{"id":407969,"date":"2026-01-14T22:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T22:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/407969\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T22:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T22:29:11","slug":"scheifele-savours-assist-milestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/407969\/","title":{"rendered":"Scheifele savours assist milestone"},"content":{"rendered":"

When asked on the Jets On TSN broadcast Tuesday whether he likes scoring or setting up his teammates more, Mark Scheifele<\/a> didn\u2019t hesitate to pick assists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like setting them up,\u201d said Scheifele during the second intermission in an interview with Jets broadcaster Kevin Sawyer<\/a>. \u201cObviously, scoring is fun, but I love a good assist.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s had a lot of helpers to reflect on throughout his 924-game career \u2013 500 to be exact \u2013 after recording two assists in the Jets\u2019 5-4 win over the New York Islanders<\/a> on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Scheifele hit the milestone in unique fashion after recording his first assist of the night on Kyle Connor<\/a>\u2019s opening goal. <\/p>\n

On the team\u2019s third goal of the night, scored by Jonathan Toews<\/a> on the power play, Scheifele was originally awarded an assist, but the referees mistook him for Gabriel Vilardi<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The game presentation team at Canada Life Centre brought Scheifele up on the videoboard to congratulate him, but Scheifele shook his head and mouthed to the crowd, \u201cnot my apple.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I thought I heard my name when they initially announced it, and that\u2019s why I was like, \u2018Did I touch it? There\u2019s no way.\u2019 I knew I didn\u2019t,\u201d said Scheifele after the win. \u201cI went and told the linesman that it wasn\u2019t my assist and it was Gaber\u2019s. Then they announced it right away. I was like, \u2018No, please. Just wait four seconds before you announce it so they can change it.\u2019 But you know, I guess it was just meant to be tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long before the milestone was actually reached. A hard-fought puck battle in the corner ended with Scheifele coming out with the puck and setting up teammate Dylan DeMelo<\/a>, who scored on a shot from the point. <\/p>\n

When Scheifele was put up on the videoboard again, it was the real deal. The 32-year-old centre had a huge smile and waved to the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like he\u2019s playing the best hockey of his career this year,\u201d said DeMelo after the game. \u201cTo see him work on his craft, it\u2019s not a surprise he\u2019s got this many assists, and he\u2019s going to keep going strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scheifele\u2019s first assist in the National Hockey League came in a Jets win against the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> on Oct. 4, 2013. He helped set up a goal by former Jet Evander Kane<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Jets winger Tanner Pearson<\/a> has only started playing with him at the professional level this season but has witnessed Scheifele\u2019s playmaking ability since they were teammates in junior with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou saw it in junior more than anything,\u201d said Pearson at his stall after practice on Wednesday. \u201cHe had such a passion for the game \u2013 and he still does \u2013 that he\u2019s willing to get better and better, and obviously it\u2019s translated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at the way he plays \u2013 I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s ever shot on a two-on-one, he tries to pass every time,\u201d said Pearson. \u201cEven I yell at him to shoot the puck because he does have such a good shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 45 games played so far this season, Scheifele has 22 goals and 32 assists, averaging more than a point per game. <\/p>\n

The first selection made by the Jets after the franchise relocated from Atlanta in the 2011 NHL draft (seventh overall), he became the franchise\u2019s all-time points leader last October and in games played last November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When asked on the Jets On TSN broadcast Tuesday whether he likes scoring or setting up his teammates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5121],"tags":[5,78,3522,4,77,18,5288],"class_list":{"0":"post-407969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winnipeg-jets","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-jets","10":"tag-mark-scheifele","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-winnipeg","13":"tag-winnipeg-jets","14":"tag-winnipegjets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115895819492130852","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}