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Mark Scheifele was having a post season to remember until game number 6 in the OHL finals. In the third period of game six against the London Knights Scheifele took a hard body check from Josh Anderson and only played one shift the rest of the game and missed game seven entirely.
While it was not known what ailed Scheifele as head coach, former Jet great Dale Hawerchuk said 'it's a physical game and players get bumped all the time, we'll look at him later,' (my paraphrase) news leaked out yesterday courtesy of the Winnipeg Free Press's Tim Campbell.
Barrie Colts C and #NHLJets prospect Mark Scheifele did not play Gm7 of OHL final earlier this wk because of the C word -- concussion.#bn
While the severity of the concussion is unknown Scheifele and the Colts did not make it past the OHL final falling to the Knights in the final seconds of game seven. However, Scheifele made his presence known as he had 41 points in in 21 games for a 1.95 points/game average. That's over a 10% increase in production during the post season.
What makes that last piece of information interesting is that the knock against Scheifele after he was drafted and was on the Jets opening roster was that he was not ready for closer, tighter and more intense hockey. He struggled in the early regular season and was sent to Junior. He also had a mediocre or perhaps less than mediocre performance at the WJHC in Edmonton and Calgary that year too thus raising the same concerns.
However all that seems to have changed for the young forward. He showed he was able to play with the best at this year's WJHC and in the OHL playoffs he raised his game when his team needed it most. In one game he had two goals, including the OT winner and then next game to complete a comeback from being down 3-0 he had a natural hat trick in the third period and 5 points in the game.
Scheifele is ready for the pros but whether that is St. John's or Winnipeg will be decided come training camp in September. Right now Jets fans can only hope there is no lasting effects from his concussion.
As for Trouba, the heralded defenseman from the University of Michigan, he is making his presence known at the WHC in Finland and Sweden. This is a kid who has never played against pros in his career and only fellow juniors or NCAA players.
So far he has played 5 games for team USA and has 1 goal, 1 assist, and averaging 12:41 minutes per game.
Today he got his first goal, a power play marker in the USA's 8-3 win over Russia.
Go to the 1:30 mark to see his goal.
With an off-season of uncertainty and a long list of needs for the Jets having the top two prospects in the organization making strides at the highest levels away from the NHL is a good sign. Whether the two make the Jets roster as regular contributors next season is open for discussion but Scheifele has one big supporter for his case.
Cautious #NHLJets won't say it but coach Dale Hawerchuk is sure Mark Scheifele is ready for his shot at the NHL--Thursday's Free Press. #bn
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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