Local Goalie Lacing Up For the Canucks

The eyes of sports fans across the state will be focused on Vancouver tonight, where the Boston Bruins will take on the Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.

For many Marblehead residents, however, the decision of which team to root for will be complicated by the fact that Cory Schneider, of Marblehead, will be watching the game from the Canucks bench - wearing the jersey of the only team still standing between the Bruins and Lord Stanley's Cup.

Schneider, 25,  grew up in Marblehead,  and played with in his freshman year before moving to Phillips Academy.

He was drafted by the Canucks in the 2004 NHL Draft and then began a three-year tenure at Boston College, where he won two Lamoriello Trophies and made it to the NCAA Hockey Finals twice. 

In 2007, Schneider joined Vancouver's AHL affiliate, the Manitboa Moose and was named the league's goaltender of the year in his second season.

In June of last year, and went 16-4 during the regular season serving as backup goaltender to the team's well-established starter, Roberto Luongo.

Although he has spent much of the playoffs on the bench, Schneider was called in to start Game 6 of the team's first round match-up against the Chicago Blackhawks after Luongo struggled in games 4 and 5. In that game, Schneider was solid between the pipes and earned a victory that ended up springboarding the team to a series win.

In a radio interview earlier this week, Schneider told WEEI's Mut & Merloni that he expects to have friends and family members back home who will be pulling for the Canucks on his behalf.

"Well my biggest problem is my oldest brother, because he is a die hard Bruins fan," Schneider said during the interview. "But I talked to him and he said 'you gotta go for blood'...they’re going to be Canucks fans for this one unfortunately."

When he heard he was going to be drafted by the Canucks, Schneider told Mut & Merloni that any attachment he had to the Boston Bruins quickly diminished.

“It’s a weird feeling, you get into the game you kind of just become a fan of the sport and not a fan of an individual team," Schneider said. "I keep an eye on the Bruins because my friends and family members are rooting for them and its a big deal back home - but I’d rather get my name on the cup than see the bruins win.”