Nolan Schaefer (born January 15, 1980) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

who was last under contract to

HC Ambrì-Piotta Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and blues). Though they have never won the leagu ...

of the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

(NLA).

Playing career

Schaefer began a four-year tenure with

Providence College Providence College is a private Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the local diocese, it offers 47 undergraduate majors and 17 graduate programs. It requires all of its undergradua ...

, beginning in 1999–00. He played in 99 games total with Providence and recorded a school record 2,848 saves. He enjoyed his most successful season as a Friar in 2000–01 when he posted 15 wins, leading PC to the NCAA Tournament and was named to the All-American Second Team. Following his freshman year with Providence, Schaefer was selected by the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertain ...

in fifth round (166th overall) of the

2000 NHL Entry Draft The 2000 NHL Entry Draft was the 38th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 24 and 25, 2000 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, following the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft on June 23 for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild. Thi ...

on June 24, 2000. He followed in his brother Peter Schaefer's footsteps and became the second person from

Yellow Grass Yellow Grass is a town in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located in the Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, approximately 25 km northwest of Weyburn, at the junction of provincial Highway 39 and 621. The town is located on the Canadia ...

to be drafted and play in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL). Schaefer signed a contract with San Jose on August 19, 2003, and spent three seasons playing with the Sharks' AHL affiliate Cleveland Barons (The Barons moved to Worcester, Massachusetts and changed the team name to the Sharks in 2006). On August 15, 2005, he was re-signed to a one-year contract as a restricted free agent by San Jose. Schaefer made his first NHL appearance with the Sharks by being called up to replace the injured

Vesa Toskala Vesa Tapani Toskala (born May 20, 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. After initially playing for his hometown team Ilves of the SM-liiga, Toskala played the majority of his professional career in the National Hockey Le ...

on October 26, 2005. He played 7 games in total that season, recording 5 wins. During that stint, Schaefer was the first Sharks goaltender to earn a win in a

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only in ...

, which had been implemented in the NHL, beginning that season in 2005–06. Schaefer subsequently bounced back and forth between San Jose and Cleveland serving as the Sharks' third string goaltender. On February 27, 2007, he was traded to the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have play ...

for a

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

late-round draft pick. On July 3, 2007, Schaefer signed with the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confe ...

as a free agent. After two years with the Wild's minor league affiliate, the Houston Aeros, Nolan signed for

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

club

HC CSKA Moscow HC CSKA Moscow (1946–present, russian: ЦСКА Москва, Центральный Спортивный Клуб Армии, ''Central Sports Club of the Army, Moscow'') is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Moscow. The club i ...

on August 5, 2009, for the 2009–10 season. Schaefer returned to North America the following season, signing a one-year deal with the Boston Bruins on July 5, 2010. He was placed on waivers by Boston on October 11 to make room for

Brian McGrattan Brian McGrattan (born September 2, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current member of the Calgary Flames player development staff. McGrattan was a fourth-round selection of the Los Angeles Kings (104th overall) at ...

. He cleared waivers and was assigned to the AHL's

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the primary development team for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R ...

. On April 2, 2015, Schaefer signed a two-year contract to return to HC Ambrì-Piotta where he spent three previous seasons before playing as a backup with

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern (''Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. For the 18th year in a row, the club is the most ...

in the 2014–15. Upon the beginning of the campaign, Schaefer sought a release from his contract with Ambri due to family reasons on August 3, 2015.

Personal life

Nolan is the younger brother of former NHL player Peter Schaefer, a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played over 500 games in the NHL, split between the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member ...

and the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The ...

. His younger sister Falin, was a member of the Canadian National Volleyball team. While playing for

, Schaefer was a studio art major and graduated in 2003. Schaefer was also featured as an answer on the January 11, 2006 episode of

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given ge ...

: “Nolan Schaefer of Yellow Grass, Sask., and Glenn Olson of Port McNeil, B.C., play this sport for the Cleveland Barons”.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links