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Getting to Know Gophers Defenseman Nate Schmidt - Extensive Q&A
By Thom Wynn
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/238667?referrer_id=331171
It seems that not a week has gone by this season where Nate Schmidt has not been fished out of the locker room by Gopher Men's Hockey SID Brian Deutsch, and thrown in front of the media. Although no official record is kept of these things, he must hold the title among the Gopher players for time in front of the cameras. But it seems like a natural fit for the Junior Defenseman from St. Cloud. Schmidt appears to be very comfortable in front of reporters. He's confident, but not arrogant. His responses come quickly, but are well thought out. He comes across as the kind of guy that's not afraid to speak his mind, but is smart enough to know when to keep his mouth shut. And this attitude probably translates well to his game on the ice. You can see that he is confident in his abilities, but smart enough to know when he can't make a play, and backs off. To use a well worn cliche, he's the guy you want out on the ice when the game is on the line.
After playing for a season with the Fargo Force of the USHL, where he was selected to the USHL All Rookie team, and USHL All Star team, Schmidt came to the U of M and saw limited action as a Freshman. With the help of Gopher Associate Head Coach Mike Guentzel, he found a spot on the blue line last season, and quickly eased into the role. Schmidt pocketed 3 goals and 38 assists (more than any other Defenseman in Division I), while pulling a team high plus/minus of +24. But perhaps no statistic is more telling of what a team player this kid is, than the 52 blocked shots he amassed last season. But when a guy says "I take it extremely personal when my team gets scored on when I'm on the ice", you know he's going to do whatever it takes to keep the puck out of his net.
Referring to Schmidt's place on the power play during a press conference early last year, Gophers Head Coach Don Lucia told the media that "once Nate found Nick Bjugstad on the far post, he would start racking up points". The following weekend, Lucia's words were put into action, as Schmidt connected with Bjugstad on a goal scored from the back post on the power play. His point totals seemed to ignite after that. He scored his first career goal with the Gophers versus Vermont in October, and topped off his season last March with what was his biggest goal to date, a game winner versus Wisconsin in the game that would clinch the MacNaughton Cup for the Gophers. He was subsequently named to the All-WCHA Second Team at season's end.
GopherHole asked Brian Deutsch to fetch Nate yet one more time, stuck our microphone in his face, and asked him a thing or two….
GH: Growing up in St. Cloud, were you a Gopher fan?
NS: "No. I was a pretty avid Huskies fan. My Dad and I had season tickets when I was about twelve or thirteen. It wasn't until I got into high school that I started to realize the maroon and gold was kind of for me"
GH: I know that Mike Guentzel had a big hand in your recruitment. Take us through the life of a hockey prospect? Coming out of High School, was there any interest from the Gophers?
NS: "I actually committed to the U when I was a Sophomore. I remember the first visit I had here with Coach Guentzel. I talked to Don (Lucia), and then I came in and sat down with him (Mike Guentzel) while my parents talked to Don. He pulled out a sheet and slid it across to me. It was a list of all the guys he had ever coached. Who they are, where they are now, whether they were in the minors or the pro's, and stuff like that. Like sixty percent of the guys he's ever had went pro! That definitely played a roll. He was gone for those couple of years, and that was kind of tough, because he was the guy that mainly recruited me. When he got back, it really made all the difference in the world. He's an unbelievable coach. He does so many things well. He has transformed our defensive corps into one of the best in the country"
GH: You've been described in a few places as a 'Forward that converted to Defense'. Did you play Forward up until last season?
NS: "Nah, actually i've been back and forth. Seems like growing up I played somewhere different every other year, Forward back to Defense. In high school, I played my first two years at Forward, and then played Defense my Junior year. In Fargo (Fargo Force of the USHL) I played D, and then my first year here I played Forward. I've been back and forth"
GH: Any hazing or good pranks in the locker room that you can talk about?
NS: "Not really. Definitely nothing as bad as Juniors! You know, other than making the Freshman load up the bus, pick up pucks, and clean the locker room after practice, I really can't come with anything. Just growing pain stuff for the young guys. You know, you gotta put in your time before you can sit back, relax, and make the other guys do it"
GH: Come on! Who's the instigator on the team?
