TAMPA — When Nate Schmidt missed the Capitals’ annual fathers’ trip last season with a shoulder injury, the pain was felt across two generations. Tom Schmidt had already bought a plane ticket to Washington to join his son.
“I felt worse for him than I did for myself,” said Nate, who warned his father even before his injury that his roster spot was tenuous with the big club.
There was no doubt father and son would make the trip this season. Nate is playing top-pair minutes on Washington’s defense with Brooks Orpik out with a lower-body injury.