Scheifele all business on, off ice

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This article was published 13/07/2020 (1379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They admittedly do their best work on the ice. But a trio of Winnipeg Jets players put in some heavy lifting away from the rink these past few months in helping to get the sport back up and running in the middle of a global pandemic.

Mark Scheifele was invited to be part of a small return-to-play committee. Andrew Copp was a key part of a collective bargaining unit. And Adam Lowry, the team’s player representative, was in the loop and keeping everyone appraised of what was going on.

There may not be another NHL club that had more players with a voice on critical matters, which included working out a new financial framework in these shaky economic times, extending the current collective bargaining agreement through the 2025-26 season, and guaranteeing Olympic participation in 2022 and 2026. Players ratified the deal by a 502-135 vote last week.

“It was obviously an honour to be a part of that committee. A lot of very good hockey players and a lot of smart hockey minds all on one call. A lot of phone calls, a lot of ideas thrown around, there definitely wasn’t a stone unturned in terms of ideas thrown around,” Scheifele said Tuesday of the rather exclusive group that also included Connor McDavid, John Tavares, James van Riemsdyk and Ron Hainsey.

“I think it’s all about educating yourself. When I first got in the league, I didn’t understand a lot of the business side of things. But over the last number of years, I’m the assistant rep to (Lowry), so it’s been kind of an interesting journey that way just in terms of learning more about the business side of things, learning about what goes into creating the cap and all that stuff.”

There’s no question the Jets often target heady players during the draft, including former Western Hockey League scholastic player of the year Josh Morrissey who, along with Scheifele, serves as the team’s alternate captain.

Which is why head coach Paul Maurice wasn’t surprised to see some of his troops take such active roles in negotiations.

“We’ve got some pretty smart guys in our room. You’ve talked to those three guys and you know if you ask a question, you’re going to get a well-thought-out answer,” said Maurice.

“What I do like is that I think they have the players’ interests at heart, as they should in those roles, but also the games. They love the game and they respect the game, so it’s not just a one-sided deal here. I think those three guys, especially, would have a really good affinity for both sides of it. The players’ side but also the fans’ side, the management side. Understanding that all of these pieces need to be thought of when we’re constructing these deals.”

Lowry said player health and safety was the critical part of return-to-play negotiations, and he believes the end result of creating so-called bubbles in the hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto was a solid resolution during an unprecedented situation.

“Kind of going through the process, knowing how diligent the NHL and the players association were in making sure that there were a lot of steps and a lot of precautions and a lot of things put into place to try and maximize our safety,” he said.

“It might be different playing without fans and playing in the middle of summer, but this is the new normal right now and this is going to be something we have to get used to.”

Lowry said another key component was preserving the integrity of the playoffs despite not being able to complete the regular season. That’s why 24 teams were included, with an initial best-of-five qualifying series required before getting to the traditional group of 16 squads playing best-of-seven series.

As for the Olympics, Scheifele could be a big winner from the inclusion, as he will likely be on Canada’s radar for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

“Obviously, that’s one of the greatest honours you could ever have. It takes a lot of hard work and there are so many great Canadian hockey players. I just want to continue to work on my game to make that dream a reality one day. You’ve just got to keep working at it, work hard and do what you can for your team and if they see what you do, then awesome. But you’ve just got to keep working hard,” said Scheifele.

“It would be very special. It comes back to the growth of the game. When there are those special moments that play over in kids’ minds, that does so much for growing the game. For me as a hockey player as well, to see that would be so special. It would give me the chills. So that’s definitely very, very big. Hopefully we see some of those special moments in the future.”

 

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg