An obviously frustrated Blake Wheeler speaks with the media after having the Jets' captaincy stripped away
For Blake Wheeler, being the captain of the Winnipeg Jets was a big part of his identity in the National Hockey League. On Friday, that was taken away by new Jets head coach Rick Bowness, who stripped Wheeler of the "C". As a result, the Jets will go into the 2022-23 season without a captain and with (quite possibly) a different leadership group.
Wheeler had a chance to speak with the media on Friday and, naturally, he was visibly frustrated by the whole ordeal. Even though his letter has been stripped away, Wheeler still envisions himself as a big part of the leadership group in Winnipeg and will continue to be a locker room leader moving forward - at least in his mind. On the shocking decision, Wheeler had this to say:
"You know, there was some surprise, I think. Having the kind of year (the Jets had), the first conversation with the new coach was surprising. But I've had time to let it sink in, so he gave me a little headway. I've had time to process it. I don't need a letter on my jersey. There was a time in my career where that validation was important to me. I don't need that anymore."
It's still very possible that Wheeler ends up with a letter on his jersey this season, but the decision isn't really up to him at this point. For Rick Bowness, training camp and the exhibition season will tell him a lot about his team and while the Jets won't have one dedicated captain this season, they may not need one. This might be a situation where they exercise some patience until the next captain emerges.
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