Goalie Cory Schneider and his New Jersey Devils had just lost 3-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes, but he still had something to celebrate that March night.
While Schneider had been working the crease, Jim Johannson, USA Hockey executive vice president of hockey operations, had sent him a text saying he would be in the first group of players named the following day to Team USA for the World Cup of Hockey. The tournament starts Sept. 17 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
"You know when the announcement is coming and you find yourself checking your phone quite a bit in the days leading up to it, just to see if anything came across," said the 30-year-old native of Marblehead, Massachusetts.