New Jersey Devils goalie Cory Schneider seems to have turned the page on the roughest stretch of his career and will now represent his country.
The year 2018 was not very kind to New Jersey Devils goalie Cory Schneider. He went winless in every game he played except for the one playoff win vs the Tampa Bay Lightning. Then, after the year flipped to 2019, something changed for Schneider.
He looked like the Schneider of old after getting his first win in over a year in relief against the Minnesota Wild. It wasn’t enough to get the Devils back in the playoffs because they had so many injuries and other issues in different spots of their lineup, but it gave us lots of hope for how good the goaltending can be moving forward.
It appears that his comeback isn’t going unnoticed, as he was one of the goalies named to the IIHF Men’s World Championship. This tournament is a great way for Schneider to build his game back up even more and be ready for what looks to be a fun 2019-20 Devils season.
The two other goalies on this roster are Thatcher Demko and Cayden Primeau. These two are the top American goalie prospects so Schneider is the veteran guy on the team who should lead the way. The young guys might get some minutes to help in their development, but Schneider is the one on the team that has been there and done that.
The IIHF World’s is not considered best on best, but he will be playing with and against some very great players. Guys like Patrick Kane, Jack Eichel, and Dylan Larkin are on the team USA squad so they are shaping up to be a pretty good team. If these guys can score and Schneider can play like he did in the second half of this season, they have a nice chance to win the tournament.
Winning this tournament would be great for Schneider’s confidence and that would be awesome to see because this 2019-20 Devils team is going to need him. With a healthy Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri joined by the number-one overall pick, this could be a very fun team moving forward.