7/01/2001

2000-2001 season notes

June 26, 2001

I've gotten a lot of questions about Mathieu's contract status, and while I
have no definative answers, I can report that several teams (possibly the
Flyers, Red Wings, and Panthers) are interested in making serious and
lucrative offers once free agency opens Sunday. Kings' management says they
have a "fair" proposal, and strongly desire retaining Mathieu. And, Mathieu
has mentioned his desire to stay in LA. Stay tuned...


June 20, 2001

Ten days until Mathieu again becomes an unrestricted free agent. LA Kings General Manager, Dave Taylor, indicates that the Kings are "prepared to put
what we think is a very good offer on the table," and that Mathieu "indicated to us that he would like to stay in LA. He likes the atmosphere, likes the coaching
staff."


May 15, 2001

Mathieu is set to become an unrestricted free agent again this July 1. The
Kings are anxious to resign him, and he seemed happy (professionally and
personally) in Southern California. But his great play down the strech and
in the playoffs has helped increase his value, and LA will have competition
in what could be quite a bidding war. The Philadelphia Flyers are said to be
interested. (Mathieu, you do not need that freak show!)



May 12, 2001

With 9 assists in the playoffs, Mathieu tied a LA Kings team record for most
assists by a defensman in one playoff year (he tied Steve Duchesne and Alex
Zhitnik).


May 11, 2001

The Kings' season is over, but at least Mathieu can shave! Anyway, Mathieu finished this year's playoff 1st on the Kings in scoring and assists (9 each), tied for 1st in +/- (+4), and tied for 2nd in shots (34). And after 2 rounds, he was 2nd among all defenseman, and tied for 19th among all players, in scoring.






























GamesGoalsAssistsPoints+/-PIMShotsShifts
(per game)
Ice Time
(per game)
Hits
13
0
9
9
4
10
34
29.15
25:51
42



May 10, 2001

Sadly, the LA Kings' season is over after a game seven lose in the second round of the playoffs. Mathieu took a bad penalty in third period that lead to a goal. Game summary: (tripping), at 5:46 of 3rd.


May 8, 2001


Tomorrow's game between LA and Colorado will be Mathieu's third career game seven. In the previous two game sevens, his team has won one and lost one, and he has scored one goal.



May 4, 2001

As the LA Kings continue to stay alive in the playoffs, Mathieu continues to lead the team in points (9 points) and plus/minus (+5). Game summary: (high sticking), at 15:59 of 2nd.



May 2, 2001

The Colorado Avalanche capitalized on Mathieu's second penalty of the entire 2001 playoffs. Game summary: (holding), at 14:30 of 2nd; (cross checking), at 6:02 of 3rd.


April 30, 2001

Mathieu did his part to keep the Kings in the game: he had 2 assists; he
was on the ice for all 3 of LA's goals; and he was the only King with a
positive plus/minus rating.Game summary: Robitaille (PP) (Palffy, Schneider), 16:17 of 1st; Palffy (Schneider, Smolinski), 19:20 of 3rd.


April 26, 2001

Mathieu had an assist on the game winner in overtime! Game summary: Laperriere (Schneider, Miller) at 9:20 of 1st; Murray (Smolinski, Schneider) at 13:00 of 3rd; Modry (PP) (Stumpel, Schneider) at 14:23 of OT.


April 25, 2001


Wow! The Kings advance to the second round of the playoffs after beating the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in six games. They now play the Colorado Avalanche. Not only is Mathieu ranked 7th in defensman scoring, his other stats in the Detroit series were pretty good:































GamesGoalsAssistsPoints+/-PIMShotsShifts
(per game)
Ice Time
(per game)
Hits
6
0
4
4
4
2
19
26.83
25:35
19



April 21, 2001

Again, Mike Brophy praises Mathieu. In The Hockey News for April 20, 2001, he included Mathieu as one of six players for the Western Conference "All-Surprise Team." The following is the short justification: "Given up for dead on Broadway, he rediscovered his scoring touch in sunny California."


