{{short description|Ice hockey player}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox ice hockey player | name = Buzz Schneider | position = Left wing | shoots = Left | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 11 | weight_lb = 181 | played_for = '''AHL'''<br>Springfield Indians<br>'''WHA'''<br>Birmingham Bulls<br>'''CHL'''<br>Oklahoma City Blazers<br>'''SHL'''<br>Hampton Gulls<br>'''IHL'''<br>Milwaukee Admirals<br>'''NDA'''<br>SC Bern | ntl_team = USA | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1954|9|14}} | birth_place = Grand Rapids, Minnesota, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | draft = 98th overall | draft_year = 1974 | draft_team = Pittsburgh Penguins | wha_draft = 44th overall | wha_draft_year = 1974 | wha_draft_team = Minnesota Fighting Saints | career_start = 1972 | career_end = 1982 | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's ice hockey}} {{MedalCountry|the {{USA}}}} {{MedalCompetition | Olympic Games}} {{MedalGold| 1980 Lake Placid | Team}} }}
'''William Conrad''' "'''Buzz'''" '''Schneider''' (born September 14, 1954) is an American former ice hockey player best remembered for his role on the US Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. He was also a member of the US Olympic hockey team at the 1976 Winter Olympics.
==College career== Schneider is of Croatian ancestry. His nickname "Buzz" comes from his grandmother calling him the Croatian word for "brother" when he was a baby, which sounds like "buzz."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/351393?referrer_id=334823|title=Special Q&A: Buzz Schneider Talks Gophers, Olympics, Beating Russia & Life After Hockey|last=GohpherHole.com|website=GopherHole.com|access-date=November 8, 2017|archive-date=November 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109081158/http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/351393?referrer_id=334823|url-status=dead}}</ref> He grew up in Babbitt, Minnesota, where he played hockey, baseball and football at Babbitt High School.
After attending the University of Minnesota, where he played on the Golden Gophers under Herb Brooks and won the 1974 NCAA Hockey Championship, Schneider was drafted 98th overall in the 1974 NHL amateur draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins and 73rd overall in the 1974 WHA amateur draft by the Minnesota Fighting Saints.
==International and later career== Schneider played for the United States national team from 1974–76 at the 1974, 1975 and 1976 Ice Hockey World Championships, as well as the 1976 Olympic team) before turning professional. He played in a variety of minor leagues before playing four games for the Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association (WHA) during the 1976-77 season. After the end of the WHA season, he returned to play for the US national team at the 1977 World Ice Hockey Championships tournament in Vienna. Schneider returned to the minor leagues in 1977–78. He played two seasons in the International Hockey League (IHL) before getting back to the national team in 1979 to prepare for the 1980 Olympics.
During the 1979–80 season, Schneider played 62 games for the national team scoring 27 goals. During the Miracle on Ice run in the Olympics, he scored five goals and notched three assists in seven games en route to the gold medal. Schneider played on the Olympic team's top-scoring "Iron Rangers" or "Conehead" line with John Harrington and Mark Pavelich.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/classic/s/miracle_ice_1980.html|title=ESPN Classic - College kids perform Olympic miracle|publisher=ESPN|access-date=November 8, 2017}}</ref>
After the Olympics he played in Bern, Switzerland, until 1983. Schneider returned to the U.S. national hockey team for the 1982 Ice Hockey World Championships tournament in Helsinki.
==Post-playing career== {{BLP unreferenced section|date=November 2017}} After retiring from the game in 1983, Schneider returned to Minneapolis and worked as a sales executive for a semi-trailer company. He quit his job in 2001 to gain a commercial real estate license.
Schneider was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003 as a member of the 1980 Olympic team. He has two sons, Billy and Neal. He is now the coordinator of the Turkey men's national ice hockey team.
==In popular culture== In the 1981 TV movie ''Miracle on Ice'', Schneider is played by Jonathan Segal.
Buzz's son Billy portrayed him in the 2004 Disney movie ''Miracle''. When director Gavin O'Connor was made aware of the family connection, he stated that he immediately wanted to offer Billy a role in the film.<ref>''Miracle'' Special Features - "From Hockey to Hollywood: The Actors' Journey"</ref>
On the animated TV series ''American Dad'', Buzz is also alluded to as Roger's persona "Chex Lemineux" in the episode "Return of the Bling". This is unconfirmed,{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} but he is one of the only players not referenced in the episode. Roger is also present in place of Buzz in several photos shown in the slide show at the 1980 Olympic team reunion in the episode.
==Career statistics==
===Regular season and playoffs=== {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em" |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! colspan="5" | Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! colspan="5" | Playoffs |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM |- | 1971–72 | Babbitt J F Kennedy High School | HS-MN | | | | | | | | | | |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1972–73 | University of Minnesota | WCHA | 34 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1973–74 | University of Minnesota | WCHA | 40 | 24 | 15 | 39 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1974–75 | University of Minnesota | WCHA | 41 | 19 | 17 | 36 | 63 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1975–76 | United States | Intl | 64 | 39 | 31 | 70 | 88 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1976–77 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1976–77 | Birmingham Bulls | WHA | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1976–77 | Hampton Gulls | SHL | 42 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1976–77 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1977–78 | Milwaukee Admirals | IHL | 56 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 29 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |- | 1978–79 | Milwaukee Admirals | IHL | 67 | 12 | 23 | 35 | 80 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1979–80 | United States | Intl | 52 | 22 | 12 | 34 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1980–81 | SC Bern | NDA | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1981–82 | SC Bern | NDA | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | IHL totals ! 123 ! 28 ! 36 ! 64 ! 109 ! 7 ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 6 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | WHA totals ! 4 ! 0 ! 0 ! 0 ! 2 ! — ! — ! — ! — ! — |}
===International=== {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:50em" |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Year ! Team ! Event ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM |- | 1975 | United States | WC | 10 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 10 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1976 | United States | OG | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 |- | 1976 | United States | WC | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1977 | United States | WC | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |- | 1980 | United States | OG | 7 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 4 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1982 | United States | WC | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan=3 | Senior totals ! 50 ! 20 ! 8 ! 28 ! 30 |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{icehockeystats}} * [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1974/74098.html Schneider's bio at HockeyDraftCentral]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Buzz}} Category:1954 births Category:1980 US Olympic ice hockey team Category:American men's ice hockey left wingers Category:American people of Croatian descent Category:Birmingham Bulls (WHA) players Category:Hampton Gulls (SHL) players Category:Ice hockey players at the 1976 Winter Olympics Category:Ice hockey players at the 1980 Winter Olympics Category:Ice hockey players from Minnesota Category:Living people Category:Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Category:Milwaukee Admirals (IHL) players Category:Minnesota Fighting Saints draft picks Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey Category:Oklahoma City Blazers (1965–1977) players Category:Sportspeople from Grand Rapids, Minnesota Category:Ice hockey people from St. Louis County, Minnesota Category:Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Category:SC Bern players Category:Springfield Indians players Category:NCAA men's ice hockey national champions