DALLAS – The handshake line on the finish of a Stanley Cup Playoff collection is among the biggest traditions in hockey – a show of empathy and decency in a sport that may be savage. If solely the remainder of humanity was so prepared to make peace.
However not often has a receiving line of opposing Nationwide Hockey League gamers been as poignant, each good and unhappy, because it was Saturday evening when the Winnipeg Jets lined as much as shake fingers with the Dallas Stars after dropping 2-1 in extra time.
It wasn’t the top of their season that was so highly effective – though that, too, is devastating for a Jets workforce that received the Presidents’ Trophy and had reliable aspirations of advancing to the Western Convention Ultimate after which the Stanley Cup – however the begin of the mourning.
Mark Scheifele, the longest-tenured Jet, performed Sport 6 regardless of studying Saturday morning that his father, Brad, had handed away again dwelling in Ontario.
Scheifele scored Winnipeg’s solely objective on Saturday, however was within the penalty field in extra time when Dallas defenceman Thomas Harley ripped a slapshot previous goalie Connor Hellebuyck at 1:33 to ship the Stars to their third straight convention last.
When Scheifele emerged from the penalty field, despondent and distraught, the aggressive protect towards grief eliminated, he was gathered in by Jets teammates who took turns hugging him. After which, in that lovely receiving line, so did the Stars.
And the primary and longest embrace was with Dallas captain Jamie Benn, who had punched Scheifele within the face close to the top of Winnipeg’s 4-0 win in Sport 5 on Thursday, knocking him to the ice and incomes a $5,000 superb from the NHL.
“I simply advised him that I revered him as a competitor, and as a hockey participant,” Benn advised us later. “You may develop to not like guys all through a playoff collection. However when it is throughout, I advised him I respect him as a participant. I needed to let him know that it took lots of braveness for him to play at present in a troublesome state of affairs. I am undecided too many guys would have carried out that in his state of affairs. So, I revered it. I do know each man in our room revered it, and our complete group revered it.
“I needed to inform him I cared about him.”
Benn was Scheifele’s chief enemy on the ice. So, think about how the Jets teammates felt about him.
“Heartbreaking,” Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry stated. “You realize, we felt like we had an important common season. We felt like we had a workforce that might go on a run and for it to finish the way in which it did, and all the things else that was surrounding the day, it is simply lots of emotion.
“It is robust to place into phrases what Mark went by means of at present. (He scores) an enormous objective for us, performs a heck of a recreation, and it ends the way in which it does. Simply emotional, heavy. Simply actually happy with the group we had, the dedication, the no give up. We bumped into an important Dallas workforce, however we could not discover that further one tonight, and that was the distinction.”
Later, after stopping briefly to battle again tears, Lowry stated: “Simply an terrible day for him. You need to give him the energy, you need to get that kill so dangerous. We simply could not do it.”
Scheifele’s tripping penalty with 15 seconds remaining in regulation time was the one penalty of the sport. His shot had been blocked contained in the Dallas blueline by Sam Metal, who was turning it right into a breakaway the opposite manner when Scheifele lunged and clipped him.
In a collection when a lot of the Stars’ high forwards had been quiet, Metal had tied the sport off a giant rebound at 11:12 of the center interval, lower than six minutes after Scheifele had opened scoring by sliding the puck by means of Jake Oettinger’s pads after the Dallas goalie stopped Kyle Connor from the slot.
Apart from his workforce’s lone objective, Scheifele registered 9 hits in 18:51 of ice time.
“You realize, for him to play tonight and play the way in which he did is flat out one of the vital brave issues I’ve ever seen,” Winnipeg defenceman Neal Pionk stated. “So all of the credit score to him.”
“I can not stress sufficient how proud I’m of our group,” Jets coach Scott Arniel, who spent the day with Scheifele on the workforce’s lodge, advised reporters. “When issues are laborious and issues are robust, you recognize, particularly this 12 months, we have not cowered away from it. We confronted it, you recognize.
“I’m simply so happy with them and the way shut we’re. Some issues have occurred during the last couple of years, and simply us being a tight-knit group, being household, I actually noticed it on show at present. We see it at completely different factors over the course of the season; may be accidents and it may be private stuff that occurs. However all people – all people – needed to win for Mark tonight. Simply the heartbreak on the finish of it, the way it ended, it is a robust one.”
Arniel stated earlier than the sport that the Jets had been rallying round Scheifele, decided to win for his or her teammate and his dad and pressure a Sport 7 Monday in Manitoba.
Their possibilities of doing so had been harm significantly when No. 1 defenceman Josh Morrissey suffered a major knee harm late within the second interval as he pulled down Stars ahead Mikko Rantanen.
Nonetheless, after getting outplayed within the first interval, the Jets outshot the Stars 19-11 within the last 40 minutes of regulation time however might get just one puck previous Oettinger, who made a lunging, desperation save on Nikolaj Ehlers midway by means of the third interval.
And the Jets couldn’t kill Scheifele’s penalty towards a Stars energy play that was a significant component within the collection.
“Simply earlier than I take questions, I need to acknowledge a pair issues,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer stated at the beginning of his press convention. “Condolences to Mark Scheifele and his household. I think about myself a Kitchener man (DeBoer coached the OHL Rangers in Scheifele’s hometown); his household’s from Kitchener. Simply brave, what he did tonight. I’m positive his dad would have been actually happy with him and what he did. Robust evening for him and anyone within the hockey world that has been in a state of affairs like that. So, hats off to him. Brave younger man.
“The second factor I need to acknowledge is the Winnipeg Jets. I can’t think about there’s a better-coached workforce within the league. I’m a bit biased as a result of we work within the West, however (they) received the Presidents’ Trophy. They offer you nothing, they play laborious, they play as a workforce, nice management. I feel (Arniel) ought to win the Jack Adams working away, for my part, with the job they did this 12 months. So, hats off to these guys too.”
One of many final Dallas gamers to place his arm round Scheifele within the handshake line was Mason Marchment, who ran over Scheifele on Saturday evening and was a menace to the Jets all collection. Marchment misplaced his personal father, former NHLer Bryan, three years in the past.
“You realize, we battle on the market,” Marchment defined. “I’m going to maintain it between us (what was stated) however I believed it was essential to form of share what I went by means of, and what helped me recover from it. Properly, not over, however get by means of it. I want nothing however the most effective for him.”
Hockey. This recreation. Our recreation.