NS: "If I had to pick one, I'd have to reach towards, ahhh… Seth Helgeson. But he's not the guy that's going to go after someone without a reason. He's more the guy that, if you go after him, he's going to come back at you twice as hard"
GH: Obviously, I only know you from what I see of you on the ice, and in press conference situations. But I get the feeling you're probably the guy that I'd want to have as a friend. But at the same time, the kind of friend that I'd constantly be looking over my shoulder at to make sure you weren't putting Icy Hot in my nut cup, or Orajel in my mouth guard. Are you that guy?
NS: "You know, I HATE being pranked. So, I don't ever want to prank someone, because then they'll just want to get back at me. So I try to steer clear of that"
GH: Do you have any superstitions?
NS: "I try and stay as far away from superstitions as possible! I had a teammate in junior hockey that had like a thirty five part routine he went through the twenty four hours leading up to every game. Very bizarre!"
GH: How do you prepare for a game? Particular food? Music?
NS: "During the day, I have to take an hour and a half, two hour nap. When I get to the rink, I tape my stick, and then I head up to the weight room and work with Cal Dietz (Strength & Conditioning Coach) on stretching. He has these new devices that we listen to, with music, that help us mentally focus. Then I do some stick handling in the weight room before each game. So, it's nothing too elaborate, but something I always stick to before every game"
GH: So, are naps mandatory on this team? Seems like every guy I talk to takes a two hour nap before a game…
NS: "No, not mandatory"
GH: Who are the guys you looked up to, and tried to style your game after growing up?
NS: "You know, the guys I looked up to, and the guys I try to style my game after, are different. I mean, when I was growing up, I loved Nicklas Lidström. I was a Red Wings fan for the longest time after the North Stars left. I used to love watching Lidström play. He was the best in the world. The sad thing is, he could still be playing, and could be a top five defenseman in the league right now. You know, you just try to take as many things from him as you can by watching him. But when I got into High School, I got to watch guys like (Paul) Martin, (Keith) Ballard, and (Alex) Goligoski play here. You see those guys, you see what they did during their time here, and you want to model your game after them. That's kind of what I want to do while I'm here. I do as much as I can to try and emulate those players"
GH: What is the strength of your game?
NS: "I think just being a two way puck moving Defenseman. I try not to get caught up in being too defensive, or too offensive. Both parts of the game need to be well rounded"
GH: What is an area you need to improve on?
NS: "Sometimes in the defensive zone, I get out of position while trying to make plays. Or trying to make something out of nothing. Sometimes, just a simple play works"
By Thom Wynn
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/238667?referrer_id=331171
It seems that not a week has gone by this season where Nate Schmidt has not been fished out of the locker room by Gopher Men's Hockey SID Brian Deutsch, and thrown in front of the media. Although no official record is kept of these things, he must hold the title among the Gopher players for time in front of the cameras. But it seems like a natural fit for the Junior Defenseman from St. Cloud. Schmidt appears to be very comfortable in front of reporters. He's confident, but not arrogant. His responses come quickly, but are well thought out. He comes across as the kind of guy that's not afraid to speak his mind, but is smart enough to know when to keep his mouth shut. And this attitude probably translates well to his game on the ice. You can see that he is confident in his abilities, but smart enough to know when he can't make a play, and backs off. To use a well worn cliche, he's the guy you want out on the ice when the game is on the line.
After playing for a season with the Fargo Force of the USHL, where he was selected to the USHL All Rookie team, and USHL All Star team, Schmidt came to the U of M and saw limited action as a Freshman. With the help of Gopher Associate Head Coach Mike Guentzel, he found a spot on the blue line last season, and quickly eased into the role. Schmidt pocketed 3 goals and 38 assists (more than any other Defenseman in Division I), while pulling a team high plus/minus of +24. But perhaps no statistic is more telling of what a team player this kid is, than the 52 blocked shots he amassed last season. But when a guy says "I take it extremely personal when my team gets scored on when I'm on the ice", you know he's going to do whatever it takes to keep the puck out of his net.
Referring to Schmidt's place on the power play during a press conference early last year, Gophers Head Coach Don Lucia told the media that "once Nate found Nick Bjugstad on the far post, he would start racking up points". The following weekend, Lucia's words were put into action, as Schmidt connected with Bjugstad on a goal scored from the back post on the power play. His point totals seemed to ignite after that. He scored his first career goal with the Gophers versus Vermont in October, and topped off his season last March with what was his biggest goal to date, a game winner versus Wisconsin in the game that would clinch the MacNaughton Cup for the Gophers. He was subsequently named to the All-WCHA Second Team at season's end.
GopherHole asked Brian Deutsch to fetch Nate yet one more time, stuck our microphone in his face, and asked him a thing or two….