April 20, 2001

The LA Kings wives have put together a cookbook, with all proceeds going to an LA area animal charity. I got one, and it is pretty cool. Shannon Schneider include a recipes, and there is also a great picture of the new Schneider family. Checkout the Kings' website for more information.


April 18, 2001

AMAZING comeback! The Kings scored 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd period (in the last 6 minutes!) to tie the game (with 40 seconds left!), which they won in overtime. Mathieu had an assist on each of those first three goals! Game summary: Thomas (PP) (Schneider, Belanger) at 14:35 of 3rd; Stumpel (Robitaille, Schneider) at 18:00 of 3rd; Smolinski (Schneider, Murray) at 19:18 of 3rd.


April 15, 2001

With an assist on the game winning goal, Mathieu helped the Kings break a long playoff losing streak dating back a Game 1 win over Mathieu and the rest of the 1993 Stanley Cup Champion Montreal Canadiens. Game summary: Stumpel (Schneider, Palffy) at 13:33 of 3rd.


April 14, 2001


Again, no points in tonight's 4-0 lose to Detroit in game 2, but after two games, Mathieu leads the team in shots with 9.


April 13, 2001

The "All-Brophy Team"? In the April 13, 2001 issue of The Hockey News, senior writer Mike Brophy selected a group of NHL players he would choose to be on his own "mentally tough and gritty" team. Of the seven defensemen chosen, Mathieu was second among them! Here is what Mike Brophy had to say: "One of Glen Sather's biggest blunders as GM of the Rangers was allowing Schneider to get away. He's having his best season in years."


April 11, 2001

While Mathieu had no points in tonight's 5-3 lose to Detroit in the first playoff game of the series, he did lead the team with a +2.


April 7, 2001

Game summary: Palffy (PP) (Schneider, Robitaille) at 6:22 of 1st; (Hooking), at 17:16 of 2nd.


April 5, 2001

The Kings clinched a playoff berth tonight. Mathieu will be making his first playoff appearance in five years!


April 3, 2001

Mathieu came close to costing the Kings the game, and possibly the playoffs
after taking a retalitory penalty which lead to a Coyotes power play goal.
But he redeemed himself in a BIG way: he scored the game tying goal! color= "#FF0000"> Game summary: (boarding), at 13:20 of 2nd; (holding)
at 6:38 of 3rd; (PP) (Smolinski, Visnovsky) at 16:26 of 3rd.


March 31, 2001

In today's game, televised on ABC, the commentators made several positive remarks about Mathieu. Here is a good one: "(Mathieu was) a free agent that many teams passed up, but probably wish they didn't after how he's been playing." They also refered to him as an "excellent skating defenseman" and "one of LA's premire defenseman."



March 27, 2001

Game summary: Robitaille (Murray, Schneider) at
5:03 of 2nd; Stumpel (PP) (Schneider, Visnovsky) at 18:04 of 2nd.


March 24, 2001

Game summary: (slashing), at 11:41 of 2nd; Palffy (PP) (Schneider, Robitaille), at 6:38 of 3rd.


March 19, 2001

Game summary: (interference) at 3:42 of 2nd.


March 17, 2001

San Jose's Bill Lindsay almost took out Mathieu's knee with a Bryan Marchment-like hit. He was down for a while, but got up and off the ice under his own power, and later joined the power-play. Mathieu later took a penalty for elbowing Bill Lindsay. Game summary: (roughing), at 3:21 of 1st; (elbowing) at 3:25 of 2nd.


March 14, 2001

After being on the IR since Feburary 22, Mathieu made his return after 8 games. He looked tentative at the on set of play and during the pre-game skate, but loosened up a bit and went on to play a good game. A few bad defensive plays, but also a few brilliant ones. He stopped a sure goal when Felix Potvin got caught out of the net. He was on the ice for 3 of the Kings 4 goals, and ended up on the bottom of a scrum in front of the net. Game summary: Belanger (Palffy, Schneider) at 3:01 of 2nd.



