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FRED GREENSLADE \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele (right) celebrates Gabriel Vilardi\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019s going to be your last. Especially in the world of hockey, you never know when it\u2019s going to be your last game. You just want to live every single day to your fullest.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Scheifele certainly isn\u2019t cutting corners this season.<\/p>\n
Heading into Thursday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s clash against Boston), reaching 100 points isn\u2019t out of reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know when it\u2019s going to be your last game. You just want to live every single day to your fullest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI probably feel the fastest I\u2019ve ever felt in my career,\u201d said Scheifele.<\/p>\n
That he\u2019s performing at this level at an age when many players begin to slow down speaks to his relentless dedication.<\/p>\n
\u201cScheif is fanatical. He loves the game, he\u2019s a nerd when it comes to the ice and the training,\u201d said Jets head coach Scott Arniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, that\u2019s the big part \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of Scheifele\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the goal. You just want to continue to play your best as long as you can. Not even thinking about age as anything,\u201d said Scheifele, who is in the second year of a seven-year contract extension.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just about how you feel every day. Try to seize every day to the utmost of your ability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Motivation comes in many forms, and Scheifele said losing his dad to cancer \u2014 the same disease that took his former junior hockey coach and mentor Dale Hawerchuk a few years earlier \u2014 brought some additional perspective along with fuel for his internal fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just want to continue to play your best as long as you can. Not even thinking about age as anything,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve tried to really be a happy, positive presence in the room. That\u2019s kind of the way I\u2019ve dealt with this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Chasing hockey history doesn\u2019t hurt, either.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele became the new franchise leader in points in October, and is going into Thursday\u2019s clash against the Bruins with 887.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Earlier this season, Scheifele became the franchise\u2019s all-time leading scorer, surpassing former teammate Blake Wheeler. But he still has his sights on another record: surpassing Hawerchuk\u2019s mark of 929 points for the most in Jets (1.0 and 2.0) history. Scheifele is just 42 points away.<\/p>\n Barring injury, he\u2019s expected to eclipse that milestone next year. He\u2019s also on track to play his 1,000th NHL game by next season\u2019s halfway mark, with 1,000 career points likely to follow shortly after.<\/p>\n \u201cFor 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s Olympic break.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve tried to really be a happy, positive presence in the room. That\u2019s kind of the way I\u2019ve dealt with this year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always stuff to work on, things to improve. There\u2019s 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,\u201d said Scheifele.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s such a brilliant man. I\u2019m 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\u2019s been amazing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n The tandem of Winnipeg Jets forwards Mark Scheifele (left) and Kyle Connor has been sensational this season. The teammates were tied for the club\u2019s season goal-scoring lead with 31 apiece going into Thursday night\u2019s action.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe push each other a lot,\u201d said Scheifele. \u201cAnd we expect a lot out of each other, too. I\u2019m very lucky to have a guy like him not only as my linemate but as a friend to continue to push with.\u201d<\/p>\n Arniel said any time a young player joins the Jets \u2014 such as the recently acquired Isak Rosen \u2014 he tells them to keep an eye on Scheifele and Connor. In practices. In the dressing room. During games.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir habits are as elite as elite can be,\u201d said Arniel. \u201cYou go back in history and look at every great goal scorer or playmaker and there\u2019s always a tandem. Two guys that have always been together. It\u2019s (Mike) Bossy and (Bryan) Trottier, (Jari) Kurri and (Wayne) Gretzky. It goes on and on.\u201d<\/p>\n Although this has been a banner season on a personal level, things obviously haven\u2019t gone as well for the reigning Presidents\u2019 Trophy winners who may need another Manitoba Miracle to just make the playoffs this spring.<\/p>\n Scheifele hasn\u2019t given up hope.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Time is fleeting. And, as the saying goes, it flies when you\u2019re having fun.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s days you\u2019re like, \u2018Holy crap, that was a long time ago.\u2019 There\u2019s days where it\u2019s like, \u2018Wow, that feels like yesterday,\u2019\u201d Scheifele said with a laugh.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just very, very blessed. Just very blessed and humbled by it all.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/mikemcintyre<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t Mike McIntyre 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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