Terrible update on Blake Wheeler.

The Winnipeg Jets have shared some pretty awful news regarding the health of their former captain.

On Saturday, Jets head coach Rick Bowness announced that forward Blake Wheeler would miss at least the next month of action after he suffered a serious injury in Thursday's win over the Nashville Predators. The injury required surgery to repair and, again according to Bowness, that surgery took place on Friday.

What's incredible about Wheeler's injury is that, in spite of its severity, the gritty forward managed to tough it out and finish the game. When asked about the unusual level of fortitude displayed by Wheeler on Thursday, Bowness acknowledged the incredible display of toughness from his player.

"He’s one tough cookie," said Bowness on Saturday.

What makes it worse is that Wheeler getting hit in the groin is exactly as bad as it sounds, something that teammate Dylan DeMelo acknowledged when speaking to reporters about the injury and making a few jokes at his teammate's expense.

"I'm pretty sure he did. He said he’s lucky he had three kids already," said DeMelo. "He’s an absolute warrior for us. He plays through so much that nobody knows about."

Given that context, Mark Scheifele had a hilarious choice of words when talking about Wheeler's toughness.

"For him to gut out and play the last period, that took some serious balls," said Scheifele.

Unfortunately there was more bad news for the Jets on Saturday as well with the Jets announcing that Nate Schmidt would also be out for an extended absence, four to six weeks, in spite of the fact that has cleared concussion protocol.