March 6, 2001


While eligible to come off the IR, Mathieu is not quite ready. He may be back this week.



February 28, 2001

The Kings have put Mathieu on the IR retroactive to February 23.



February 27, 2001

Still bothered by a slight groin strain, Mathieu didn't accompany the team on the two game road trip.



February 24, 2001

Mathieu did not play due to a groin strain. He is listed as day-to-day.



February 22, 2001

Game summary: (cross checking) at 18:36 of 2nd.



February 18, 2001

Mathieu needed 15 stiches to close a cut under his right eye after a puck
struck him in the third period. His eye was discolored and cheekbone
swollen, but no further treatment was needed.



February 16, 2001

Mathieu picked up the ceremonial hard-hat after being voted the "Hardest
Working Player" by his teammates. Game summary:
(PP) (Palffy, Robitaille) at 11:53 of 1st; Robitaille (PP) (Schneider,
Palffy) at 17:20 of 2nd.



February 14, 2001

Game summary: (Reinprecht, Laperriere) at
13:57 of 2nd.



February 10, 2001

Game summary: Robitaille (PP) (Visnovsky,
Schneider), at 2:48 of 3rd.



February 8, 2001


Game summary: Smolinski (Stumpel, Schneider)
(PP) at 18:00 of 2nd.



January 30, 2001

Game summary: Blake (Schneider, Palffy) (PP)
at 4:59 of 2nd; Laperriere (Schneider, Robitaille) at 9:28 of 3rd.


January 25, 2001

Mathieu is playing with recurring back spasms, and a cut with 10 stitches on his nose, courtesy of teammate Bob Corkum in Saturday's game. Game summary: (Interference), at 9:52 of 1st.


January 20, 2001

Game summary: Blake (PP) (Schneider, Palffy), at 12:37 of 2nd.


January 17, 2001

Game summary: (Palffy, Robitaille), at 1:57 of 2nd.


January 16, 2001

Mathieu had an assist on the game winning goal in OT! Game summary: Schneider (Laperriere, Belanger), at 13:58 of 2nd; (cross checking), at 9:45 of 3rd; Smolinski (Schneider, Visnovsky), at 2:01 of OT.


January 15, 2001

Here's just a sample from Sherry Ross' 2001 Hockey Scouting Report: "He doesn't react well to being ridden hard (by coaches), even though, like all players, he needs it sometimes. Schneider's pleasantly goofy personality fools people into thinking he doesn't care. He does." Pleasantly goofy? =)


January 10, 2001

Mathieu has scored as many goals as he did all last season. A change of scenery helps: "It's been great for me here. It's been a great change. I'm playing on a good team. I'm playing on a team that thinks it can win every time it goes on the ice. These guys want to win every game."


January 4, 2001

Game summary: (Palffy, Stumpel) at 4:23 of 2nd; (Holding) at 14:26 of 3rd.



January 2, 2001

Game summary: (PP) (R Blake, Smolinski), at 11:58 of 2nd.


Decmeber 31, 2000
Game summary: (hooking), at 17:32 of 1st.



Decmeber 29, 2000
Game summary: (tripping), at 13:14 of 1st; (interference), at 19:15 of 1st; R Blake (PP) (Schneider, Stumpel), at 1:18 of 3rd; (holding stick), at 9:32 of 3rd.



Decmeber 28, 2000
Game summary: Schneider (Buchberger, Karalahti), at 7:56 of 2nd; B Chartrand (Corkum, M Schneider), at 9:58 of 2nd.


Decmeber 26, 2000 (Boxing Day)

Tonight's Sharks/Kings game was televised, so I saw my first Kings game of the season. For the first Shark goal, Mathieu went down to block the shot, but probably shouldn't have; Owen Nolan passed to Partick Marleau, who, undefended, scored easily. Also, his postional play didn't seem terribly effective; However, neither team seemed effective in this way tonight. And finally, he almost knocked out another teammate, accidentally cross-checking Ian Laperriere in the face. But all in all, he did his part to keep the team in the game.


