This past weekend, Mark Scheifele and a number of other prominent hockey stars teed off at the Rogers Charity Classic as a part of the Rogers Legends of Hockey segment.
Held in conjunction with the second round of the PGA Tour Champions Tournament saw a number of familiar hockey faces hitting the greens for the chance to donate a $200K prize to the charity of their choice.
Photo by James Carey Lauder/USA Today
The Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club was littered with celebrities, athletes and broadcasters/reporters for the event, as Scheifele, Cassie Campbell, Adin Hill, Meaghan Mikkelson, Dustin Wolf, Sarah Fillier, Stuart Skinner and Matt Stajan all traded their sticks for clubs in the charity event.
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During his media availability, Scheifele was asked questions related to golf, but also that of the Winnipeg Jets and his club’s offseason thus far.
“The expectations are to play well again,” Scheifele said when asked about the upcoming 2025-26 season. “We had an unbelievable start to the season last year, which was a lot of fun and we were able to keep it going. I think the biggest thing for us is to take those expectations and use it as motivation. You want to be just as good as last year, but at the same time, it’s about winning a Stanley Cup and that’s the end goal. We didn’t get that done last year and that at the end of the day, is our biggest goal.”
One big part of the Jets’ offseason was the departure of forward Nikolaj Ehlers. Scheifele was asked about the impact of that move.
“For sure, losing Nikky is a tough one,” Scheifele said. “He’s such a fantastic player, he was obviously a good friend of mine for the last 10 years, so it stinks to see a friend go and you wish him the best. He’s a fantastic player and it’s been awesome to see him grow over the years. You wish him the best and are excited to play against him this year.”
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Ehlers leaving has opened some holes up front in Winnipeg’s top-six forward group. One such hole is expected to be filled by the signing of Jonathan Toews.
“I thought it kind of was the perfect storm almost. Coming back to Winnipeg, coming back from not playing for a couple of years, I thought it all made so much sense. I was obviously hoping that we were the front-runner and we’re very excited to have him,” Scheifele said of Toews.
“Obviously he’s a legend not just in the NHL, but Winnipeg especially. I had a number of conversations with him this summer, he’s really excited to get back playing hockey and to be with our group. I’m very excited to have a guy with his stature and his experience. I’m really excited to play with him.”
The only other pertinent piece of news involving Scheifele over the summer was his invitation to Hockey Canada’s evaluation camp for the 2026 Winter Olympics Game National Team. After being left off the gold medal-winning roster for this past winter’s 4 Nations Face-off, Scheifele was thrilled to receive an invite this time around.
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“I’m very excited and very honoured to be invited to that camp,” Scheifele said. “That’s something you don’t take lightly, it humbles you and makes you feel pretty good. I’m very excited for that camp and see some of the guys and hopefully, I can have a good start to the year to make that team.”
With his offseason quickly wrapping up, the now 32-year-old will soon be packing his gear and heading to Winnipeg for training camp, which will begin in early September.