GH: Growing up in St. Cloud, were you a Gopher fan?
NS: "No. I was a pretty avid Huskies fan. My Dad and I had season tickets when I was about twelve or thirteen. It wasn't until I got into high school that I started to realize the maroon and gold was kind of for me"
GH: I know that Mike Guentzel had a big hand in your recruitment. Take us through the life of a hockey prospect? Coming out of High School, was there any interest from the Gophers?
NS: "I actually committed to the U when I was a Sophomore. I remember the first visit I had here with Coach Guentzel. I talked to Don (Lucia), and then I came in and sat down with him (Mike Guentzel) while my parents talked to Don. He pulled out a sheet and slid it across to me. It was a list of all the guys he had ever coached. Who they are, where they are now, whether they were in the minors or the pro's, and stuff like that. Like sixty percent of the guys he's ever had went pro! That definitely played a roll. He was gone for those couple of years, and that was kind of tough, because he was the guy that mainly recruited me. When he got back, it really made all the difference in the world. He's an unbelievable coach. He does so many things well. He has transformed our defensive corps into one of the best in the country"
GH: You've been described in a few places as a 'Forward that converted to Defense'. Did you play Forward up until last season?
NS: "Nah, actually i've been back and forth. Seems like growing up I played somewhere different every other year, Forward back to Defense. In high school, I played my first two years at Forward, and then played Defense my Junior year. In Fargo (Fargo Force of the USHL) I played D, and then my first year here I played Forward. I've been back and forth"
GH: Any hazing or good pranks in the locker room that you can talk about?
NS: "Not really. Definitely nothing as bad as Juniors! You know, other than making the Freshman load up the bus, pick up pucks, and clean the locker room after practice, I really can't come with anything. Just growing pain stuff for the young guys. You know, you gotta put in your time before you can sit back, relax, and make the other guys do it"
GH: Come on! Who's the instigator on the team?
NS: "If I had to pick one, I'd have to reach towards, ahhh… Seth Helgeson. But he's not the guy that's going to go after someone without a reason. He's more the guy that, if you go after him, he's going to come back at you twice as hard"
GH: Obviously, I only know you from what I see of you on the ice, and in press conference situations. But I get the feeling you're probably the guy that I'd want to have as a friend. But at the same time, the kind of friend that I'd constantly be looking over my shoulder at to make sure you weren't putting Icy Hot in my nut cup, or Orajel in my mouth guard. Are you that guy?
NS: "You know, I HATE being pranked. So, I don't ever want to prank someone, because then they'll just want to get back at me. So I try to steer clear of that"
GH: Do you have any superstitions?
NS: "I try and stay as far away from superstitions as possible! I had a teammate in junior hockey that had like a thirty five part routine he went through the twenty four hours leading up to every game. Very bizarre!"
GH: How do you prepare for a game? Particular food? Music?
NS: "During the day, I have to take an hour and a half, two hour nap. When I get to the rink, I tape my stick, and then I head up to the weight room and work with Cal Dietz (Strength & Conditioning Coach) on stretching. He has these new devices that we listen to, with music, that help us mentally focus. Then I do some stick handling in the weight room before each game. So, it's nothing too elaborate, but something I always stick to before every game"
GH: So, are naps mandatory on this team? Seems like every guy I talk to takes a two hour nap before a game…
NS: "No, not mandatory"
GH: Who are the guys you looked up to, and tried to style your game after growing up?
NS: "You know, the guys I looked up to, and the guys I try to style my game after, are different. I mean, when I was growing up, I loved Nicklas Lidström. I was a Red Wings fan for the longest time after the North Stars left. I used to love watching Lidström play. He was the best in the world. The sad thing is, he could still be playing, and could be a top five defenseman in the league right now. You know, you just try to take as many things from him as you can by watching him. But when I got into High School, I got to watch guys like (Paul) Martin, (Keith) Ballard, and (Alex) Goligoski play here. You see those guys, you see what they did during their time here, and you want to model your game after them. That's kind of what I want to do while I'm here. I do as much as I can to try and emulate those players"
GH: What is the strength of your game?
NS: "I think just being a two way puck moving Defenseman. I try not to get caught up in being too defensive, or too offensive. Both parts of the game need to be well rounded"
GH: What is an area you need to improve on?
NS: "Sometimes in the defensive zone, I get out of position while trying to make plays. Or trying to make something out of nothing. Sometimes, just a simple play works"