Decmeber 21, 2000
Game summary: Schneider (Visnovsky), at 10:42 of 3rd.


Decmeber 20, 2000
[stork] Mathieu and Shannon Schneider welcomed the birth of son Mathieu Jr., hours after Thursday's home game against the NY Rangers (December 14). After a difficult pregnancy and three days in the hospital, Shannon delivered the baby two months premature, weighing four pounds, four ounces. And according to dad, mom and baby are doing well. Mathieu Jr. will be at Cedars Sinai hospital for a while, with mom and dad spending a lot of time with him. Of course, thoughts and best wishes go out to the Schneider family.


Decmeber 19, 2000
Game summary: Schneider (Belanger), at 3:29 of 1st; Buchberger (R Blake, M Schneider), at 2:52 of 2nd; Smolinski (Reinprecht, M Schneider), at 13:30 of 3rd.


Decmeber 16, 2000
Josef Stumpel is out with a broken toe, thanks to a Mathieu Schneider slapshot. Oops! Game summary: Robitaille (PP) (Smolinski, M Schneider), at 16:19 of 3rd; Robitaille (SH) (R Blake, M Schneider), at 19:27 of 3rd.


Decmeber 15, 2000
The LA Kings website had a "20 questions" session with Mathieu. Also, Mathieu was part of a live chat. Read the transcipt on CBS Sportsline.


Decmeber 14, 2000
Game summary: R Blake (PP) (M Schneider, Robitaille), at 8:52 of 2nd.


December 9, 2000
Game summary:(cross
checking), at 4:24 of 2nd; Smolinski (Stumpel, M Schneider), at 1:20 of 3rd.


December 7, 2000
Game summary: (tripping), at 12:37 of 1st.


December 3, 2000
Mathieu was called for a very questionable call, which unfortunately led to a power play goal for Anaheim. Game summary: (cross checking), at 19:16 of 2nd.


November 28, 2000
Mathieu played against the Rangers tonight in New York. Were there hard feelings? He says no: "You always want to do well against your former team. This is different, though. I don't have anything against the Rangers. If management had stayed the same, I might still be there." As for the game at MSG, "I'll have a lot of friends there."Game summary: Reinprecht (PP) (R Blake, M Schneider), at 13:09 of 1st.


November 25, 2000
Game summary: Palffy (PP) (M Schneider, Robitaille), at 9:35 of 1st.


November 23, 2000

Good weather, laid back lifestyle, and a new baby are among the reasons why Mathieu likes his new city. See Quotes for more...Game summary: Robitaille (PP) (Schneider, Palffy), at 11:17 of 1st.


November 19, 2000

Back spasms have put Mathieu on the shelf for awhile, but he says he'll be ready for the next game: "I hurt it again in practice yesterday. Then it stiffened up again last night, and in warmups it got worse. I didn't want to make it worse. We've got four days off, and I'll be ready for that."


November 18, 2000

Mathieu missed tonight's 6-4 win over Colorado due to a lower back strain.


November 17, 2000

Mathieu has scored 3 goals since the change in defenseive partners six games ago. He is well ahead of career record pace.


November 16, 2000

After a few days rest, Mathieu's back seems to be fine. He strainied it a few days ago in the weight room. It bothered him a bit on Saturday, and receievd treatment during intermissions. He had this to say: "It stiffened up on me out there and bothered my hips as well as my back. But when you go out there playing, you don't notice it that much. It's when you're sitting on the bench that you notice it. When you get on the ice, the adrenaline takes over and it seems to go away." Game summary: Murray (Schneider, Reinprecht), at 16:13 of 2nd; Schneider (SH) (Buchberger, Reinprecht), at 18:20 of 3rd.


November 11, 2000
Mathieu had the game tying goal!!! Game summary: Schneider (PP) (Visnovsky, Palffy), at 9:49 of 3rd.


November 9, 2000
Game summary:(interference), at 1:45 of 1st.


November 7, 2000

Game summary:
R Blake (PP) (Smolinski, Schneider), at 12:17 of 3rd.



