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Jets send 1st-round pick Scheifele back to junior

Winnipeg Jets head coach Noel watches the game against the Carolina Hurricanes behind rookie Scheifele during NHL pre-season action in Winnipeg

Winnipeg Jets head coach Claude Noel watches the game against the Carolina Hurricanes behind rookie Mark Scheifele during NHL pre-season action in Winnipeg, September 28, 2011. REUTERS/Fred Greenslade (CANADA - Tags: SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

REUTERS

After seven games and one goal, Mark Scheifele’s National Hockey League cameo is done.

Today, the Winnipeg Jets announced they’re sending Scheifele back to Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League. Scheifele, 18, was the first-ever pick of the “new” Jets, taken seventh overall at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

The news is noteworthy, but not much of a surprise. Scheifele was the NHL’s third-youngest player -- a month older than Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Mika Zibanejad -- and at 6-foot-2, 184 pounds, a tad overmatched when it came to the physical stuff. (That said, Nugent-Hopkins is thriving despite being built like a rake.)

The positive for both the Jets and Scheifele is that in Barrie, he’ll be under watchful eye head coach Dale Hawerchuk. Hawerchuk is a borderline demigod in Winnipeg and was highly visible as the city regained an NHL team. The situation has good “synergy” to it, a word I promise to never use again.