DALLAS (AP) — The father of Winnipeg Jets top center Mark Scheifele died unexpectedly overnight before Game 6 of their second-round playoff series against Dallas, the team said hours before Saturday night’s game.
Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said the organization was doing everything it can to support Scheifele. The rest of the players were told about Brad Scheifele’s death before the team’s optional morning skate.
“It’s a terrible loss,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “It’s tough to put into words how gutted we all feel for Mark and his family.”
There was no immediate word on the cause of Brad Schiefele’s death.
Winnipeg, the top seed in the Western Conference, went into Saturday night’s against the Stars needing a win to avoid being eliminated from the NHL playoffs and force a deciding Game 7 in Winnipeg on Monday night.
The 32-year-old Mark Schiefele played in 10 of the Jets’ first 12 games this postseason. He missed Games 6 and 7 of the first-round series against St. Louis with an undisclosed injury after taking a pair of big hits early in Game 5 of that series. He had four goals and six assists in those 10 games.
Scheifele had 87 points (39 goals and 48 assists) in the 82 regular-season games.
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