BC's Schneider Retires from Pro Hockey

Longtime NHL netminder Cory Schneider (Boston College) has called it a career, retiring after 16 professional seasons.

Schneider, 37, last played in the NHL in 2021-22, making his only appearance with the New York Islanders in a win against his old New Jersey Devils team. He spent all of last season in the American Hockey League, posting a 19-11-3 record with a 2.94 goals-against average and one shutout for Bridgeport. The Marblehead, Mass. native, who dealt with hip and other injuries that curtailed the latter part of his career, finished with a 171-159-58 record in 410 NHL regular-season appearances with Vancouver, New Jersey and the Islanders, to go with a 2.43 GAA and 26 shutouts. He also helped Vancouver to within one game of the Stanley Cup in 2011, the same year he and Roberto Luongo combined to win the Jennings Trophy. He was later traded to New Jersey at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, where he remained until 2020.

In 224 career AHL regular-season outings, Schneider went 127-79-17 (2.53, 14 SO) with Manitoba, Binghamton and Bridgeport, and was tabbed the AHL's Best Goaltender in 2008-09. A product of Phillips Academy Andover in Massachusetts, he played three years at Boston College (99 GP, 66-26-7, 2.09, 15 SO) and backstopped the Eagles to back-to-back NCAA title game appearances in 2006 and 2007. He was also a First Team All-America selection in 2006, and a two-time NCAA Hockey East All-Academic Team choice.

Schneider also represented the United States with the U.S. National Team Development Program prior to BC. He also played for Team USA at the 2004 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, two World Junior Championships, the 2017 World Cup and the 2019 World Championship.

Nicolas Kerdiles 1994-2023

Nicolas Kerdiles (Wisconsin) died on Sept. 23 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Nashville. He was 29 years old.

A left wing from Lewisville, Tex., Kerdiles starred with the Los Angeles Selects before playing two years with the U.S. National Development Team Program. He then skated two seasons with Wisconsin, where in 60 games with the Badgers he collected 16 goals and 45 assists for 61 points to go with 70 penalty minutes. He also helped Wisconsin to the WCHA postseason title in 2013 before doing the same with the nascent Big Ten conference in 2014, although the Badgers were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament both years. 

Selected 36th overall by Anaheim in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Kerdiles played three regular-season and four Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Ducks, notching one assist in postseason play. Having grown up in Irvine, Calif. after relocating there from France in his early years, he was the first player from Orange County to ever skate for Anaheim.

Kerdiles spent the bulk of his professional career in the American Hockey League with Norfolk, San Diego and Manitoba before retiring in 2019. In 181 AHL regular-season outings, he recorded 47-60—107 points and 178 PIM. He also helped the United States to the gold medal at the 2012 IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Czechia in his career, and played for the U.S. at the 2012 World Junior Championship in Alberta, Canada.

MSU to Name Munn Ice Surface for Ron Mason

The ice surface at Munn Ice Arena at Michigan State University will be named Ron Mason Rink after the legendary Spartan head coach. The dedication will be held on Oct. 7, before MSU's 2023-24 home opener against visiting Lake Superior State.

Mason, from Blyth, Ontario, guided the Spartans from 1979 to 2002, where he fashioned an overall record of 635-270-69. That mark included the 1986 NCAA crown, plus 10 CCHA tournament titles and eight CCHA regular-season championships. He also led MSU to 19 NCAA tournament appearances, including a streak of nine consecutive berths to close his career. The CCHA's Mason Cup, awarded to the league's tournament champion in both its original and current incarnations, is named after him.

Mason also coached at Lake Superior, where he won an NAIA title, and at Bowling Green before spending 23 seasons at MSU, where he coached 35 All-Americans, and 50 former Spartans who went on to play in the NHL. At the time of his retirement, he was NCAA hockey's all-time wins leader with 924 victories, having compiled an overall record of 924-380-83 (.696) over 36 seasons, including 10 campaigns of 30 or more wins. 

Following his coaching career, Mason spent six years as athletic director at MSU, and celebrated the 2007 NCAA title with the Spartans before retiring the following year. A member of the MSU Hall of Fame, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, and the 1992 AHCA national coach of the year, he passed away in June 2016 at the age of 76.

Munn Ice Arena, which seats 6,114 spectators, opened in 1974 as a hockey-only facility, and underwent a $26.7 million renovation over the last few years. The Spartans hosted an NCAA record 323-game regular-season sellout streak there from 1985 to 2004.

22 Years Later

  

MARK BAVIS

Boston University 1993

March 13, 1970-Sept. 11, 2001

United #175

UND's Sanderson Signs Extension with Sens

Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson (North Dakota) will be staying in Canada's capital for the foreseeable future.

Sanderson, 21, recently signed an eight-year, $64.4-million contract extension with the Senators, who drafted him fifth overall in 2020 after he had played for the U.S. National Team Development Program in Michigan. He made his NHL debut last year, tallying four goals and 28 assists for 32 points with Ottawa, to go with 12 penalty minutes in 77 regular-season outings.

A 6-foot-2, 185-pound native of Whitefish, Mont., Sanderson played two NCAA seasons at North Dakota (2020-2022), before signing with Ottawa last year. In 45 career appearances with the Fighting Hawks, he posted 10-31—41 points and 41 PIM. He also helped UND to two NCHC regular-season titles and two NCAA tournament appearances, plus one NCHC tournament crown. While at UND, he also played in one game for the U.S. in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, recording one assist.