Schroeder’s great year keeps getting better Elm Creek goaltender hopes PHF success leads to spot on Canada’s national team By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 20, 2023

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This article was published 20/04/2023 (895 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

How good was Corinne Schroeder’s season?

Good enough to earn the Premier Hockey Federation’s rookie-of-year and goaltender-of-the-year awards earlier this month with the possibility of two more — MVP and Most Outstanding Player — in the coming weeks.

“I had a very good season,” said Schroeder Thursday by phone from Boston where she plays for the PHF’s Pride. “I was nominated for four awards and it’s honestly pretty amazing. To have won two already is incredible.”

The 23-year-old Elm Creek product has the numbers to back it up, setting PHF records for wins (19) and shutouts (seven) while posting a league-leading 1.67 goals-against average, .955 save percentage and a 19-1-0-1 regular-season record.

She was just the third goaltender in PHF history to shut out an opponent in her first pro start and continued her rookie campaign with a record three consecutive shutouts.

The Balmoral Hall grad turned pro after an excellent U.S. college career, starting with four years at Boston University before a fifth and final season at Quinnipiac, where she was a finalist for NCAA goaltender of the year.

Nevertheless, Schroeder insisted her performance was significantly upgraded in 2022-23. She should also be in a healthy bargaining position as a free agent coming off a one-year rookie contract.

“This year I was just trying to be more consistent and working on that piece of it and coming to the rink every day and giving my best and making sure that even on days that I didn’t feel like it or on days where I’m struggling with small injuries, that I still put in the effort that was required,” said Schroeder.

“I think that helped me to just consistently show up on weekends and give a good performance. I don’t think there was too many games where I can say I played poorly.”

Pride goaltending coach Clay Adams said improving her mental preparation made Schroeder a quicker, more instinctive player.

“What we tried to do for Corinne this year was give her the ability to trust her process leading up to games, so that all she had to do was just play and trust that all the work that she’d done, all the effort that she’d put in, was going to be what she could control.”–Clay Adams

“The biggest change for goalies going from college to pro is you start recognizing how fast the play develops,” said Adams. “If you are trying to think at the same time as playing goaltender, you’re going to play fairly slow. What we tried to do for Corinne this year was give her the ability to trust her process leading up to games, so that all she had to do was just play and trust that all the work that she’d done, all the effort that she’d put in, was going to be what she could control.”

Adams said the 5-11 Schroeder has the stature and athletic ability to be even better next season.

“She has the power that she needs to generate to play at a very high level,” said Adams, who also serves as a goaltending scout for the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. “She’s also got what I call an ability to be fast twitch. When she starts to see something change or something that she doesn’t plan for, she has the athletic ability to make a rapid adjustment. When you have those two things, you can build a really strong foundation.”

All this notoriety should have a positive impact on Schroeder’s national team prospects.

She’s attended several Hockey Canada development camps and was the No. 3 goaltender on the U18 nats’ world championship roster in 2017. It remains her lone appearance on a national team roster but she remains hopeful of getting another break.

Last summer, she was among 12 goaltenders invited to the national team’s summer camp.

“I’m still in the senior program and just haven’t been selected to a roster quite yet,” she said. “As my game continues to develop I hope that they’ll see that I’m doing a lot of the right things and worth giving a shot or at least a chance. I think I’m in a good spot, especially for my age as a goalie. For goaltenders, it’s extremely difficult to crack a world championship roster and even harder to crack an Olympic roster.”

Adams insisted Schroeder is on the right track.

“My advice to her has always been consistency will always win the day,” said Adams. “Obviously this year was another good step for her and next year we have a few ideas on how to take another step but the more consistent she is, the more on the radar she’ll be.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca