When Mark Scheifele took to the ice on Saturday night for the Winnipeg Jets in Dallas, playing through the grief of his father’s death, he had the hockey world’s attention, admiration and sympathy.
鈥淢y heart goes out to him and his family,鈥 Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said before Sunday鈥檚 Game 7 against the Florida Panthers. 鈥淭he courage you show to play that game, and he played well. It’s a terrible situation, you feel for him. But I understand why he played, I really do. That’s a tough day for everybody.鈥
Scheifele did it not just to help his team but to honour his father, Brad, whose death was announced the morning of Game 6 against the Stars. Scheifele scored, but the Jets lost in overtime with Scheifele serving a penalty at the time of Thomas Harley’s winner, which sent Dallas to the Western Conference final against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Jets were eliminated. The handshake line was more emotional than most.
An emotional handshake line following the end of the Jets/Stars Second Round matchup 馃挌馃挋
鈥 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet)
鈥(Scheifele) wanted to win so bad聽鈥 the circumstances, so, so tough,鈥 Jets coach Scott Arniel told reporters in Dallas after the game. 鈥淏eing in a situation like that, I couldn’t imagine it. The pro that he is, the leader that he is, the year that he had with us, his dad and his family would be very proud of him.鈥
That emotion spilled over to Sunday at Scotiabank Arena, before the Leafs and Panthers played for a spot in the Eastern final.
The Dallas Stars eliminated the Winnipeg Jets from the NHL playoffs with a 2-1 overtime win in Game 6 of their second-round series. Jets forward Mark Scheifele scored Winnipeg's lone goal. He decided to play even though his father died the night before. (May 18, 2025 / The Canadian Press)
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, who coached Scheifele in Winnipeg for nine seasons, started his media availability with a personal statement.
鈥淥n behalf of myself and my family and the entire Florida Panther organization, our deepest sympathies and condolences to Mark Scheifele, his family and the Winnipeg Jets family,鈥 said Maurice.
鈥淭he Scheifele family is very close. Just as an observation from last night, the display of courage and focus for Mark to do what he did (was) a great display of the power of the family. The Winnipeg Jet fans built a culture of family there that allowed that inspiration to happen.鈥
The hockey world is small. Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly, born and raised in Vancouver, knew Scheifele and his father well even though they are from Ontario.
As elite players of roughly the same age, the 31-year-old Rielly and 32-year-old Scheifele have been teammates five times. They won a gold medal in their second time together at the world championship in 2017. They also played for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, as well as at the world junior and under-18 championships.聽聽
鈥淚t’s hard to really speak on, knowing Mark and his family,鈥 said Rielly. 鈥淚t’s something that I can’t imagine, and all the credit in the world to him and his teammates and everyone in Winnipeg for pulling together. Last night and moving forward here, we’ll be thinking about what happened.鈥
Hockey players are known for playing through all kinds of pain.
鈥淭his time of year, everybody’s banged up,鈥 said Berube. 鈥淵ou play through a lot. You’re not injured because you’re playing; you’re banged up, you’re hurt. And there’s a lot of that with a lot of teams and a lot of players, for sure. But this time of year, you play through it, right? It’s too important not to.鈥
The 2023 Panthers, who lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup final, were prime examples.
鈥淭hinking back two years ago, the number of guys who couldn’t play had pure broken bones,鈥 said Maurice. 鈥淭here were still five guys with broken bones in the lineup.聽 Radko Gudas suffered a high ankle sprain early in Game 1 of the final, and it took him 10 minutes to get back to the bench (from treatment in the trainer’s room). That’s a six-week injury, but the thought of him not being there, knowing what the other guys were playing with, he just couldn’t live with that.鈥
Playing while mourning, as Scheifele did, is on a different level.
鈥淓veryone in our locker room, certainly in the hockey world, is mourning and feeling for him,鈥 said Leafs centre John Tavares. 鈥淚ncredibly difficult news, extremely sad. I feel for him and I’m thinking about him and his family and wish him the best.
鈥淚t was a pretty incredible effort he put forth, the way he competed and played. Obviously got a big goal for their team, but can only imagine how difficult it is for them right now.鈥
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