The director general of Winnipeg jets, Kevin Cheveldayoff, said that the organization was doing everything it could to support striker Mark Scheife after the death of his father overnight.
Cheveldayoff, who organized media availability on Saturday at the American Airlines Center, said that the death of Brad Scheifele was unexpected.
“We want to give the family (Mark) our most sincere condolences and we obviously ask that everyone respects their private life and their privacy at the moment,” said Cheveldayoff.
The jets had to play the stars of Dallas in match 6 of their NHL eliminatory series in the second round on Saturday evening. He was not immediately clear if Scheifele would play.
“It’s a terrible loss,” said Jets Captain Adam Lowry. “It is difficult to give words how we all feel for Mark and his family.”
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The players were informed of the news before the team’s optional skate, said Cheveldayoff.
Head coach Scott Arniel, who returned to the team hotel to support Scheife after the players’ advice, had to have media availability at the end of the afternoon.
The jets entered the game needing a victory to force a decisive match on Monday in Canada Life Center.
Scheifele, a high-level center of the team, collected 87 points (39-48) in 82 games last season. The native of Kitchener, 32, has 10 points (4-6) in 10 eliminatory games this spring.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the death of his father.
“It’s a big loss, it’s your mentor, it’s the person you’ve tried to grow,” said Lowry. “This is the person you want to be. So I think there are just a lot of little things you need to do to really make sure Mark feels supported today and move forward.”
Lowry added that Brad Scheifele had “infectious laugh” and an energy that “was unrivaled”.
“Just his joy and excitement for life and he really transmitted it to Mark,” he said. “But I think that his positivity, his vision of life (he was) just a really happy person and (it is) a terrible loss obviously.”
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press