Mathieu Schneider’s historical footnote

Mathieu Schneider played just one season for the Ducks and was about to begin a second last year, when the Ducks needed to make room for the suddenly un-retired Teemu Selanne. Schneider’s status was in limbo for several weeks during training camp last September, before he was finally traded to Atlanta on the eve of the season opener.


Fresh off signing a free-agent contract with the Vancouver Canucks, Schneider told the Vancouver Provincetoday that he nearly was dealt straight from the Ducks to the Canucks: “I knew last year when I was in Anaheim (that) Mike (Gillis, Vancouver’s GM) was trying to trade for me. I found out later from a couple of people on the Ducks organization that he was about a day away from getting me before I got traded to Atlanta.”

Anaheim received Brad Larsen, Ken Klee and minor-league forward Chad Painchaud from Atlanta, and none of the three are still under contract to the Ducks. Just to serve our curiosity, we checked with former GM Brian Burke to see what the potential Schneider-to-Vancouver deal would have fetched the Ducks in return. In an e-mail, Burke said he didn’t recall any of the specifics, but that Schneider’s take is probably accurate.

Alas, the rest is history.

This entry was posted in Anaheim Ducks/NHL by J.P. Hoornstra. Bookmark the permalink.

About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.

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