Mark Scheifele on ball hockey, Winnipeg's season, working with Adam Oates (Puck Daddy Q&A)

The setting was always Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena for Mark Scheifele’s ball hockey fantasy Stanley Cup, and he was always his idol, Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman.

“It was a fight between me and my brother who could be Steve Yzerman,” Scheifele says.

The dream scenario would be the Red Wings against the Toronto Maple Leafs or Ottawa Senators as Scheifele and his brother battled for their imaginary Cup.

So when Play On! Canada contacted the Winnipeg Jets forward this year to help promote their ball hockey tournaments that will take place in May and June across Canada, it was a natural fit. Scheifele and some friends even participated in the event a few years ago, falling short in the semifinal.

We spoke with Scheifele this week about ball hockey, the 2016-17 Jets season and got his Stanley Cup prediction.

Enjoy.

Q. Steve Yzerman is your idol. Have you had an opportunity to meet him?

SCHEIFELE: “Yeah, I met him a few times, actually. The first time I pretty much couldn’t say a word. I was pretty much talking gibberish, but it was fun.”

Some NHLers, like Sidney Crosby, like to play a different position when they play ball hockey. Are you the same?

“I definitely like playing goalie a good amount in road hockey or pond hockey. I play a little bit of goalie and defense.”

Is that just to do something different than what you’re use to?

“You don’t really care, you’re just playing ball hockey. It’s not like you’re saying ‘oh I play so much forward I’m going to stay back on D this time.’ When you play ball hockey it’s pretty much just free-for-all – five guys up, five guys back. It’s not like you really care about what position you’re playing, it’s about having fun.”

From your experience, do any skills from ball hockey translate over to ice hockey?

“I think ball hockey, in my mind, is just something fun to do. You don’t go play ball hockey to go be better at ice hockey. You play ball hockey because it’s fun to do and you play the sport of hockey because you love to do it. That’s the way I look at it. I think nowadays it’s all too serious. You’ve got to sit back and have fun. That’s the point why we all play it and why we all started playing it. You have to always keep that in mind.”

Moving over to the Jets… You guys were hovering around the wild card spot for a bit and then came up short. In your opinion, what went wrong this season? Can you pinpoint an area or two that held you guys back?

“We just weren’t consistent enough, that was pretty much it. As a whole, some games we didn’t come out as strong; we didn’t play our system the full 60 minutes. We weren’t consistent throughout the whole 82 games, but we also weren’t consistent in our games in a 60-minute frame. That’s something that all the best teams do. They come out and play the same game every 60 minutes, all 82 games and that’s how you make the playoffs in this league.”

You personally had your best offensive season to date. Did you change or work on anything specifically last season that contributed to what you did this year?

“I’m a guy that likes to continue to work on my game no matter how it goes. I always want to get better. I always want to be one of the best in the world. Obviously it was a lot of work with Gary Roberts and Adam Oates. Those guys I saw a lot in the summer and helped me with my game. That’s something I’m going to continue to do because in this league you can’t be complacent, you can’t be satisfied with just being where you’re at, you have to push for more. A guy like Sidney Crosby is a prime example. He’s a guy who works harder than anyone and he’s the best in the world. That’s something that I’m going to continue to focus on and I’m going to continue to work hard to be the best in the world.”

What kind of things has working with Adam these last two years opened your eyes to in your game?

“Everything. The whole part of the game. It’s defense, it’s face-offs. You know what to do in the neutral zone or what to think about in the offensive zone. It’s everything. I can’t give you all our secrets but he’s taught me so much about all sides of the puck, and that’s what I’m going to continue to work on. I want to be a guy that plays both ends of the puck [and] plays a 200-foot game and that’s something that Oatesy stresses to me is you have to be a good 200-foot guy to be good in this league.”

How often are you in communication with Adam?

“It’s pretty much after every game. The next day or if we have a day off or just a practice day, I’ll have clips, I’ll have all my shifts, whatever I want to look at. We’ll go over it and we’ll go over certain plays – what I was thinking, what he was thinking, then he’ll give me some drills to work on at practice the next day; things I might be struggling with and then in the summer we skate together a lot, which is always nice.”

How has playing with an impactful rookie like Patrik Laine positively affected your game?

“It was good. Obviously, he’s an 18-year-old and he still has work to do, but he had a great season and he’s continued to learn and that’s something I want to continue to help. I want to help him with his game and he helped me with my game. I’m still a young guy and I’m still trying to learn the way the league works.

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“We have a lot of good players on our team. I played with pretty much a lot of the forward core. I think that’s how good teams are made. Every guy helps every guy and that’s something we want to have in Winnipeg.”

When your season ends do you still watch the playoffs? Some guys will shut it down until next season.

“Oh, I watch. I watch for sure. I definitely can’t stay away from the game too long; I get too bored.

Who’s your Cup pick?

“Pittsburgh. They’re just so strong. Malkin, Crosby are so dynamic and so strong, I think they’re just going to ride those two guys. You’re obviously hoping they’re healthy, but I think they can take a team to the Cup and win, as you’ve seen before.”

Play On! is a Canadian street hockey tournament and festival founded in 2002 by Western University’s Ivey MBA Scott Hill. The event attracts hundreds of thousands of Canadians annually coast to coast every year. For list of locations and to sign up, check out PlayOn.ca.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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