The original title of this post was going to be Ryan Schmidt, Well Travelled, Virtually Unknown. That was until I got something in the mail:

Sometimes, you run across something that just blows you mind. I would have never known about Ryan Schmidt if it weren’t for a game worn jersey that came up on ebay. Ryan Schmidt may never have thought anyone would run into his stats, but after you see this, you may understand. This is the playing history from the Internet Hockey Database page for Ryan Schmidt:

1990-91 Sioux City Musketeers
1992-93 Waterloo Black Hawks
1992-93 Fort Worth Fire
1993-94 Dallas Freeze
1994-95 Roanoke Express
1994-95 Toledo Storm
1994-95 Utica Blizzard
1994-95 Detroit Falcons
1995-96 West-Palm-Beach Barracudas
1995-96 Wichita Thunder
1996-97 Amarillo Rattlers
1996-97 Dayton Ice Bandits
1997-98 Fayetteville Force
1998-99 Mobile Mysticks
1998-99 Macon Whoopee
1998-99 Fort Worth Fire
1999-00 Fayetteville Force
2000-01 Colorado Gold Kings
2000-01 Phoenix Mustangs
2000-01 Bakersfield Condors

Oh…My…God… That is staggering. I’m pretty well travelled, but I don’t have anything on this guy. And remember, half of his games were probably road games. If there is a minor leaguer who has stories to tell, it’s probably Ryan Schmidt.

Want to know what else is impressive? How about his penalty minutes? In 415 games, he had 1074 penalty minutes. As for scoring, he had 15 goals and 63 assists for 78 points. I think he had a job, knew his job, and did it often.

From the wear on the sleeve, it looks like he did that job in this jersey:

So, where is Ryan now? A look through the interweb brought up this. From the East Coast Eagles:

Ryan Schmidt returns again this season as the ECE Skills Coach. Ryan played professionally for nine years and is a former CHL All-Star. After completing his professional hockey career, he moved into coaching and teaching hockey skills. For the last 15 years, Coach Schmidt has taught players of all skill levels including house, travel, AA, AAA, NAJHL, OHL, CCHA, ECHL, IHL, and members from the 1998 Women’s Olympic Team. Ryan is a native of the Detroit Metro area. He now resides in Raleigh and also operates the Pro Hockey School which focuses on assisting players to achieve their goals and move their game to the next level.

How cool is that? How many people with his career are still involved in hockey? What drives a person to continue after the career this man has had?

This is his hockey camp.

I’m so glad I have this jersey. It represents a completely different side of hockey that we rarely think about. With the NHL being the main exposure we get to the game, it’s easy to forget the game being played in front of a handful of fans, in places you wouldn’t expect, for little or no glory, and even less money. I’m happy I have this jersey so I can tell people about this guy. Incredible.

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