Scheifele plans on playing Tuesday

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This article was published 25/01/2016 (3781 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He was taken out by a teammate in practice. Then, just when things were going good again, by the end boards at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Look, Mark Scheifele knows his timing — though it came from two incidents over which he had no control — has been lousy, what with the Winnipeg Jets in a serious nosedive with him out of the lineup.

But excuse the Jets centre if he’s experiencing some emotional extremes here, part frustration at being out and part elation over his imminent return.

“I’m pain-free. It’s feeling good,” said Scheifele after practice Sunday. “I feel confident on the ice and I just want to continue to feel better every day and get more and more into game shape and be ready for Tuesday (against Arizona).

“It pains me to be out of the lineup and be watching from upstairs. It kills me inside. But I kept working hard, I didn’t get down, and I kept working through it. I’m happy to be back out on the ice.”

Scheifele has missed seven games since suffering the injury in Dallas, and was out for four games right after Christmas with a concussion following a collision with Andrew Ladd in a Boxing Day practice. All this coming after he was starting to heat up offensively.

“I was in the most pain I’ve ever been in,” said Scheifele, rewinding to the night in Dallas. “I went knee-first into the boards, my shin pad came up and there wasn’t anything protecting me. I was going full speed going into it, too. I made the play to Matty (Perreault) and I tried to take a step, because I didn’t really feel it at first, and then I took a step on that leg and couldn’t bear it. It was killing me. I wasn’t really sure what was going on with it, but I’m happy it wasn’t super serious and I’m back now.”

With Drew Stafford and Alex Burmistrov taking maintenance days Sunday and Perreault’s status still unclear — he was to undergo further tests after missing the final two periods Saturday night — the Jets forward lines featured some new combinations. Scheifele was working between Nikolaj Ehlers and Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little was at centre with Andrew Ladd and Joel Armia and Andrew Copp centred Matt Halischuk and Chris Thorburn. Patrice Cormier and Anthony Peluso were the other two forwards on the ice.

“Mark (Scheifele) back in for practice… it just changes the way practice looks,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice. “You can see it if you’re upstairs: it’s just faster. Pucks are moving on the tape, Nikolaj and Blake are picking up speed through the neutral zone. I liked Blake at centre ice, too (in Saturday’s loss to New Jersey). It’s something we feel we have to do, but going forward when you’ve got Mathieu out and Scheif out and (Adam) Lowry out and Burmi not at 100 per cent, now you at least feel you’ve got something to go to.”

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A hockey junkie, Scheifele admitted watching his team from the press box is a whole different experience — and not a good one — than, say, hunkering down in front of the tube to take in Montreal vs. Toronto, or Chicago vs. Tampa.

‘Mark back in for practice… it just changes the way practice looks. You can see it if you’re upstairs: it’s just faster’

— Jets coach Paul Maurice

“I’m one of those guys, it pains me to be out of the lineup and watching from upstairs,” he said. “It kills me inside and definitely sucks.

“Watching a random game, you have no connection with any of those guys. It’s just enjoying watching hockey. When it’s your brothers out there and you’re not able to help them, it’s like every second you’re begging to be on the ice waiting to be able to contribute a little bit. It sucks. It’s the worst feeling in the world.

“But I’m happy I’m back and that’s over with now.”

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