Mathieu Schneider

<img style="float: left; margin-right: 8px;" src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/11/schneider_blog.jpg" alt="" border="0">It's been month since my last blog (sorry it's been a little crazy!). Now that we have a couple days between games, it gives me a some time to catch up. The last time I wrote, I was anticipating my return so looks like I've got lots to talk about... <Br><br> I didn't know for sure that I was going to be able to play against Edmonton in that first game but I had a feeling and I knew I wanted to. Being back on the ice is great, I feel good, my body feels really good so there are no issues there at all. I'm just trying to get used to the speed and the timing out there and that just takes playing a few games. <br><br> Our schedule hasn't been kind so it would be nice to play a game and have a couple days off, evaluate things, play another game but it's just been coming fast and furious. With the injuries, it's made it even more difficult to recover from games but as a team we're keeping our head above water and for us, when we got above that eighth spot line that's staring at us all the time in our dressing room, it's nice to see. <br><br> When I was rehabbing, it was so hard to watch your teammates and not be able to contribute on the ice but it was so much fun to get into those first few games. I just have to keep the focus and keep playing simple, trying not to do too much out there and getting more involved. I'm slowly trying to get back where I feel comfortable and the game feels easier out there. <br><br> <a class="zoomImage" href="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/11/nov0909_schneider_b.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/11/nov0909_schneider_t.jpg" class="imageFloatRightFramed"border=0 /></a>A brand new experience for me this year was in Anaheim when I played up front because I've never had to play forward in the NHL but even in that game, I pretty much played as a third defenceman so it wasn't that much different. I actually enjoyed it because I got to be a little more aggressive, I think it helped me get some of my timing as far as playing guys one on one and being able to close the gap and stay aggressive when forwards come down the rush. I was able to get a few more hits and be a little more physical, which gave me more confidence on how I feel about my shoulder. <br><br> It was nice to get the first goal, especially in my second game back against Detroit but obviously you want it to be in a winning cause but at the time, it put us in the lead, so at that time, it was something to really celebrate. It's a big part of my job playing here is that when I get my opportunities on the powerplay is to get pucks through like that so I'm not going to waste those chances. It was certainly nice to get it early, sometimes it can get dragged out and go six, seven, eight games without scoring. Now I've got the first one and got the monkey off my back so now I can just relax and just play when I go out there. <br><br> This is the first really long trip that I've been on with the team this year and last year being in the East you don't often have a lot of long road trips - they're always one or two games and then come home. I think a lot of times it's good for a club to go out on the road. I don't want to use a cliché but all the Western teams that I've played on, there always seem to be good bonding. You basically live together for two weeks so it just happens that the group gets really close. <br><br> Abigail's birthday was last week on November 5th, which I missed but I'll definitely make it up to her when I get home. My wife organized a manicure and pedicure birthday party for her and her girlfriends. She's always spoiled rotten on her birthday and I'll have a surprise for her when I get home. <br><br> I think that's all I've got this time. I'll try not to take so long between posts next time!

