Rick Bowness Praises Mark Scheifele For Leadership Qualities After Kyle Connor Injury

Published December 11, 2023 at 6:19 PM
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The Jets suffered a major loss in their last game after Kyle Connor exited early with an apparent injury. It did not look good so the star forward could be out for quite some time.

Connor Suffers Injury In Brutal Knee On Knee Hit



The left winger suffered the injury last night when Ducks forward Ryan Strome appeared to intentionally kick his leg out to induce a knee on knee collision. Connor went down immediately and needed help getting off the ice.

#NHLJets forward Kyle Connor had to be helped off of the ice after this knee-on-knee hit from Ryan Strome.


He didn't put any weight on his knee and went straight down the tunnel.


Connor has been a huge part of the Jets offense this year. He has 17 goals and 28 points in 26 games so far with the team. That kind of production is extremely difficult to replace.

Strome got a major penalty as well as a game misconduct for the hit on Connor.


Jets alternat captain Mark Scheifele took exception to the hit and he immediately grabbed Strome for a fight.

Mark Scheifele drops the gloves with Ryan Strome after a knee on knee collision with Kyle Connor 👊🏼💥

#NHL | #GoJetsGo | #FlyTogether


Bowness Praises Scheifele For Response To Connor Injury



Jets head coach Rick Bowness was particularly impressed with Scheifele's response to the dirty hit on Connor.

«That's the leader Mark is. That's why he didn't hesitate to jump in. He saw what happened, he saw it was a dirty hit and he addressed it right away. So, good on Mark.»

The veteran head coach also commented on the play itself, expressing a desire to see the league hand out a suspension for the dirty hit.

«It's a knee-on-knee; he sticks his knee out. You hope that's suspendable. Knee on knee. Listen, there's no other way of looking at it. You hope it's suspendable. But the referees made the right call. Five-minute major and a game misconduct and we'll see where it goes from there.»

It appears as though Strome will avoid any supplementary disciplinary action as there has been no word of a hearing for him. That being said, the play was certainly dirty and probably should warrant a suspension, even with the match penalty already enforced.

As seen on «That's the Leader Mark is" - Rick Bowness on Mark Scheifele
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Rick Bowness Praises Mark Scheifele For Leadership Qualities After Kyle Connor Injury

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