Blake Wheeler gets a standing ovation in his return to Winnipeg

Former Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler was back in his old stomping grounds this evening with his new team, the New York Rangers this evening and the Jets faithful at Canada Life Centre gave him a warm welcome back.

I'll be honest when I say that I wasn't sure how Wheeler would be received back in Winnipeg. He didn't necessarily leave the team under poor circumstances, but his departure was a long time coming. It's clear that Wheeler didn't get along with head coach Rick Bowness and the fractured relationship between the two was seeping into the entire team's psyche. For the good of both Wheeler and for the Jets, a mutual divorce was probably smart. Still, there are some Jets fans out there that pin a lot of the team's underachieving on Wheeler, for what they perceive as a lack of leadership.

In any case, Wheeler was welcomed back with open arms and even received a standing ovation following a classy video segment on the in-arena JumboTron.

Check it out:

Classy move, Jets fans! Classy acknowledgement by Wheeler himself, as well.

Wheeler has struggled adjusting to his new team, with 0 points and a -3 rating in his first eight games with the Rangers. He managed 16 goals and 55 points in 72 games with the Jets last season. That's a far cry from his back to back 20+ goal, 91 point seasons that he put up in 2017-18 and 2018-19. He's the Jets/Thrashers franchise leader in games played (897), assists (550) and points (812). With a new 7 year contract under his belt, it's almost a certainty that forward Mark Scheifele will surpass Wheeler in each of these categories, but with 731 games, 376 assists and 652 points, he has a ways to go.

Wheeler was the Jets' captain from 2016 when he inherited it from his good friend Andrew Ladd until 2022 when he was stripped of the "C" by Bowness. The team went without a captain last season, but named Adam Lowry as captain just prior to the start of this season.