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Cory Schneider Is Truly Elite

April 17, 2015, 11:57 AM ET [44 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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Cory Schneider is rarely mentioned when discussing the league's best goaltenders, but the fact of the matter is that he is part of that group.

Prior to coming to New Jersey he had never been a full-time starter, which led many to question whether he would continue to post good numbers as the No. 1 guy.

Well, he has proven all doubters wrong with his play since coming to the Devils prior to the 2013-14 season.

Schneider has not only held his own, and established himself as a legitimate starter, but he's been one of the best goaltenders in hockey, and has the numbers to back that up.

Schneider is 4th in 5 vs 5 save percentage among 25 goaltenders with 4,000+ full strength minutes since the beginning of 2013-14 (numbers via stats.hockeyanalysis.com).



As you can see, Schneider is just a notch below Carey Price, Tuukka Rask and Steve Mason over the last two years, and two of those three guys - Price and Rask - have much better defenses in front of them.

Schneider's numbers put him ahead of the likes of Henrik Lundqvist, Pekka Rinne and Jonathan Quick - goaltenders regularly thought of much higher than Schneider - to name a few.

It's not just a small sample size, either, as if you go back four years in 5 vs 5 data he is still 4th among 20+ eligible goaltenders (minimum 8,000 minutes) in save percentage.

Schneider is truly among the best of the best, which is certainly good news for a Devils team that invested a lot into him.

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