Story featured in the Amherst Bee and Ken-Town Bee Newspapers published Nov. 12, 2014.
From the Northtown Center in Amherst to the American Hockey League, Cole Schneider is one step away from joining the best hockey league in the world.
Playing for the Binghamton Senators is quite different than playing for the Amherst Knights, but that is where the former St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute standout has found himself at the young age of 24.
Now in his third professional year, Schneider is continuing his legacy of producing at every level. Through 12 games this season, Schneider has three goals, four assists for seven points, for fourth best on the team.
After graduating from St. Joe’s, Schneider left Buffalo to play junior hockey in Ohio for the Mahoning Valley Phantoms of the North American Hockey League, a Junior A Tier ll league in the United States. With the Phantoms, Schneider would end up playing with Chicago Blackhawks rising star Brandon Saad.
After piling up 17 goals and 33 points in 42 games in the 2008-09 season, Schneider went to another NAHL team in Kansas, the Topeka Roadrunners. In just 29 games with the Roadrunners, Schneider was still able to put up the seventh highest point total by scoring 25 goals and 39 points.
The next step for the Amherst native was to either go to college or jump to a higher junior league such as the United States Hockey League or the Ontario Hockey League. Schneider chose college when he attended the University of Connecticut.
Schneider wasted no time, as he lead the Huskies in every offensive category there is; goals, assists and points. In his freshman year, Schneider was able to become almost a point-per-game player, notching 13 goals, 20 assists for 33 points in 37 games. Those totals were good enough for him to be named to the All-Atlantic Hockey Association Rookie Team in the 2010-11 season.
In his sophomore year at UConn, Schneider went for the sweep again as he led the Huskies in goals, assists and points for the second straight year. In the 2011-12 campaign, he scored 23 goals, 22 assists for 45 points in 38 games. His marks for goals and points are both school records at UConn. Another award Schneider took home that year was being named to the All-Atlantic Hockey Association First Team.
After just two seasons in college, Schneider decided he was ready to make the jump to the professional ranks as he inked a two-year entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators in March 2012.
He is currently a winger for Ottawa’s farm team in the American Hockey League, the Binghamton Senators.
Regardless of Ottawa being a rival of the hometown Sabres, the local product is just happy to be playing professional hockey, but he will admit, playing against former Sabre Matt Ellis is pretty cool.
“Ellis is a little bit older now than when he was around [here], but he still isn’t that old,” he said.
Schneider also mentioned how nice it is to play for Binghamton and to play close to home every once in awhile.
“It’s real nice; a bunch of my family and friends are here, so I wish I would have scored there at the end for them, but it’s nice coming home.”
Speaking of family, it wouldn’t be complete if Cole’s father wasn’t there. Pete Schneider has been the athletic director at St. Joe’s since 2008 and has been the longtime coach of the high school’s varsity hockey team.
Pete helps Cole when he can, but there is an understanding between the two on when help is needed. “He knows his role. He keeps to himself, but if I have a bad game, he’ll tell me to keep my head up and help in those ways,” said Cole.
Pete Schneider takes over more as a father than a coach.
“I travel to as many games as possible or I’m at home watching online,” he said.
However, he can’t help to be a coach at times.
“I feel like a father of a goalie; I’m always switching ends to where Cole will shoot, to watch.”
No matter where Schneider is playing, he doesn’t seem to have a problem finding the net. In 152 professional games, he has racked up 40 goals and 98 total points with Binghamton. He is coming off his best year of his career where he totaled 20 goals, 34 assists for 54 points in 69 games.
His 54 points last year were good for third on the team, only to fall short of two players who have had more than a cup of coffee in the National Hockey League.
Schneider knows nothing in either the AHL or NHL is given. Everything is earned, and he knows what it will take to finally make his dream come true.
“You have to earn everything (along with) playing time. We’ve been off to a slow start but it was nice to get a win here tonight,” he said.
The Senators were able to skate to a 3-1 victory Friday, Nov. 7th in Rochester at the Blue Cross Arena. Schneider picked up an assist on a goal by another local player, Shane Prince of Spencerport.
Schneider will have every opportunity to make the jump to Ottawa and knows it’s in his hands.
“I need to just get back to what I was doing at the start of last year, scoring goals and playing good defense,” he said.
This former Amherst Knight and St. Joe’s Marauder is just one phone call away from living his dream and playing in “The Show.”
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