"There was a time when Cory Schneider was, oh, 21 years old, that pondering a seat on the Vancouver Canucks' bench from which to watch Roberto Luongo play all the meaningful games in goal was probably instructive, constructive, even entertaining.

Now, he's 25, and the clock is ticking — quickly, it must seem — in career terms; excruciatingly slowly when it comes to the distant expiration date of Luongo's all-but-lifetime contract extension.

Though you'll never hear a discouraging word from the mouth of the big redhead from Marblehead, Massachusetts, via Boston College, this cannot be where Schneider expected to start the 2011-12 National Hockey League season: caddying for Luongo again, destined — if the Canucks don't get what they want for him in a trade — to spend most of another season in full pads and a baseball cap, maybe opening and closing the door to the players' bench (some backup goalies still do that) and providing helpful tips like: "Way to go, boys!""