November 5, 2000

Game summary:
Schneider (PP) (R Blake, Palffy), at 10:54 of 1st.


November 2, 2000

Game summary: Schneider (Stumpel, Palffy), at 6:26 of 2nd.


October 24, 2000

Mathieu has a thing about knocking out Mighty Ducks. Teemu Selanne complained of concussion-like symptoms after getting "smacked" in the head by Mathieu's stick. He better watch that mess! Game summary: (interference), at 10:14 of 1st; (boarding), at 16:07of 2rd; Palffy (PP) (Schneider, R Blake), at 1:04 of OT.


October 21, 2000

Good reports out of LA! From the Associated Press: "Mathieu Schneider continues to be the Kings' best offseason acquisition." And from the LA Times: "Schneider has proved as potent on the power play as advertised." Game summary: Reinprecht (G Murray, Schneider), at 2:34 of 1st; (hooking), at 7:13 of 1st; (high sticking), at 11:18 of 3rd.


October 19, 2000

Game summary: Reinprecht (Schneider, Emerson), at 8:22 of 3rd.


October 15, 2000

Game summary: Palffy (PP) (R Blake, Schneider) at 16:16 of 3rd.


October 13, 2000 (Friday the 13th, spooky)

Game summary: Laperriere (Reinprecht, Schneider) at 14:40 of 1st; (Slashing) at 6:28 of 3rd.


October 11, 2000

Game summary:Schneider (pp) (Smolinski) at17:50 of 1st; Smolinski (pp) (Schneider, Robitaille) at 5:23 of 1st; Palffy (pp) (Blake, Schneider) at16:13 of 2nd.


October 9, 2000

Game summary:Schneider (pp) (Smolinski, Palffy) at 13:48 of 1st; (Boarding) at 0:48 of 3rd.



October 6, 2000

Game summary: (slashing) at 5:23 of 2nd.


October 5, 2000

Mathieu is now wearing number 10.


September 25, 2000

The following statement is from Montreal's famous hockey columnist, Red Fisher: "Mathieu Schneider should do all right with the Los Angeles Kings, particularly on the power play alongside shooting stars such as Blake and Ziggy Palffy" (Montreal Gazette, September 23, 2000).


September 23, 2000


Mathieu scored his first goal as a King in tonight's preseason game!


September 17, 2000

Mathieu made his Kings debut in tonight's 4-0 win over Anaheim; he had 2 assists and two penalties.


September 12, 2000

Mathieu sat out practice today as a precautionary measure; he is nursing a sore groin.


September 10, 2000

According to the LA Daily News, Mathieu was acquired by the Kings at "(Rob) Blake's recommendation." Blake went on to say this about Mathieu: "Schneider is the only one who is a proven player."


August 16, 2000



I could have said this: "Not to beat a dead horse, but now that Mathieu Schneider has signed with the Kings for one year at $2 million with a club-or-player option for another at $2 million, can we all agree that the $14 million, four-year deal Sather negotiated with Vladimir Malakhov is completely out of whack? (TSN)"


August 13, 2000

Mathieu Scheider has officially signed with the Los Angeles Kings. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Of the signing, Mathieu had this to say: "The Kings were at the top of my list from the start, so I'm very excited right now to be joining their team. I think this is a real good fit for me and my style of play. I'm looking forward to contributing on the power play as well as getting a chance to play with a guy like Rob Blake." Congratulations Mathieu!!


August 9, 2000


Nothing new to report regarding Mathieu's free agency. The following is from CBS Sportsline: "After early negotiations with Detroit, which ended when the Red Wings re-signed Larry Murphy, things quieted down for Schneider... But Schneider's Pittsburgh-based agent, Steve Reich, reports progress despite the rather short list of top teams Schneider hopes to court. He hasn't been in a playoff game in five seasons, and has played in just seven postseason games in the past 10 years [sic], so using free-agency to move to a contender is a high priority, at least equal to the salary he is commanding. 'The "where" is as important as the "how much" at this stage,' Reich told SportsLine.com on Monday. 'So far, we haven't been able to get exactly what we're looking for, but we're making some progress. We decided when we entered the process that we're going to be patient and not rush to do something just to do something. ... He'll be playing somewhere for somebody for some length of time. That just hasn't been determined yet.' " Some info was not correct: It has been four seasons since Mathieu last played a playoff game; and he has appeared in 50 postseason games in the last 10 years, not seven.


