{"id":545420,"date":"2026-04-07T11:57:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/545420\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:57:19","slug":"its-just-instinct-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/545420\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s just instinct\u2019 \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>WINNIPEG \u2013 Mark Scheifele\u2019s 900th career NHL point came exactly how one might expect: setting up Kyle Connor, his longtime linemate.<\/p>\n<p>The veteran centre reached the milestone with a second-period assist, eventually finishing with three helpers in the Winnipeg Jets\u2019 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken at Canada Life Centre on Monday night.<\/p>\n<p>As the first-ever draft pick taken by the Jets 2.0 \u2014 selected seventh overall in the 2011 NHL Draft \u2014 Scheifele has spent his entire career in Winnipeg. At 33 years old, he already has the most points in franchise history (901) and is also the leader in games played (956).<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69d48d579ac21d334b71bbdejpeg.jpg\" data-pswp- data-pswp-width=\"4969\" data-pswp-height=\"4182\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69d48d579ac21d334b71bbdejpeg.jpg\" alt=\"Winnipeg Jets' Kyle Connor (81) celebrates his goal against the Seattle Kraken with Mark Scheifele (55) during second period NHL hockey action in Winnipeg, Monday, April 6, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Fred Greenslade\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWinnipeg Jets&#8217; Kyle Connor (81) celebrates his goal against the Seattle Kraken with Mark Scheifele (55) during second period NHL hockey action in Winnipeg, Monday, April 6, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Fred Greenslade<\/p>\n<p>But if you ask his coaches and teammates, they say it\u2019s the work Scheifele puts in daily that has him reaching such an impressive benchmark.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis body\u2019s always ready to go,\u201d Jets head coach Scott Arniel said. \u201cIt\u2019s a case of he\u2019s determined, he\u2019s driven, and he wants to have team success. With team success comes individual success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scheifele registered the 900th point by feeding Connor for a power-play goal at 12:09 of the middle frame, giving Winnipeg a 3-1 lead. The pair connected for a second time at 15:19 of the third period for Connor\u2019s second of the night \u2014 a marker that made it 5-2, ultimately putting the game out of reach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt means a lot,\u201d said Scheifele, who also assisted on Gabriel Vilardi\u2019s second-period power-play marker. \u201cI\u2019m obviously very honoured and humbled by it. So, it\u2019s pretty cool to think about. It\u2019ll probably take a little bit to sink in. But it\u2019s very cool in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked who he thinks about after such a special occasion, Scheifele got nostalgic, reflecting on his 13 NHL seasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone that\u2019s been in my life throughout the hockey years,\u201d he said. \u201cFamily, obviously, is big. I\u2019ve just got to thank God for it all. I\u2019m very blessed, very lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scheifele has made efforts in recent years to engage with the younger players on the Jets, with the hope his strong work ethic and habits rub off on his teammates. It\u2019s been especially important this season, as Winnipeg continues to battle for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<p>Rookie Brad Lambert, whose third-period goal was a key moment in Monday\u2019s victory, is one of the younger players keeping a close eye on Scheifele.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is the last guy off the ice a lot,\u201d Lambert said. \u201cSomeone with 900 points who continues to work that hard and continues to find things to improve in his game, it is special to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arniel added that Scheifele\u2019s impact expands well beyond the goals and assists, further highlighting his willingness to share his advice and routine with the next generation of players.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n<p class=\"frequency\">Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n<p>On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"email-subscribe-link button the-warmup inline-block-logged-in\">Sign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/theWarm-up-tile.jpg\" alt=\"Sign up for The Warm-Up\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt isn\u2019t just go out and have your 30-to-45-minute practice and get yourself off the ice,\u201d the coach said. \u201cIt\u2019s go out for a purpose and the purpose is to get yourself ready for the next game. In the weight room, the maintenance he has on his body, what he does on the ice \u2014 all that preparation \u2014 guys watch him. He\u2019s not afraid to talk about it and the young guys, they like to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arniel added: \u201cThose guys all probably had pretty good mentors on their way up the ladder, and we need those guys to help the guys that are coming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scheifele was also quick to give credit to Connor. The duo has been a fixture on Winnipeg\u2019s top line for several years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just instinct. We\u2019ve played with each other a long time,\u201d Scheifele said of their chemistry. \u201cI love going out to battle with him every shift. He\u2019s a phenomenal guy, phenomenal player. I\u2019m very, very lucky to have him on my left side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/jeffhamilton.jpg\" class=\"author-portrait\" alt=\"Jeff Hamilton\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Jeff Hamilton<br \/>Multimedia producer<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/sports\/hockey\/2026\/04\/07\/mailto:jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca\" class=\"social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/sports\/hockey\/2026\/04\/07\/tel:204-697-7285\" class=\"social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University\u2019s journalism program in 2012. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/biographies\/jeff-hamilton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more about Jeff<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/about-us\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/free-press-101\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"block-non-subscriber\">Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/subscribe\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"block-subscriber\">Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG \u2013 Mark Scheifele\u2019s 900th career NHL point came exactly how one might expect: setting up Kyle Connor,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5121],"tags":[5,78,4,77,18,5288],"class_list":{"0":"post-545420","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-nhl","11":"tag-winnipeg","12":"tag-winnipeg-jets","13":"tag-winnipegjets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116363306962773269","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545420","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=545420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}