Former Gophers defenseman Nate Schmidt is still surrounded by maroon and gold guys.
When the free agent signed with the Washington Capitals, they sent him to the Hershey Bears of the AHL.
The Bears have four former U of M forwards. Jeff Taffe is Hershey's leading scorer with 18 goals and 52 assists for 70 points in 70 games. Gee, let's see. If I do the math, that's one point per game.
Other ex-Gophers on the Bears are Ryan Potulny (19-21--40 in 63 games), Ryan Stoa (11-8--19 in 43), and Mike Carman (4-6--10 in 62).
Schmidt, who left the U after his junior season, has played in five games so far and has one goal and three assists for four points. He is a minus-2.
He left the Gophers after a brief postseason run: one Final Five game (2-0 loss to Colorado College) and one NCAA game (3-2 OT loss to eventual national champion Yale).
Now he is with a team trying to make the AHL playoffs.
Hershey is tied for 10th in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 34-30-3-6 for 77 points. The last two numbers are overtime and shootout losses. The Bears are two points out of eighth, the last playoff spot, with three games left.