50 Kings – Mathieu Schneider

Mathieu Schneider played 1289 games in the National Hockey League, divided amongst 10 different teams – 11 if you count the Montreal Canadiens twice. After living in one third of the NHL cities it might be hard-pressed for someone to develop any kind of roots or emotional connection to any one particular city.

But 16 years after Schneider signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings he sits outside at a Starbucks in El Segundo, reminiscing about his time in a Kings jersey. He chooses a seat in the sun, hoping to soak up as many SoCal rays as he can before leaving his second home to return to work in Toronto, Canada.

Before deciding to come to LA during the summer of 2000, Schneider knew little about the Kings. Born and raised in the New York/New Jersey area, he had played in the East his entire career up until that point, with the exception of his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, while they were still in the Western Conference. Very rarely did he travel to the west coast, but Schneider hadn’t made the playoffs in four years, and being on a good team was important to him.

Schneider knew fellow Kings defenseman, Rob Blake, from their summer training group, and Blake, along with Luc Robitaille, were instrumental in bringing Schneider to LA. Schneider was also friends with Brian Smolinski, whom he had played with on Team USA in a previous World Cup tournament.

His transition to Los Angeles was smooth and seamless, partially due to the fact that he and his wife lived with Smolinski and his wife for the first two months, while the Schneiders’ home was being completed. Both their wives were pregnant at the same time and to this day, remain very good friends.

“The culture out here is laid-back in itself. You go to the rink and the fans are crazy, …

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