Jets' Mark Scheifele keeping the faith on NHL 4 Nations Face-Off ...

Mark Scheifele is putting his Team Canada hopes for the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off next year in God’s hands.

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The Winnipeg Jets centre, whose only experience playing in a best-on-best tournament came back at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, is in the running for one of those coveted roster spots.

“Obviously, it’s a goal of mine to make Canada,” Scheifele said. “But like I said before, it’s focusing on the Winnipeg Jets and doing what I can for this group.

“And whatever happens, put that in God’s hands.”

Don Sweeney’s, too.

The Boston Bruins general manager also serves in the same role with Team Canada and has plenty of roster decisions to make ahead of the early December deadline.

“I think subconsciously it is,” Scheifele said, asked if it’s on his mind. “First and foremost, you want to play good for your team. That’s all you can do is control what you can control. Focus on your team, playing the best for your team, and whatever happens, happens.”

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Scheifele has held up his end of the bargain, helping the Jets to a 13-1-0 start, the second-best in NHL history.

He is second on the Jets in scoring, with 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists), just one behind team leader Kyle Connor, and on pace to hit the 100-point mark for the first time in his career.

The 31-year-old is averaging just over 20 minutes of ice time and is winning 51% of his faceoffs through 14 games.

“Last time we did this was the World Cup back when we had Team North America,” Scheifele said. “Obviously, that was a blast. I think everyone wants to see best-on-best. It’s a great event. It’s great to get that back into the mix.”

Jets head coach Scott Arniel thinks Scheifele has the skill set to help Canada reign supreme.

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“One hundred percent,” Arniel said. “I really do. I know that with Canada, there’s a lot of centremen that they’re talking about. I look back at a few years ago when he went to the world championship, he went over there as a third or fourth centreman and he ended up playing and working his way up to the top. He has experience.

“With his skillset, I know that he’s being watched and being watched hard. With Scheif, he’s taking pride, not just in these first 14 games (this season) with the buy-in to how we play without the puck and what he does when he doesn’t have it, that’s also part of what whoever is watching him, they’re watching him on a nightly basis. Faceoffs or whatever that role becomes, penalty killing, power play, second power play. When you get on those teams, minutes change. So it’s an opportunity for him to continue to showcase his skillset.”

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Given Canada’s immense depth down the middle, Scheifele may have to move out to the wing to crack the roster.

Not a problem, Arniel figures.

“One thing that when you go into these situations, everybody wants a chance to go, so they’ll play anywhere,” he said. “They’ll play with anybody. Whatever the role is handed to them, just the chance to play, for him to represent Canada or (for others), the U.S. To have that honour, guys will do anything and that just comes with the professionals that they are.”

Arniel’s Jets, too, stand to benefit from the February tournament.

Sure, it’s created a bit of a scheduling crunch, and he needs to manage his No. 1 netminder, Connor Hellebuyck, but there are tangible benefits to featuring on that stage mid-season.

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“That’s playoff hockey in February, that’s playing at an elite level against elite skill,” Arniel said. “Those are experiences that we’re hoping they come back with and pass on to their linemates, teammates and D partners when they’re in those situations for the rest of the year from February and on.

“They’ve been in it before at that level, and they can continue to be good at it, continue to show others how they do it and when you have top players like that and having that desire to win, that’s what you want within your group and the more that have it, the better it is.”

Meanwhile, Scheifele joked Friday that it would be nice if Hellebuyck and Kyle Connor, two locks to make the American team, had different passports.

“That’s for sure. That is definitely for sure,” he said. “It is what it is. They’re fantastic players. I obviously wish they had different passports, but that’s just the way she goes.”

Canada has already named six players to its lineup for the inaugural tournament. That list includes Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Brad Marchand, Brayden Point and captain Connor McDavid.

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X: @scottbilleck

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