{"id":496396,"date":"2026-02-22T08:15:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T08:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/496396\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T08:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T08:15:07","slug":"andrew-gross-islanders-rookie-matthew-schaefer-gets-much-needed-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/496396\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Gross: Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer gets much-needed break"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sure, Matthew Schaefer<\/a> had a case of Olympic FOMO.<\/p>\n

What Canadian hockey player wouldn\u2019t have wanted to play for Team Canada? Especially one with the Islanders defenseman\u2019s credentials and talent, even if he is an 18-year-old rookie<\/a>. Especially after making a list of candidates.<\/p>\n

But one of this particular teenager\u2019s superpowers is his advanced maturity. And Schaefer knows the time spent resting his body from the rigors of the NHL schedule and the mental reset he got from just hanging with his lifelong buddies was time well spent.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, time better spent than playing in the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike you feel this FOMO because everyone wants to play in the Olympics, everyone wants to play for their country. It would be a dream come true,\u201d Schaefer told Newsday as the Islanders resumed practicing this week at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. \u201cI\u2019m still young. This is my first year and I\u2019m playing a lot more games than I was in the past. So it\u2019s so good for my body and my mind. It\u2019s just a good reset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schaefer has played in all 58 of the Islanders\u2019 games after being limited to 17 junior hockey games last season between illness and a broken collarbone, which he injured playing for Team Canada in the World Junior Championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it will be good,\u201d coach Patrick Roy said of Schaefer\u2019s down time. \u201cRecharge and come back here and reflect on how the first 58 games were and what can he do a little bit better and what he\u2019s been doing so well.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does video almost every game. He\u2019s a person that wants to learn. He\u2019s a person that wants to be better. I really like the dedication that he has and that will to improve his game even if he\u2019s had so much success so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schaefer spent part of the Olympic break back home in Ontario with his father\u00a0Todd\u00a0hanging with his friends and spending time with his girlfriend. He even found time to get behind the bench and help coach an under-11 squad that included the little brother of one of his friends.<\/p>\n

Todd Schaefer said before the Olympics in an interview with CBC he thought not playing in the Olympics would be beneficial to his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s climbing these mountains. Does he really need to climb this one at 18?\u201d Todd Schaefer said. \u201cCan we wait a few years? There\u2019s nothing wrong with having three weeks off to come home and be an 18-year-old kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad\u2019s very strong in that,\u201d Matthew Schaefer<\/a> said. \u201cObviously he\u2019d love for me to be at the Olympics. But he has a strong belief in being a kid, too, being able to go home and see my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that group of friends, some of whom Schaefer has known since kindergarten, who help Schaefer stay grounded and humble despite being the No. 1 overall pick and having instant success with the Islanders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey treat me how I should be treated,\u201d Schaefer said. \u201cThey don\u2019t give a [darn]\u00a0about what I do. They don\u2019t care who I am. They treat me normal, which is what I want and what I like. They still treat me like just Matthew, not the hockey player Matthew.\u201d<\/p>\n

The season resumes Thursday in Montreal. Schaefer needs two goals to surpass Hall of Famer Phil Housley\u2019s 17 for the most by an 18-year-old defenseman.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to get back to being hockey player Matthew.<\/p>\n

The time off helped, even if it came with FOMO.<\/p>\n

Cizikas: Keep playing<\/p>\n

Casey Cizikas<\/a> just chuckled this week when Newsday asked the fourth-line center, who turns 35 on Friday, how many more NHL seasons he thinks are still in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife seems to tell me that [I have more],\u201d Cizikas said. \u201cShe keeps telling me that. That\u2019s the goal. You want to play as long as you can. It\u2019s not an easy thing to do. You see guys come and go all the time. At the same time, I\u2019ve got to focus on what I need to do for myself and what I need to do that puts me in the best position at the start of every season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cizikas, in his 15th NHL season, all with the Islanders, has one season remaining on his six-year, $15 million deal.<\/p>\n

Romanov skating<\/p>\n

Alexander Romanov<\/a> resumed skating this week on his own, the first time the physical defenseman has been on ice since injuring his right shoulder on Nov. 18 in Dallas and was lost for the remainder of the regular season.<\/p>\n

But general manager Mathieu Darche has indicated Romanov might be able to return at some point in the playoffs if the Islanders advance past the first round.<\/p>\n

This is a good first step.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great,\u201d Roy said. \u201cYou could see in his face, he\u2019s excited about practicing on his own and taking some shots. It\u2019s been a while. He wants to take some shots. It\u2019s a long injury and he\u2019s going to have to be patient. We have a really good staff. I\u2019m sure they\u2019re going to take care of him and he\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romanov, 26, is in the first season of an eight-year, $50 million deal. The Islanders brought up several temporary replacements from their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, including Laurel Hollow\u2019s Marshall Warren, before Darche acquired Carson Soucy<\/a> from the Rangers on Jan. 26.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

\n\tAndrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John\u2019s and MLB.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sure, Matthew Schaefer had a case of Olympic FOMO. What Canadian hockey player wouldn\u2019t have wanted to play…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,5791,575,85],"class_list":["post-496396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}