Detroit Red Wings v New Jersey Devils

Devils goalie Cory Schneider is often hard on himself, but friends say he is mentally tough.

(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The torch has been passed, although there are admittedly a few singe marks left from the slightly awkward process.



Cory Schneider is now the clear-cut No. 1 goaltender for the Devils. All indications are that Martin Brodeur will play one more season and it will not be in New Jersey.



"We're going forward. Cory is the goalie of the future for this team," general manager Lou Lamoriello said Monday.



Well, at least for the present.



Schneider, 28, is signed for the 2014-15 season. The team wants to sign him to a long-term extension, but that will happen only if he feels the Devils are truly committed to sticking with him by giving him a fair opportunity to start at least 60 games a season.



It was just about a year ago— June 30, 2013— that Schneider received a text from a friend who suggested he should turn on his television and watch the NHL entry draft being televised from the Prudential Center in Newark.



As he tuned in, Schneider found out, like so many others, that he had been traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the Devils for a first-round draft pick.



At the time, Lamoriello said the Devils had found Brodeur's successor. But does he still feel that way?



"Yes, without question," the GM said. "We feel even more strongly about that after having him here firsthand.



"We've been so lucky to have Marty Brodeur for so long. With Marty's personality and ability, players wanted to play in front of him. Same with Cory. We had enough information on Cory from his past, but when you live it and see it firsthand, it endorses your feeling."



Schneider appeared in 45 games last season and posted a 16-15-12 record with a 1.97 goals-against average and .921 save percentage. Brodeur started 39 games and went 19-14-6 with a 2.51 GAA and .901 save percentage.



"First of all, the team did not have success so our feeling is that no individual had success," Lamoriello suggested. "Cory came into a unique situation. It was difficult for both goaltenders. Now we're going forward.



"Marty has made his decision. Quite frankly, I'm not going to make it a difficult topic."



Brodeur has said several times that he plans to test the market as an unrestricted free agent. It is Schneider's time to take over the Devils.



Aside from the team's knack for giving him little offensive support, one aspect of Schneider's first season with the Devils stands out. He blamed himself for every one of his 15 losses and was usually extremely hard on himself.



"I think if you're a teammate of this guy, you have to respect the fact that he's the first in line for accountability," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. "Sometimes, in my mind, it's a little unwarranted. He probably shouldn't be first in that line on some of the nights he is, but you have to admire that trait."



Does that trait hurt Schneider's confidence?



"I don't know if it hurts him. I did have a conversation with him about it last year about putting too much responsibility on himself," DeBoer said, "but that's his personality and I don't think it affects his play."



It has, in fact, been Schneider's personality for a long time.



He first began showing promise while playing prep school hockey at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., where hockey coach Dean Boylan saw a young goalie who was hard on himself but was able to let it go.



"In some respects I think he is hard on himself," Boylan said. "However, he doesn't hold onto things and keep them in the back of his mind. I think he works them through and moves forward. He's one of the hardest workers I've ever coached. His desire to get better is just unbelievable.



"And he's a natural leader. He was voted captain his senior year at Andover, with good reason, and certainly that work ethic plays into that leadership. No question about it."



Schneider arrived at Andover as a sophomore.



"My recollection is that Cory just worked very, very hard," Boylan said. "He beat out a senior for the job. He got the big game against Exeter at the end of the year. One thing about Cory that I can't say about all the goaltenders I've coached, is that no matter how a goal was scored Cory was thinking about how he could have prevented it.



"There are numerous goalies who would say, 'There is nothing I could've done about that.' I never heard that from Cory. He was always trying to figure out a way that he could've stopped a goal. And that's kind of unique."



Schneider plans to spend most of this summer in Boston and at his lake house in New Hampshire.



"We're also pretty busy this summer with weddings," he said.



He will again work with longtime goalie coach Brian Daccord, the founder of Stop It Goaltending with six locations in Massachusetts. Schneider is a part owner.



"Brian helped teach me the basics of modern goaltending and what you see now— butterflying, pushing, all that stuff," Schneider noted. "He and I still work together and have a good relationship."



Daccord stresses that he does not talk goaltending with Schneider during the NHL season. That is solely Chris Terreri's job.



In the offseason, Schneider puts in the time.



"The amazing thing about Cory in the summer time is we train close to 500 goalies. We have the ice from 8 o'clock in the morning until 8 o'clock at night," Daccord said. "I've always said to Cory, 'Why don't we do something special for you. We'll get a couple guys and shooters and go out and do everything just for you.'



"He says, 'No, I want to be with the guys.' The guys are primarily minor leaguers and college guys. So he goes out and we skate in groups of 12. We go three goalies to a net and he just hops in with the regular group. He goes with a couple of college guys or minor leaguers."



As for his willingness to acknowledge his mistakes during the season, Daccord doesn't feel Schneider is too hard on himself.



"He's just so competitive. When you're in the stands you can feel it. He hates getting scored on," Daccord said. "He takes complete accountability but he's so mentally tough that it's different. If some guys were that hard on themselves you'd worry about it. But not him, because he's so business-like.



"I never worry about him that way. I look at it as competitiveness and it's never really brought him down. If I see an interview where he's hard on himself or if I read something where he's putting it on his own shoulders, I know if anybody can handle it, he can handle it."



After sharing the goaltending in Vancouver with Roberto Luongo and then doing the same with Brodeur last season, is Schneider ready to be the Devils' true No. 1?



"I think he was ready two years ago," Daccord said. "I think it was pretty obvious. The Vancouver people recognized that as well. It got to the point where you couldn't deny it.



"If you'd ever want a guy who was going to be watching your back every night, this is the guy you'd want. I don't think there is any question in anyone's mind that he's going to be a top 10 guy."