Cory Schneider is taking pad style to a new level at the World Cup, rocking a full American flag design on both pads at the tournament. The World Cup will be Schneider’s first chance to suit up for USA since the 2007 World Championship.
Devils’ Cory Schneider to wear star-spangled pads at World CupThere was a time when Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury was an oddity simply because of his bright yellow pads. But in the years since Fleury came into the league with his luminescent legs, goaltenders have started to get more colorful with their equipment, including some putting designs onto the face of their gear.
Former NHL netminder Chris Mason, for instance, made the logo-on-pads style popular with two sets of Winnipeg Jets-themed gear, Eddie Lack followed up by rocking the Vancouver Canucks’ logo and Carolina Hurricanes’ crest across the face of his pads and Petr Mrazek has split the Detroit Red Wings with half appearing on each of his pads, too.
But for the World Cup, New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider is making his entire pad part of the design. Check out the awesome star-spangled banner pads Schneider, who could very likely be the starter throughout the tournament for Team USA, is set to don at the competition:
The design may be much less involved than stitching an entire logo across the front of the pads, but there’s something that makes Schneider’s new gear stand out that much more. It’s not the first time he’s had some custom pads, though. For the All-Star Game in Nashville this past season, Schneider broke in some gear that had a country flair. Across the front of the pads were two crossed acoustic guitars, an ode to the country music scene in Nashville.
In order to be showcasing his stars and stripes pads, Schneider will have to earn the starts ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop and Los Angeles Kings netminder Jonathan Quick.
It will be Schneider’s first chance to suit up for Team USA since the 2007 World Championship, but his play this past season more than earned him the shot. He posted a 27-25-6 record in New Jersey with four shutouts, and his 2.15 goals-against average and .924 save percentage were excellent.
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