‘It sucks’: Jets’ Luke Schenn weighs in on brother’s hit on Scheifele

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Blood may be thicker than water, but when it comes to a heated Stanley Cup playoff series on ice, you can only take so much.

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Even from a brother.

This first-round series between Winnipeg Jets defenceman Luke Schenn and his brother Brayden, captain of the St. Louis Blues, marks the first time they’ve met in the post-season.

A series this rugged was bound to take its toll, particularly after Brayden knocked Jets star Mark Scheifele out of the series in Game 5.

Before Game 7 on Sunday, Luke made his first public comments about the hit that robbed his team of its No. 1 centre for the last two games.

“You don’t want to see anyone go out of the lineup,” Schenn told the Winnipeg Sun. “Brayden plays physical, he plays hard. It’s unfortunate. You see hard hits all the time. There’s been lots in the playoffs. It sucks, both ways.”

Schenn began the series saying how big a fan he is of the way his brother plays.

But he rejected the notion he’s in an awkward position when it comes to judging the hit on Scheifele.

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“I’m Team Winnipeg right now, all the way,” Schenn said. “So that’s all I care about, is making sure the guys do well in here. And hope Scheifs gets back real soon.”

Jets coach Scott Arniel was irate after the hit, saying a major penalty should have at least been considered.

While Brayden Schenn didn’t make contact with Scheifele’s head, replays show he did leave his feet as he launched himself up into the Jets assistant captain.

Despite Scheifele’s injury there was no further discipline from the NHL.

“It’s in the past,” Luke Schenn said. “All I’ll say is the league thought it was clean. There’s going to be a ton of different opinions on it. At this point it really doesn’t make sense to talk about it.”

Scheifele came back to play after the hit, but quickly took another from Radek Faska and never returned.

Blues coach Jim Montgomery used that to suggest it was Faska’s hit, and not Schenn’s, that took Scheifele out, a notion Arniel torpedoed with his comment about Montgomery’s medical credentials.

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“I didn’t know Monty got his medical degree, trying to say how our player got hurt,” Arniel said that night. “He’s way off base.”

Without Scheifele, the Jets continued their spotty play on the road in Game 6, missing a chance to eliminate their Central Division rival and forcing Sunday’s deciding game.

Schiefele’s loss caused Arniel to change up his top three lines, bumping No. 2 and 3 centres Vlad Namestnikov and Adam Lowry up one line each, while Morgan Barron took that spot on the third line.

Regardless of the Game 7 outcome, it was a key point in the series.

“Teams lose good players all the time,” the Jets’ Schenn said. “It’s on us to step up. You look at Dallas (Saturday) night, they’re missing their best defenceman and arguably their best forward and they find a way to get it done. So we’ve got to do this for Scheifs.”

The Winnipeg-St. Louis matchup has been the most physical of all the first-round series, with the Schenn brothers front-and-centre.

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Luke has led his team in hits, while Brayden is among the Blues leaders.

Watching each other pound on their teammates finally led to a heated verbal exchange at the team benches in the third period of Game 6, earning Brayden an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

“We talked before the series,” Luke said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to help our teams win. Just both competitive guys, and it’s obviously nothing personal. We’re both best of buddies, super close. Love each other. It was just heat of the moment, heat of the game.”

Brayden after the game called it nothing more than “brotherly love.”

“It was really nothing offside where I felt I deserved a two-minute minor, put it that way,” he said. “It’s in our blood and we like to compete. We said we would at the start of the series and we’re doing it now.”

As for what sparked the exchange…

“You play anyone six times and run into each other quite a bit… it wasn’t anything in particular,” Luke said. “Just trying to stick up for our teams and it got a little chippy in the third. He’s a physical player on their team and their captain and leader. Just trying to be there for our guys.”

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The brothers haven’t physically run into each all that often, Luke recalling a couple of hits in Game 2.

As Schenn pointed out, he’s been playing against the Blues’ third and fourth lines more often than his little brother’s line.

“I don’t think we’re shying away from it at all,” he said. “You don’t want to go chasing him, or chasing hits I should say.”

The people most torn in this series are the other members of the family.

Mom and dad would again be in the stands for Game 7, making the trip to Winnipeg from Saskatoon.

Ready to cry tears of joy for one son, tears of sadness for the other.

“At the start of the series, my dad’s not really sure during games whether or not to be happy if someone scores or be mad if someone gets scored on,” Luke said. “Before the series started he said all he was hoping for was Game 7, and then we can figure it out. That’s all he wanted.”

paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca

X: @friesensunmedia

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