With the focus on Saturday evening's Game 6, the Winnipeg Jets were hit with some tragic news on  Saturday morning.

Mark Scheifele's father, Brad, passed away in the night.

"As an organization, we’re doing everything we can to support him and we give his family members sincere condolences and obviously ask that everybody respect his and their privacy at this time," general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff told the media in the morning. "We spoke to the team this morning. Arnie’s gone back to the hotel to speak with Mark right now and Arnie will be back at 4:30 to address all of you. We’ll have an update at that point in time."

In terms of Scheifele's status for the do-or-die Game 6, Cheveldayoff says it is up in he air.

"Arnie’s gone back to the hotel right now and that’s why I’m here. He’s going to talk with Mark and spend some time with him and we’ll go from there.

"Certainly unexpected this morning. I don’t have many of the other details. Certainly appreciate everyone’s understanding. Today is a different day, but we’re a family and we’re going to do everything we can to support Mark."

Captain and longtime friend of Scheifele's, Adam Lowry, spent some time sharing details and enjoyable moments spent with Brad over the years to reporters.

"It's a terrible loss. "t's tough to put into words how gutted we all feel for Mark and his family," Lowry said.

"He had just such an infectious laugh. I mean, spending my whole career here, numerous fathers’ trips, just the energy that he had was unmatched. Just his joy and excitement for life and he really passed it down to Mark. But I think his positivity, his outlook on life, just genuinely happy person and a terrible loss obviously. Our condolences go out to Mary Lou, Janelle, Kyle, the whole Scheifele family. it’s a terrible loss. It’s tough to put into words, how gutted we all feel for Mark and his family.

"It's one of those things that you don't wish upon anyone and just really hope that he's got the family strength, the great support system around him, that helps ease this pain, because that's such a big loss."

Scheifele did not suit up at the team's morning skate in Dallas with his teammates. He remained at the hotel with his coach. Arniel is expected to provide a better update at 4:30 in advance of the game.

Winnipeg trails Dallas 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM central time. The game can be viewed live on Sportsnet and CBC.