Jets coach Scott Arniel said the news of Brad Scheifele's passing overnight was difficult for the entire team. The team was told before the optional morning skate.
"On behalf of the Winnipeg Jets family, our condolences to Mark and his family. It rocked us all this morning when we found out," Arniel said before the game. “Mark will be playing tonight. As he said, that’d be the wishes of his dad. He would have wanted him to play.”
Arniel said the Jets knew Scheifele's father had been rooting on the team, and they got to see him during the first-round series against St. Louis.
“He’s with us, and Mark really wants to play for him,” Arniel said.
Mark Scheifele was the last Jets player to leave the ice following pregame warmups, and during at least part of the singing of “O Canada,” he had his head bowed and eyes closed. He took the opening faceoff against Roope Hintz.
“The thing about Mr. Scheifele is he’s part of our family. He’s part of the Jets family. He goes back to 2011 when Mark was first drafted here," Arniel said. “We have a lot of players that came in around the time that are still here that he’s been a big part of their life, along with their family. So it’s certainly, obviously devastating for Mark, but also for a lot of guys on this team.”
Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said the organization was doing everything it can to support Scheifele.
“It’s a terrible loss,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “It’s tough to put into words how gutted we all feel for Mark and his family.”
There was no immediate word on the cause of Brad Scheifele's death.
Winnipeg, the top seed in the Western Conference, went into Saturday night's game against the Stars needing a win to avoid being eliminated from the NHL playoffs and force a deciding Game 7 in Winnipeg on Monday night.
The 32-year-old Mark Schiefele had 10 points (four goals, six assists) while playing in 10 of the Jets' first 12 games this postseason. He missed Games 6 and 7 of the first-round series against St. Louis with an undisclosed injury after taking a pair of big hits early in Game 5 of that series.
In Game 5 against the Stars on Thursday night, a 4-0 win by Winnipeg that extended the series, Scheifele was sucker-punched by Stars captain Jamie Benn during a late scrum. Benn got a game misconduct penalty and was fined by the NHL the maximum-allowed $5,000, but avoided a suspension.
Scheifele had 87 points (39 goals and 48 assists) in the 82 regular-season games.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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Credit: AP