Former Bears Eakin, Engelland, Schmidt selected by Las Vegas in Expansion Draft

Center photo: 7641 Sports.

Three former Hershey Bears were drafted by the newly formed Las Vegas Golden Knights Wednesday night in the NHL Expansion Draft. Cody Eakin, Deryk Engelland, and Nate Schmidt.

Eakin played 47 games over two seasons for the Bears, as well as five games in the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs, winning the title with the Bears and having his name engraved on the Cup. Eakin joined the Bears full time two seasons later, playing 43 games for the Chocolate and White, as well as 30 for Washington, before being traded to Dallas in the offseason for Mike Ribero.

Engelland, 35, spent two seasons with Hershey, winning the 2006 Calder Cup with the Bears. In those two season, Engelland played 81 regular season games for the Bears, including 15 playoff games, 14 coming during the Bears 2007 Calder Cup Finals run. The 6’2″ defenseman has spent the last three seasons with Calgary.

Schmidt joined the Bears at the end of the 2012-13 season after his third season with the University of Minnesota. The smooth defenseman would split the next two seasons between Washington and Hershey, playing a total of 65 regular season games for the Bears parts of three seasons.

Quickly, Schmidt became a fan favorite in Chocolate Town, as well as participating in two of the funniest videos Chocolate Hockey has produced: The Hershey Bears visit Chocolate World, and The Hershey Bears make Easter Eggs.

Here is the full list of players selected by Vegas Wednesday night during the NHL Awards.