Scheifele looks to dethrone NHL’s elite

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This article was published 16/09/2017 (2923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mark Scheifele raised a few eyebrows last week when he stated he’s gunning to out-perform the Hart Trophy winner and the guy who finished right behind.

The Winnipeg Jets centre, speaking with NHL.com in New York during the NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour, flashed his playful but confident side, saying he wants to be better than Edmonton Oilers young superstar Connor McDavid — the NHL MVP — and living hockey legend Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins this season.

Scheifele, 24 — a huge tennis fan who had a seat at Arthur Ashe Stadium as Juan Martin del Porto upended Roger Federer in a U.S. Open quarter-final match last week — said Friday there’s a method to his brashness.

“I have so much respect for (McDavid and Crosby). By saying that, it’s an honour to play in the league with them,” he said, after the Jets on-ice fitness testing at the Iceplex.

“But we all come here and want to be the best. There’s not one guy in our room who doesn’t want to be the best, who just wants to be a guy that is an innocent bystander just going with the flow.

“(McDavid and Crosby) want to be the best in the league and they do everything they can in their power to work on their game — get bigger, faster and stronger every year. That’s what I want to do every year as well. I want to find that extra edge on them. I gotta make my goals high and try to reach them, and I’m going to work my hardest to get to that level.”

Scheifele led the NHL scoring for parts of the first quarter of the 2016-17 campaign, ultimately, finishing sixth with 32 goals and 82 points, behind only McDavid (100), Crosby (89), Chicago’s Patrick Kane (89), Nicklas Backstrom of Washington (86), Boston’s Brad Marchand (85) and Nikita Kucherov of Tampa (85).

The club’s first-ever draft choice in 2011 elevated his game to elite status in his fourth season with Winnipeg — playing the majority of the season with Finnish-born sniper Patrik Laine and dynamic winger Nilolaj Ehlers — but believes there’s still room for improvement.

“I still have a long way to go. I’m still young, I’m still working on things, trying to get better each and every day. That’s the thing I love about hockey so much is the amount you can learn every day, the amount of times you can come off the ice and say, ‘I got better today, I learned this,’” said the Kitchener, Ont., product.

Scheifele added his name to the growing list of Jets who’ve indicated a playoff appearance is an absolute must.

“It’s gotta be. We have to make the playoffs this year. I think we have a team that has the capabilities to do big things this year,” he said.

“I think that’s gotta be on everyone’s mind. We can’t be complacent. We can’t be satisfied with just being good every other game.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell