ANALYSIS: Jets’ Scheifele raises the bar once again in 1st-round series – Winnipeg
The 2018 Winnipeg Jets playoff run is remembered fondly within our city — a high-water mark for the franchise and also the bar by which everything post facto for the team is measured.
And while the lore of that magical spring is now seven long years ago, there are still eight players from that team hoping to achieve at least the same — but assuredly more — in Winnipeg’s current entry in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
And of those, one player stands out among the rest for what he did in 2018 and is trying to do again in 2025. After two first-round victories over the St. Louis Blues that have Jets halfway home to playoff advancement, it would be difficult to name a better Jets all-around player thus far than Mark Scheifele.
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In both wins, Scheifele has been the bell cow for Winnipeg, leading the team in points and authoring two third-period surges by the Jets to grab a firm grip on the series as it now shifts to Missouri for Game 3 Thursday night.
But it’s really more than just the points.
What the 32-year-old is providing this veteran Jets group right now is a complete package of skill, physicality, leadership and desire – all key ingredients in post-season advancement.
His 200-foot game, board and corner work along with a kamikaze drive to the middle of the ice and onward to the Blues net have been virtually unstoppable.
It’s an overt exhibit that has him front and centre as the best player in the series so far, a similar display to 2018, when he led the Jets with 14 goals in 17 playoff games – including an NHL record 11 on the road.
Yes, 2018 will always be fondly remembered in this city for that exciting Jets playoff run, and Scheifele’s key part in it, but with the way he’s playing right now, you get the feeling the team’s number one centre is looking — seven years later — to raise the bar again.
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