Former Jets coach Paul Maurice once declared that there would be a statue erected of Mark Scheifele outside Canada Life Centre one day – likely not long after his career with Winnipeg concluded.
Well, Tuesday night in a game where the Jets undoubtedly needed their star players to stand out, the 31-year-old Scheifele delivered a monumental performance – one that came at the expense of Maurice’s current team, the Florida Panthers, who just happen to be the defending Stanley Cup champions.
For the second time in three games against the Panthers, Scheifele recorded a hat trick, Tuesday’s being the ninth of his career and a significant one in a bounceback effort for the Jets that may well have local sculptors now planning casts and moulds of his likeness.
Faced with the challenge of rebounding following a humbling loss to the Panthers last Saturday, the Jets barrelled down the runway Tuesday night and not only won in the finale of a home-and-home set, 6-3, but they also did so with a message – one that was loud and clear that they, too, are quite capable of playing ‘big boy’ hockey.
You see, without the Jets’ emphatic response Tuesday, there would have been myriad questions to follow about the team’s inability to raise its game to compete when it really counts with the likes of Colorado, Vegas and Florida – the last three Cup champs.
For the record, and after Tuesday night’s win, Winnipeg has now beaten two of those three this season with the Golden Knights on the horizon next week, something Scheifele and the Jets are keenly aware of, no doubt.
And while there were other stellar performances on Tuesday for Winnipeg, it was Scheifele’s three goals that made the boldest statement – kind of like his former coach not that many years ago declaring a statue of Scheifele would one day be erected outside Canada Life Centre.
