Jets star Scheifele named area’s top athlete of ’16
KITCHENER — A rising star in the National Hockey League who is currently representing Canada at the IIHF world hockey championship in France, Mark Scheifele has been named the Kitchener-Waterloo and area athlete of the year for 2016.
The 24-year-old Scheifele, who scored 32 goals and a team-high 82 points for the Winnipeg Jets this past season, was recognized for his achievements during a reception Tuesday night at Golf’s Steakhouse.
The Jets selected the former Barrie Colts standout in the first round, seventh overall, of the 2011 NHL entry draft.
In September, Scheifele skated for Team North America at the World Cup of Hockey and played on the top line with Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid. A few months earlier, he played for the Canadian team that captured gold at the 2016 IIHF world championship.
He is back with Team Canada at this year’s world championship and was on the ice Tuesday in a preliminary-round 5-2 victory over Finland.
In addition to his on-ice achievements, Scheifele is a sport ambassador for KidSport Winnipeg, a charity that aims to remove the financial barriers to playing sports. He runs an annual hockey camp for boys and girls on behalf of that organization.
Scheifele was one of eight nominees up for the annual award, along with:
Paralympic swimmer and Canadian record holder Alec Elliot, of Waterloo;
North American Challenge champion lawn bowler Darryl Fitzgerald, of Kitchener;
Pro soccer player Alyssa Lagonia, of Kitchener, who captained her Swiss team to a second-place league finish;
Kitchener’s Jamal Murray, a first-round draft pick for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets;
Elmira native Garrett Rank, a three-time Canadian mid-amateur golf champ and NHL referee;
Pro lacrosse player Dhane Smith, of Kitchener, who set the National Lacrosse League’s single-season record of 137 points in 18 games with the Buffalo Bandits in 2016 and won the Mann Cup with the Six Nations Chiefs;
World silver-medal sledge hockey player Kevin Sorley, of Petersburg.