Cory Schneider has retired from the NHL after 13 seasons.
A first-round pick (No. 26) by the Vancouver Canucks at the 2004 NHL Draft, the 37-year-old goalie was 171-159-58 with a 2.43 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and 26 shutouts in 410 NHL games (389 starts) with the Canucks, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. Schneider played for Bridgeport of the American Hockey League last season.
“I’m content,” Schneider told NHL.com on Tuesday. “I’m satisfied with kind of pushing it as far as I could and kind of leaving on my own terms. I don’t think many athletes do get to leave on their terms, so I know that’s not very common. But I think for me, seeing that I could still play at a high level and being proud of that and the fact that I felt good about myself is a better way to go out there than maybe leaving after that COVID year (2019-20).”
He played his first five NHL seasons with the Canucks. Working in a tandem with Roberto Luongo in 2010-11, he was 16-4-2 with a 2.23 GAA and .929 save percentage, helping Vancouver reach the Stanley Cup Final.
Schneider was traded to the New Jersey Devils on June 30, 2013, and signed a seven-year contract with them on July 9 of that year. He shared the goaltending duties with Martin Brodeur in New Jersey during the 2013-14 season and had a 1.97 GAA and a .921 save percentage in 45 games (43 starts), then started 68 games in 2014-15 (26-31-9, 2.26 GAA, .925 save percentage).
He helped the Devils qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2017-18 when he finished 17-16-6 with a 2.93 GAA and .907 save percentage in 40 regular-season games. He missed much of the second half of the season because of a groin injury but played three games in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Schneider had a 1.78 GAA and a .950 save percentage in four playoff games (three starts).
“I know that’s been dissected a bunch playing behind Roberto and Marty, but at the end of the day, not many people get to work with people they had posters of on their wall as kids,” Schneider said. “I kind of a look at it as a wonderful opportunity to see the best of the best in the world do what they do up close and personal and develop relationships and friendships with them.
“In terms of my career timing-wise, it probably wasn’t ideal, but you don’t really get to pick and choose how your path is going to go and that was my path and I tried to learn all I could from those guys because they’re two of the greatest of all-time for a reason and we should all be so lucky to work with people like that in our professional careers whatever you do.”
Schneider had hip surgery after the 2017-18 season and was limited to 26 NHL games in 2018-19. He split the 2019-20 season between New Jersey and Binghamton of the AHL. After New Jersey bought out the final two seasons of his seven-year contract, Schneider agreed to terms with the New York Islanders on Dec. 31, 2020. In his only NHL start with New York, he made 27 saves in a 4-3 win against the Devils on April 3, 2022.
He was 19-11-3 with a 2.94 GAA and .913 save percentage in 33 games for Bridgeport last season.
“I know the majority of the last two years were spent in the [AHL], but I felt I played really well there, and I felt good,” Schneider said. “I just never really got the chance to have an extended run in the NHL, which I understand. I knew that was a possibility when I went to the island. Obviously, Ilya [Sorokin] and [Semyon Varlamov] are incredible, probably the best goalies in the League and they stay healthy, which is a good thing, but it didn’t leave a lot of opportunities for me.”
Schneider said he had some conversations with teams in Switzerland about playing there this season but decided to retire in June.
“I just didn’t want to [play in] the American (Hockey) League again and I knew the NHL was a long shot,” Schneider said. “I think the body just kind of said, ‘That’s enough.’”
NHL.com staff writers Mike G. Morreale and Tom Gulitti contributed to this report
