Real reasons and feelings emerge from Blake Wheeler’s loss of captaincy

The Winnipeg Jets have decided to play without a captain this upcoming season. On Friday, a press conference held by the Jets explained how the C has been removed from Blake Wheeler’s chest as the team enters a leadership group reconstruction.

Wheeler has spent the past 12 seasons with the Jets and had served as captain of the Jets since 2016. The 36-year-old forward posted 17 goals and 60 points in 65 games last season. He is signed through the next two seasons at a cap hit of $8.25 million, the highest on the Jets.

During the press conference, Wheeler admitted that he has had a few days to process this news. He mentioned how it was tough for it to come out of such an early conversation with the new coach Rick Bowness. He was clearly surprised by the decision.

However, as team insider Murat Ates points out, Wheeler looked like “a man who wanted to keep any intense emotion or grand statements — other than expressing gratitude — to himself.

Wheeler is getting the support of teammates like Mark Scheifele, who spoke at the conference and indicated he and the leadership group is looking to help Wheeler in the upcoming season.

“First and foremost, I want to be there for him. He’s a great friend of mine. He’s still going to be a leader on the team.” – Mark Scheifele on Blake Wheeler

The new head coach Rick Bowness focused on the upcoming season and reiterated this opportunity which allows multiple leaders to step forward. He is hoping the players’ accountability will be at the forefront seeing the change as putting everyone on the same level playing field.

When directly asked by Ates why Wheeler was stripped on his captaincy, Bowness answered: "Changes. We're changing. That's what we're doing. We changed the coaching, we're going to change the way we play. We're changing the way we do things. That's all. A lot of changes are good. Sometimes, changes are good."

This still has to be tough on Wheeler…

Here's Wheeler's full press conference: