Scheifele on the move for the Juniors
Accustomed to being the centre spoke on the wheel for most of his young life, Mark Scheifele is being asked to recalibrate to a new position for the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships:
Right-hand man to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
A change? Yes. But, by consensus, not a bad job to to have.
“You know, I haven’t had a lot of practice over there,’’ acknowledged the Barrie Colts’ star, a first-round selection of the Winnipeg Jets. “I only got a few shifts with him the first game. It should be fine. I think as the practices go on we should get better acquainted with one another, get more chemistry.
“We all want to have a good tournament. So we all want to click as a line. We’re just going to have to keep helping each other.’’
With the line combinations a hot topic of conversation as the 23-man Canadian playing contingent prepared to leave for Finland today, Scheifele asks not to make too big a deal out of his re-location. It’s far, in his mind, from a quantum leap.
“It’s just a change of position. All you gotta do is go over a little video, go over a few things, get adapted to it. If you stay dedicated, you can do a good job.
“It’s not a huge thing. But I’m going to be working hard at it, and I’m sure the guys will
With an eye towards a partnership alongside Nugent-Hopkins in Ufa, Russia, Scheifele worked some on the right side.
“Yeah, I was doing a few drills with my coach and some of the guys. Just working at getting pucks off the wall. Just little things. Nothing too big.’’
Canadian boss Steve Spott is hoping to unleash a supernova line of Nugent-Hopkins, Scheifele and Jonathan Huberdeau against Germany in the team’s opener on Boxing Day. Depending on the new right winger’s period of adjustment, naturally. The offensive possibilities of such a line operating at full throttle are tantalizing.
Scheifele contributed six points (3G, 3A) at last year’s World Juniors and is one of the key holdovers as Canada endeavours to end a three-year gold-less drought.
“The challenge right now is Mark Scheifele,’’ Spott said Friday. “We want to start him on right wing. We’re going to try him with Ryan and Jonathan Huberdeau. So that’s a line we’re going to try. But it’s going to be a process. Because this is new for Mark Scheifele and it’s going to be a challenge for him.
“But he’s a world-class player and ultimately we think he can handle it.’’