Devils' Schneider hopes new pads make sweet music

NASHVILLE -- Now that he has his honky-tonk pads with guitars that cross when he closes his five-hole, New Jersey Devils goalie Cory Schneider is excited about the possibilities of his flashy equipment.

He needed to be convinced it was a good idea when it was first brought up to him by Scott Hughes, his rep with Vaughn Hockey, the company that makes the pads.

"I was a little hesitant at first because I guess it's not my style," Schneider said. "They talked to the League and the League was all excited about it, and I just said, 'What the heck.' Now I can use them for charity or auction them off, do something productive with them. It's a win-win."

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Schneider said the original plan was to get Gibson involved to make the pads specific to a Gibson guitar, but there wasn't enough time to make it happen.

"It was two weeks ago, but they did a good job," he said. "They got them done in like a week. So every time I need a set of pads that are late or backed up, I'm going to be like, 'I know you guys can do this in a week.'"

Schneider is curious how they'll work for him on Sunday in the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game at Bridgestone Arena (5 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

"Hopefully I'll stop some pucks with them, but maybe not," he said. "In the 3-on-3, it might be nothing."

If he does, will he gives the pads a chance in a real game coming out of the break?

"No, no, no," he said, laughing. "I don't think that would fly. My teammates would probably look at me like I was an idiot."