WEATHER ALERT

Scheifele basking in glow of fab debut

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MARK Scheifele, like any hockey prospect, has been drilled over and over again about living in the here and now.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/09/2011 (5127 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MARK Scheifele, like any hockey prospect, has been drilled over and over again about living in the here and now.

Don’t look too far ahead and never get caught up in what’s in the rear-view mirror. It’s stuff straight from Chapter 1 in the hockey cliché manual.

Still, here’s the thing: how can an 18-year-old not savour — at least a little bit — a glorious performance that included two goals and two assists and culminated with the home crowd chanting his name as he was introduced as the first star?

That’s what kids all over the planet dream about every night.

“It was unbelievable,” began Scheifele Wednesday after the Jets’ morning practice. “All night it was tough to get to sleep because my adrenaline was still going, I was still smiling so much. My roommate, Zach Redmond, got back from Columbus, too, and so we were talking a lot.

“(The first moment of stepping on the ice) was breathtaking. I was getting chills, I was getting goosebumps. The whole time we could hear them cheering and it was the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of and the loudest crowd, for sure.”

Scheifele wrapped up his evening by going back to the hotel and calling his mom, dad, brother and sister. His phone was buzzing into the wee hours as text message after text message arrived — so much so that Redmond complained the noise had kept him from sleeping. But what now?

Scheifele will play in at least one of the three games scheduled Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Nashville, Carolina and St. John’s. After that, it’s just a guess.

The Jets’ first-round draft choice has yet to sign an entry-level contract it’s worth noting. And that’s an important bit of business that has to be resolved if he does manage to crack the opening day lineup. Of course, that is fast-forwarding this story without letting the details play themselves out in full.

“First game… four days (of camp),” cautioned head coach Claude Noel, who did call Scheifele the best player on the ice in Tuesday’s win. “The National Hockey League is a league of men who play like men and it can eat you up quickly. And you can’t make the judgment in four days. It’s a process and it will play itself out.

“He’s doing the right things and I liked that he’s adjusted to the level and played to the level.”

And, apparently, he wasn’t the least bit nervous prior to the opening faceoff.

“He told me he thinks NHL is a joke right now… just kidding,” said Nik Antropov. “He’s calm and that’s a great thing. I didn’t see him nervous at all. Some guys before game they are shaking and stuff like that. He was calm and he did everything great… faceoffs, defensive zone, offensive zone. It was a good overall game.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait

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