Gophers

This year, Schmidt is no spectator for U

By Roman Augustoviz

March 8, 2012 at 1:01PM

Gophers defenseman Nate Schmidt (Dml -/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Nate Schmidt was a part-time hockey player as a Gophers freshman last season and split time between defense and forward.

When Alaska Anchorage swept the Gophers 4-3 and 2-0 at Mariucci Arena in the first round of the WCHA playoffs to end their season, Schmidt watched from the stands.

"Taking the loss the way we did at our place, it really kind of stings. It still does," said Schmidt, the WCHA's third-leading scorer among defensemen this season with three goals and 33 assists. "It was even worse, sitting in the stands and watching."

This weekend Schmidt, who has played every game this season, will get the chance to help Gophers send the Seawolves home to turn in their gear.

"Same situation. Same time of the year," Schmidt said. "And hopefully, we come out a little better this time around."

The one difference this year is the Gophers are the MacNaughton Cup champions and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and a huge favorite over 12th-seeded UAA. A year ago when they met, it was a matchup of the fifth and eighth seeds.

Schmidt scored the winning goal as the Gophers edged Wisconsin 2-1 on Saturday to clinch an outright WCHA regular-season title.

"With the kind of year Nate has had," Gophers coach Don Lucia said, "he deserves to be an all-league player this year. That's a credit to Nate. After [his] freshman year didn't go the way he wanted it to go, he worked on his off-ice conditioning and came in a different player."

Schmidt had only two goals and four points in 13 games last season.

Bjugstad healthy Lucia said sophomore center Nick Bjugstad, the team's leading goal-scorer with 23, is fine. "He played Saturday and he's practiced all week," Lucia said. "We're fortunate. We're healthy. Every guy is practicing right now."

Bjugstad was injured in the second period of a 3-2 victory at Nebraska Omaha on Feb. 25. He missed the third period of that game and last Friday's game against the Badgers. He had a team-high six shots Saturday against Wisconsin.

Etc. • The Gophers are tied for No. 6 in the PairWise Rankings, which mimic how the NCAA fills out its tournament field. "We're in pretty good shape," Lucia said. "But we want to move on as much as anything else. We haven't been [to the Final Five] the last couple of years." Their last Final Five trip was in 2009, when they lost to Minnesota Duluth 2-1 in a quarterfinal.

• The British Columbia Hockey League's Penticton Vees, who have eight Minnesotans on their roster, won their 41st consecutive game on Tuesday, beating Trail 10-0. Joey Benik, a St. Cloud State recruit, had a goal and four assists. Defenseman Mike Reilly had a four-point game and forwards Ryan Reilly and Mario Lucia three-point games. The Reillys and their brother Connor, out because of a season-ending injury, have signed with the Gophers. Mario, Don's son, has signed with Notre Dame.