Jets forward Mark Scheifele hits 700 career points in game No. 778.
On Tuesday night, Winnipeg Jets' star centreman Mark Scheifele picked up a second period assist on linemate Kyle Connor's 26th goal of the season.
No, it might not have seemed like much, but the 30-year-old's 37th helper of the season put him up to 55 points on the year, in 55 games, for No. 55.
None of that really matters, however, the big piece of news on the point was that it was No. 700 of his career.
Doing so in 778 total regular season games, Scheifele became the second-fastest player in franchise history to hit the 700-point mark, trailing just Blake Wheeler.
"Yeah, you know, obviously it's a good feeling," Scheifele said following the game. "You know, very, very blessed to play with some really good players over the years and you know, obviously, just hoping hope and pray for more. But obviously it's a very humbling, humbling thing and obviously excited and proud and lots more work to do."
The point came in a difficult 4-3 loss, so the ever-focused Scheifele remained on-point with his team-first answers, postgame.
But it didn't take away his feeling of joy when the crowd gathered at Canada Life Centre stood up and gave him a round of applause following the Connor strike.
"It's cool feeling, you know?" he said. "You don't get many of those milestones like that, but obviously, it's a really cool, cool feeling to share that with fans.
"I knew I was getting close (to 700 points). So I knew I was getting close to it so you don't put much thought into it."
For Adam Lowry - who has been with Scheifele since day one, and knows just how much he means to the franchise - did not hold back his commentary on his teammate's accomplishment.
“Just incredible," the captain said. "The organization is so fortunate that they - and we’ve been able to kind of witness his greatness. Watching his maturation and his growth, coming in from an 18-year-old kid. I still remember he lit that exhibition on fire and everyone wanted him to be on the team. He went back to junior and little did we know that bigger things were to come for him."
Lowry expanded:
"He’s such an important piece to our team, such an important piece in our room and piece in the community. The work he puts in day-to-day, the way that he helps take care of his teammates, kind of helping them with their game. The stuff he does behind the scenes that I don’t think people know, he’s so invaluable to our team. It was nice to see him hit that milestone. Pretty soon he’s going to come up on 1,000 (points). He’s got a lot of games left, a lot of years. I’ve been really lucky to be his teammate for so long.”
Having signed a seven-year $59.5 million contract extension the day before the start of the 2023-24 season, Scheifele is certainly on pace to be a 'Jet for life'. Assuming he maintains his scoring pace, while factoring in a slight production drop-off as he ages, 1,000 points should not be an issue for the now 11-year Jet.
"It's quite a milestone," Jets head coach Rick Bowness said of Scheifele. "Good for him. He works very hard. He comes to the rink every day. He's a real pro. He works at his game every day. He takes great pride in it, and he's always working on his skills. At every practice he's one of the hardest working guys out there. He's a good pro. He comes to work every day. Good for him."