Andrew Gross: Islanders star Matthew Schaefer loves New York . . . and the feeling is mutual
Islanders' Matthew Schaefer holds the Calder Memorial Trophy in New Hyde Park. after being named the NHL's rookie of the year on Wednesday. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
The wording on the Knicks hat encapsulated the bond Matthew Schaefer has felt with Long Island and the Islanders from the day he was drafted.
“New York or Nowhere,” it read.
Schaefer wore the hat into John Varvatos at Belmont Park Village on Monday to select the clothes he would wear for Wednesday’s taping of ABC’s GMA3, during which he was surprised with the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie.
Schaefer, who won’t turn 19 until Sept. 5, grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, and is spending a good portion of this offseason there with family. But this past week, as the planned Jennifer Schaefer Child Support Center — named for his late mother, who passed away at age 56 in February 2024 after battling breast cancer — was announced, it was evident how much of a Long Islander and community leader Matthew Schaefer already has become.
“I love being involved with the community,” Schaefer told Newsday on Monday after selecting his new clothes. “It just starts with everyone from Long Island and the New York area. I’ve gotten to meet so many great people. The way the fans treated me, they’ve really welcomed me with open arms.”
Schaefer’s passion project — to be located at RJ Zuckerberg Cancer Center in New Hyde Park through a partnership with Northwell Health and funded by a $150,000 donation by the Islanders’ Children’s Foundation — is just part of how he wants to give back to the community.
The relationship started on the first day, on June 27 in Los Angeles, when the Islanders placed a pink breast cancer ribbon with the initials “JS” on the jersey they presented to a tearful Schaefer after selecting him first overall.
It grew through his record-setting rookie season, which culminated in his being voted the first unanimous Calder winner since Teemu Selanne in 1993.
He led the Islanders in average ice time with 24:41 and notched 23 goals and 36 assists in 82 games. Schaefer matched Hall of Famer Brian Leetch’s NHL record for goals by a rookie defenseman. His 59 points set a team record for a rookie defenseman.
Seconds after the Islanders’ season came to a disappointing close with a loss to the Hurricanes on April 14 — the second straight year they missed the playoffs — the UBS Arena crowd started chanting Schaefer’s name.
“From the first day I stepped on the ice here in rookie camp when all the fans were coming out, and whether it was practices, every time I stepped on the ice, they’d clap and cheer,” Schaefer said. “I was like, ‘This is awesome.’
“I’d call my dad [Todd Schaefer] after the day and say, ‘You’d never believe this. All the fans are coming out and it’s like sold out at our practice rink. This is crazy.’ Just seeing how much people care about me, but especially my family. My dad is telling me people are coming up to him.”
Todd Schaefer, along with his other son, Johnny, and Schaefer’s girlfriend, Samantha Greene, who plays for the women’s hockey team at the University of Prince Edward Island, were all at the ABC studio to surprise Schaefer with the Calder Trophy.
So were Islanders executive Matt Martin, his wife, Sydney, and their young daughters, Winnie and Alice, who have become de facto little sisters to Schaefer. He will continue to live with the family for a second season.
Schaefer again broke down in tears when presented the trophy, thinking of his mother and ailing grandmother. Todd Schaefer was crying, too.
“[Hockey] is his job,” Todd Schaefer told Newsday on Wednesday after surprising his son. “[But] it’s being able to give back. I don’t call him when he has a great game, but when a fan stops me and says, ‘Oh my God, your son came into my kid’s school or got down and took a picture,’ those are the things I love.
“Anything about his character, that means more to me. Hockey is going to come and go. I’m just proud of the person he is.”
Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky describes Schaefer as an “old soul,” meaning it in the most complimentary way.
“He buys into the notion that the Islanders are a community trust,” Ledecky said on Wednesday at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park as Schaefer met with young cancer patients after winning the Calder Trophy. “It’s not just about being a sports team. He gets what our mission is off the ice. He knows there’s one mission on the ice, to win the Stanley Cup. But he wants to be active in the community. He wants to be present. He wants to be there.”
“New York or Nowhere.”
That’s where Schaefer is.
Andrew 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’s and MLB.
