BOSTON — Mark Scheifele doesn’t feel like he’s racing against Father Time. But the Winnipeg Jets centre, who just celebrated his 33rd birthday earlier this week, admits the past year has given him a sharper sense of life’s fragility.
The death of his father, Brad, last May has fundamentally reshaped the way Scheifele approaches both his professional and personal pursuits.
“You realize how precious life is,” Scheifele told the Free Press on Thursday following his team’s morning skate at TD Garden.
FRED GREENSLADE / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele (right) celebrates Gabriel Vilardi’s goal against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Scheifele has already set a career-high in assists this season (52) and is five points away from setting a new career-best in points.
“I think about him a lot. You try to live every day with positivity and the fervor that he lived his life with every single day. Just try to enjoy every day, because you never know when it’s going to be your last. Especially in the world of hockey, you never know when it’s going to be your last game. You just want to live every single day to your fullest.”
And Scheifele certainly isn’t cutting corners this season.
Heading into Thursday’s game against the Boston Bruins, he ranked sixth in NHL scoring with 83 points, trailing only Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Leon Draisaitl and Macklin Celebrini.
The notable Canadian Olympic team snub has already pushed Scheifele to a new career-high for assists (52 and counting), and he only needs five more points to eclipse his personal best. With 15 games remaining (including Thursday’s clash against Boston), reaching 100 points isn’t out of reach.
“You never know when it’s going to be your last game. You just want to live every single day to your fullest.”
“I probably feel the fastest I’ve ever felt in my career,” said Scheifele.
That he’s performing at this level at an age when many players begin to slow down speaks to his relentless dedication.
“Scheif is fanatical. He loves the game, he’s a nerd when it comes to the ice and the training,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel.
“To me, that’s the big part — he works at his skill set all the time. That might be conditioning, stickhandling, visual stuff, the rehab, the recovery, the nutrition. He prepares himself so he can go 12 months of the year.”
One of Scheifele’s biggest hockey idols is Steve Yzerman, who was still a highly effective player well into his late thirties. For a more recent example, look no further than a guy Scheifele will face on Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby, who is still dominating at the age of 38.
“That’s the goal. You just want to continue to play your best as long as you can. Not even thinking about age as anything,” said Scheifele, who is in the second year of a seven-year contract extension.
“It’s just about how you feel every day. Try to seize every day to the utmost of your ability.”
Motivation comes in many forms, and Scheifele said losing his dad to cancer — the same disease that took his former junior hockey coach and mentor Dale Hawerchuk a few years earlier — brought some additional perspective along with fuel for his internal fire.
“You just want to continue to play your best as long as you can. Not even thinking about age as anything,”
“I’ve tried to really be a happy, positive presence in the room. That’s kind of the way I’ve dealt with this year,” he said.
Chasing hockey history doesn’t hurt, either.
JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele became the new franchise leader in points in October, and is going into Thursday’s clash against the Bruins with 887.
Earlier this season, Scheifele became the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing former teammate Blake Wheeler. But he still has his sights on another record: surpassing Hawerchuk’s mark of 929 points for the most in Jets (1.0 and 2.0) history. Scheifele is just 42 points away.
Barring injury, he’s expected to eclipse that milestone next year. He’s also on track to play his 1,000th NHL game by next season’s halfway mark, with 1,000 career points likely to follow shortly after.
“For sure, all of that is in the back of your mind. But you just try to do your best every day, do everything you can to be the best player you can be, and whatever happens, happens,” he said.
Scheifele credits much of his continued growth to personal skills coach Adam Oates. The Hall of Famer pushes him constantly, analyzing everything from skating to strategy, including during their week-long session in Florida over the NHL’s Olympic break.
“I’ve tried to really be a happy, positive presence in the room. That’s kind of the way I’ve dealt with this year.”
“There’s always stuff to work on, things to improve. There’s that constant communication in terms of what he sees, what I feel and just continuing to think of new ways to work on things, new ways to get better at things,” said Scheifele.
“He’s such a brilliant man. I’m very, very lucky to have him as a coach and guy that I can always bounce ideas off and give me thoughts going into a practice or a game or whatever. He’s been amazing for me.”
JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
The tandem of Winnipeg Jets forwards Mark Scheifele (left) and Kyle Connor has been sensational this season. The teammates were tied for the club’s season goal-scoring lead with 31 apiece going into Thursday night’s action.
So, too, is having a frequent linemate such as Kyle Connor, who entered play Thursday tied with Scheifele for the team goal-scoring lead with 31.
“We push each other a lot,” said Scheifele. “And we expect a lot out of each other, too. I’m very lucky to have a guy like him not only as my linemate but as a friend to continue to push with.”
Arniel said any time a young player joins the Jets — such as the recently acquired Isak Rosen — he tells them to keep an eye on Scheifele and Connor. In practices. In the dressing room. During games.
“Their habits are as elite as elite can be,” said Arniel. “You go back in history and look at every great goal scorer or playmaker and there’s always a tandem. Two guys that have always been together. It’s (Mike) Bossy and (Bryan) Trottier, (Jari) Kurri and (Wayne) Gretzky. It goes on and on.”
Although this has been a banner season on a personal level, things obviously haven’t gone as well for the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners who may need another Manitoba Miracle to just make the playoffs this spring.
Scheifele hasn’t given up hope.
“We just have to keep playing like we have, keep trying to get points when we can. Try to get wins, focus on what we can control. When you get looking too far into the future, the waters get murky. You just have to focus on the here and now,” he said.
That same thinking applies to his own Jets career which, incredibly, started 15 years ago when he was announced as the first pick of the 2.0 Jets.
Time is fleeting. And, as the saying goes, it flies when you’re having fun.
“There’s days you’re like, ‘Holy crap, that was a long time ago.’ There’s days where it’s like, ‘Wow, that feels like yesterday,’” Scheifele said with a laugh.
“I’m just very, very blessed. Just very blessed and humbled by it all.”
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On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
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