After by far the worst year in a New Jersey Devils uniform, Cory Schneider seems to have lost his confidence in himself and his team. If he works on anything this offseason, fixing that needs to be tops on his list.
New Jersey Devils’ goaltender Cory Schneider has been off all season long. When he was making miraculous saves throughout the past three years, this year he was letting in easy goals.
It all culminated in the final game of the season. Riley Sheahan had a terrible season for the Detroit Red Wings, scoring zero goals in the team’s first 81 games. He scored two goals against Schneider on Sunday. Just shows the place that Schneider’s season, and the Devils season for that matter, has been this season.
Confidence is hard to trace in an athlete. There aren’t any advanced stats that can really trace it. The job of a goalie is one of the most mentally tough in all of sports, so confidence is key.
One of the main downfalls to Schneider’s season was how many goals were scored from the blue line. When really good shots like Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson went in, it was expected, but most defensemen seemed to have a shot against Schneider this season.
Schneider also seemed to be a step slower when moving side to side. Something that made him elite in seasons past, this season he seemed like he didn’t trust those instincts.
Trust and confidence are the key to getting back the Cory Schneider of old.
Many goalies had bad seasons that they could bounce back from. Schneider’s .908 save percentage to end the season is the same number Martin Brodeur had in his final Stanley Cup Finals run. His 2.82 goals against average, however, needs some serious improvement.
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The Devils will likely make moves to improve its defense in the offseason. There were times the defenders were downright awful. Next season, a serious upgrade is needed if the Devils expect the same Schneider that can play with the best in the league. It honestly wasn’t even fair to him at times.
New Jersey has a lot of moves to make this offseason. One move that would be a mistake is to move on from Cory Schneider. He’s just 31 years old. He is signed for five more years at a reasonable $6 million per season. Schneider can bounce back if he is able to get his confidence back. That should be his main focus from now until October.