July 18, 2000

After not resigning Mathieu, this is what Glen Sather had to say: "This isn't a slight against Schneider, but it's necessary to make changes when a team doesn't make the playoffs for three years. I'm not blaming him, but his contract was up, the same way Kevin Hatcher's contract was up." (The only difference between Mathieu and Hatcher was that Mathieu actually played great last season.)



July 10, 2000

It's official, Mathieu's days as a Ranger are over. Glen Sather stated he would not resign Mathieu after signing Vladmir Malakhov. Here is how the media of New York feel about it. "The Rangers' general manager is quite enamored of the flighty defenseman. Malakhov has bounced around the league the last several years, but Sather doesn't seem to be bothered by that... Sather said, 'I think he moves the puck better than Schneider, and... I don't know if he's even interested in coming back to New York.'" (New York Post); "Sather said he wasn't sure about Mathieu Schneider's desire to return to Rangers because he had not heard from his agent, Steve Reich. But Reich said that he has left a couple of messages for Sather and not heard back." (New York Daily News); "Sather would obviously rather have the enigmatic Malakhov than the incumbent Mathieu Schneider. Not only did Sather say that he feels Malakhov moves the puck better, but he added that it's Schneider's responsibility to phone Sather, and not the other way around. 'If (Schneider) doesn't know what I'm doing here, he must be in the dark ages,' Sather said." (New York Daily News); "Schneider desperately wanted to return to the Rangers and undoubtedly would have done so if Neil Smith still were the team's GM. But Sather never showed any interest in re-signing Schneider, failing to return phone calls from agent." (Newark Star-Ledger); "Malakhov possesses an undeniably wondrous package of physical skills. But his signing is tantamount to exchanging his unpredictability for Mathieu Schneider's following a season in which Schneider played some of the best, most consistent hockey of his career. Schneider, a New York native, desperately wanted to return to the Rangers. Sather wouldn't even return agent Steve Reich's phone calls, focusing instead on signing Malakhov." (The Sporting News). Maybe Mathieu is better off away from the freak show in Manhattan.


July 4, 2000

Now Glen Sather has lost another "cheaper" defenseman: Don Sweeney. As for how Mathieu feels right now: "A couple of teams have called already, but New York isn't one of them. I really have no idea why. But I haven't read anything into it one way or the other." And after all this, he still wants to come back: "I was born in New York and I love it there. I get along well with the guys on the team and it's always been my first pick, and that hasn't changed."


July 3, 2000

One source reports that Mathieu is close to a deal with the Detroit Red Wings, but I don't know for sure about that.


July 2, 2000

What is going on with the Rangers? After the expansion draft, GM Glen Sather remarked that "as a Group III free agent, Schneider's not a loss." He hasn't even called Mathieu. Sather's interest in re-signing Mathieu has been described as "lukewarm," and he says he might be interested "if the price is right." But after courting several cheaper defenseman, like Kevin Haller, Sean Hill and Roman Hamrlik, all of whom have ended up on other teams, Sather may have missed out. Also, it's been guessed he is just trying to get Mathieu's price down. But, again, after the high prices of other defensemen , Sather may have lost that gamble as well.


July 1, 2000


Mathieu has official become an unrestricted free-agent. After a great season, one of his best in years, he still wants badly to remain in New York. Nothing is certain as Mathieu said, "I'm curious as to what's going to happen, and I don't have any idea right now."


June 30, 2000

After signing Lyle Odelein, the Blue Jackets admit they picked Mathieu solely for a compesory pick in next years draft and won't attempt to resign him.

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