<p><img style="float: left; margin-right: 8px;" src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/09/schneider_blog.jpg" alt="" border="0">Now that we've had a good couple months in Vancouver, we're all settled into life here and surprisingly, the transition has been very smooth. The whole family loves the city and the kids love the school so everything's been great so far.</p><br> <p>With the busy schedule it's been a little difficult to really see the city but my kids and I have had some time to do a little bit of sightseeing via biking up and down Jericho Beach and Spanish Banks. I've got a baby seat on the back of my beach cruiser so Ella sits there while the other kids bike with me.</p><br> <p>We tend to gravitate towards this woodsy area near the Yacht Club because there are rabbits running around everywhere and my kids just want to go rabbit hunting when we go out there. We go there and feed them and chase them around – Abigail has even started naming them!</p><br> <p>Three of the kids are in school and everything's been great so far except for an issue with the boys: their hair is too long. The school has a code where the boys' hair has to be no longer than the top of their collar and our boys are California surfer boys so they're just used to the long hair. In California, their hair is short compared to some of the other kids.</p><br> <p><img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/10/oct0909_schneider01_t.jpg" alt="" style="float: right; margin-left: 8px;" >We got Mathieu Jr's hair cut once already but it wasn't quite short enough. I think she secretly (or not so secretly) is trying to hold on to it – she's pretty much going to get it cut inch by inch until it's short enough. I think the boys might be taking after me a little bit – well at least when I was younger – because I used to have long hair when I was a kid too but not as long as they have it. We'll get that all under control shortly I'm sure.</p><br> <p>My kids are something I will never get tired of talking about so I'll give you a breakdown of each of them so you kind of know them a little bit as I talk about them in the coming year. Like all kids, they are all very different and have very unique personalities. Here's the pecking order:</p><br> <p>Mathieu Jr is a bit of a mama's boy and a typical boy – he's kind of scatterbrained, a little sloppy and he loves hockey. He just started with the Thunderbirds out at UBC and he's pretty excited about that.</p><br> <p>My oldest daughter, Abigail, is the diligent one – she's left handed, very detailed, studies hard and loves to read. We think she's going to be our doctor or lawyer.</p><br> <p>Neither my wife or I are left-handed but we think our second son, Micah, might also be left-handed too but actually we're not sure – he might be ambidextrous. He writes with both, throws with both but I'm not sure if he's scatterbrained or if he's just able to use both hands. He's our wildcard, you never know what you're going to get with him. He's go, go, go all the time but when he crashes, he's down hard and he can sleep 12 hours straight.</p><br> <p>And Ella, the three year-old runs the house – she's the princess. Whatever she wants, everyone (me, my wife, and the kids) jumps and tends to her need and she knows it.</p><br> <p><img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/10/oct0909_schneider02_t.jpg" alt="" style="float: left; margin-right: 8px;" >Getting to some hockey… the rehab has been going great and I'm feeling really good and practicing with the team everyday. I haven't been able to get out of the rink in under three hours too much these days so I've been putting in a lot of time here, which is good. I'm looking forward to getting into the lineup soon, hopefully by the end of the month.</p><br> <p>Right now, it's really about taking it one week at a time and I haven't had any setbacks, everything's been really positive and I'm getting stronger so there's no reason to believe I can't be in by the end of the month but it's something I'll discuss with the doctors and the trainers.</p><br> <p>The practicing can be monotonous and there have been stages where at the beginning I wasn't on the ice with the rest of the guys and that was frustrating. Once I got back on the ice, I was skating double sessions and doing two practices at the end of training camp. On the positive side, I'm in great shape and on the negative side, I have been getting a little antsy. I wanted to get into that first game but I want to be able to have an impact when I come in so it's a good thing that I'm taking this time to really get better before I come back.</p>

<img style="float: left; margin-right: 8px;" src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/09/schneider_blog.jpg" alt="" border="0">After years of reading about it in news articles, I have finally come to the mercy of the blogging world, thanks to Canucks.com. I don't know a lot about it but what I do know is just from things I have read so bear with me if it takes me a couple tries to get the hang of it.<br><br> I remember when the internet was just starting to get popular and my first internet connection was through one of those clunky big cell phones and I was amazed. I've continued to try learning new things and teaching myself but technology is changing so quickly, there's no way to really learn it all. It's amazing how far computers and the internet have come because my kids have been teaching other kids in their class different things on the computer since they were five. I guess my wife and I have just passed that along to them.<br><br> The move up to Canada has actually been pretty good – in fact a highlight of my summer. The weather has been great so far – although I hear that it's not always like this and I should probably expect it to get wetter pretty soon. My wife and our two oldest, Mathieu Jr, who is 8 and Abigail, who is 7 right now, flew up here a week before I did so they could get ready for school. Myself, my mother, and my two youngest, Micah, who is 6 and Ella, who is 3 stayed back in LA to pack up and straighten up the house before driving up to Vancouver.<br><br> We packed up the Suburban and it took us three days and honestly I was dreading it was a great trip and I loved it. It took us six hours to drive up to Sacramento, where we had our first stop, then nine hours to Portland, and five hours on the final day. My favourite part of the drive was probably going through the mountains through Oregon, it was pretty amazing and the scenery was just beautiful. It was the first time I've ever been to Washington state or Oregon so it was great to get to experience it that way.<br><br> <img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/09/sep1309_schneider_t.jpg" alt=""style="float: right; margin-left: 8px;">Mathieu Jr. scored 10 goals in his summer hockey league and we told him that we'd take him to Universal Studios but we didn't get a chance to get out there. My wife and kids did make it out to Disneyland (which I missed out on) so they were happy with that but my son is going to make sure that the first stop we're making when we get home next summer is Universal Studios.<br><br> Today was the first day of formal on-ice sessions with the coaches and I'm not doing any contact but it's just good to be skating after surgery this summer. Honestly, short training camp is great, especially when you're 40 years old. I think to go for a whole month like it was before (wow I'm dating myself) is too much.<br><br> When you look at the summers now, though, there's a huge difference now in what guys do in the offseason because guys will take 3-4 weeks off in the summer and then get right back into training. It's not just jogging a couple of miles – it's heavy training, re-building your body, recovering from injury and everything that we used to come into camp and work intensely on for a month.<br><br> Guys are in just so much better shape and that's what training camp was for in the past. Now you come to camp and it's more fine-tuning and getting everybody on the same page, learn the systems, get the new player acclimated, maybe get in a couple of exhibition games.<br><br> For me, I'm optimistic about getting into some preseason games, I'm feeling good right now and I think everything's coming along nicely. Now, it's just a matter of when I feel comfortable and getting contact so we'll see.