Moose head coach Arniel . Amidst a mediocre season as a team , Schneider posted a 2 . 51 GAA and . 919 save percentage and topped his previous team record of wins in a season with 35 in 60 games . During the campaign , he also surpassed Alex Auld on the franchise ' s all - time wins and games played list , finishing with 84 and 136 , respectively . Manitoba qualified for the 2010 playoffs with the final and eighth seed in the Western Conference . Matching up against the Hamilton Bulldogs in the opening round , they were eliminated in six games . Schneider recorded a 3 . 12 GAA and . 905 save percentage in the losing effort . Vancouver Canucks ( from 2010 ) . On June 2 , 2010 , Schneider signed a two - year , $ 1 . 8 million contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks . Assistant general manager Lawrence Gilman asserted that the new deal should establish him as Luongo ' s backup and garner more exposure to potentially facilitate a trade to another NHL team . He made his first start of the 2010 – 11 season on October 18 , 2010 , against the Carolina Hurricanes . He stopped 32 shots in a 5 – 1 win , marking his first NHL victory since December 14 , 2008 . Later in the season , he recorded his first NHL shutout , stopping 26 shots in a 3 – 0 win against the Anaheim Ducks on March 6 , 2011 . Nearing the end of the regular season , the Canucks were leading the league in team GAA , putting Luongo and Schneider in contention for the William M . Jennings Trophy . However , with a week remaining in the regular season , Schneider was two appearances short of the 25 - game minimum to qualify for the Jennings ( had he not reached the requirement , Luongo would have been awarded the trophy by himself ) . While head coach Alain Vigneault initially dismissed the notion of playing Schneider for the sole purpose of sharing the award with Luongo , he sent Schneider in relief of Luongo with 28 seconds remaining in the third - last game of the season , a 2 – 0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers for Schneider ' s 24th appearance . Two games later – the Canucks ' last contest of the regular season – Schneider was given the start against the Calgary Flames . Needing to allow seven goals or fewer to secure the Jennings , he helped Vancouver to a 3 – 2 overtime win . It marked the first time in the trophy ' s history that it was awarded to Canucks goaltenders . Luongo and Schneider ' s combined GAA of 2 . 20 was 0 . 10 better than the Boston Bruins ' s second - place goaltending tandem of Tim Thomas and Tuuka Rask . Schneider completed his NHL rookie season with a 2 . 23 GAA and . 929 save percentage in 25 games ( 22 starts ) , as well as a 16 - 4 - 2 record . His GAA tied for fourth in the league , while his save percentage ranked third and set a single - season Canucks record . Schneider made his NHL playoff debut in Game 4 of the opening round against the Chicago Blackhawks . With the Canucks down 6 – 1 , Luongo was pulled in favour of Schneider in the third period . Schneider allowed one goal on seven shots , as the Blackhawks went on to win the game 7 – 2 . After Luongo was pulled again in Game 5 , Schneider was chosen to start for Game 6 . Schneider allowed three goals on 20 shots ; he left the game in the third period after suffering cramps during a failed attempt to stop a penalty shot from Michael Frolik . The Canucks went on to lose the contest 4 – 3 in overtime , but won the following Game 7 with Luongo in net to advance to the second round . The Canucks would advance to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Boston Bruins . Schneider made an appearance in Game 6 , replacing Luongo in the first period after he gave up three quick goals . Schneider subsequently allowed two goals during the remainder of the game as the Canucks went on to lose Game 6 and then Game 7 at home . International play . Schneider competed for the United States at the 2003 U - 18 Junior World Cup , held in Břeclav , Czech Republic and Piešťany , Slovakia . He helped the club go undefeated in five games , en route to the country ' s first gold medal in the history of the tournament . Sharing goaltending duties with Ian Keserich over the course of the tournament , Schneider was given the start for the gold medal game against Russia , turning aside 32 shots for the 3 – 2 win . Schneider next appeared for the United States at the 2004 IIHF World U18 Championships in Minsk , Belarus . He recorded the third - best GAA ( 1 . 71 ) and second - best save percentage ( . 929 ) of the tournament en route to a silver medal . The United States were defeated in the gold medal game by Russia 3 – 2 . He was later named the David Peterson Goalie of the Year by USA Hockey , having led them to two medals in the 2003 – 04 season . In August 2004 , Schneider participated in the U . S . National Junior Team Evaluation Camp in Grand Forks , North Dakota . Several months later , he debuted at the under - 20 level at the 2005 World Junior Championships , hosted by the United States in Grand Forks and Thief River Falls , Minnesota . Playing backup to Al Montoya , he was given the start for a preliminary game against Belarus . After just over a period of play , he was pulled for allowing three goals on eight shots . The United States lost the game 5 – 3 in Schneider ' s only tournament appearance . After losing to Russia 7 – 2 in the semifinal , the United States lost the bronze medal game 3 – 2 to the Czech Republic in overtime . After attending the U . S . ' s summer evaluation camp for a second straight year in Lake Placid , New York , Schneider was given the starting position for the 2006 World Junior Championships in British Columbia , Canada . He was named the United States ' player of the game in their third match of the preliminary round , a 2 – 2 tie against Switzlerland ; Schneider made 22 saves . He earned his second player of the game selection in the quarterfinal , stopping 30 shots in a 2 – 1 win against the Czech Republic . The United States were then eliminated in the semifinal by Russia before losing the bronze medal game to Finland . He appeared in six games total with a 2 . 67 GAA and . 912 save percentage , fifth among tournament goaltenders . Schneider ' s first experience with the men ' s senior team came in 2007 when he was among the first eighteen players named to the United States ' team for the 2007 IIHF World Championship in Russia . Despite being named to the team , Schneider did not play in any games , instead serving as the team ' s third goaltender behind John Grahame and Jason Bacashihua . Playing style . Schneider plays in the butterfly style of goaltending , dropping to his knees with his skates pointing outwards and his pads meeting in the middle in order to cover the bottom portion of the net . He honed the style with goaltending consultant Brian Daccord , beginning at the age of 15 . Schneider ' s strengths are his size and athleticism . His coach with the Moose , Scott Arniel , has also heralded his ability to get into position ahead of time , anticipating plays .