He's Worn A Different Letter Before

It seemed that Rick Bowness set the world on fire today with his announcement that the Jets will move forward this season without a captain. It may surprise people, but Blake Wheeler, as seen in the picture to the left, has worn a different letter on his jersey and played just fine while not wearing the captain's letter. As much as people want to make this into a controversy, there may be a simpler explanation to what Bowness did today in that he, as coach, is looking to find a leader among the men that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has assembled. While Wheeler may be the obvious choice from previous experience, Bowness may be sending a message that whatever was constant last season won't be the same this season.

It has been some time since there was a captaincy change in Winnipeg as Blake Wheeler was named as the Jets' captain on August 31, 2016 following Andrew Ladd's trade out of Winnipeg at the trade deadline in the previous season. As we know, the Jets went on a fun run in the 2018 playoffs under the leadership of Wheeler and his alternate captains in Mark Scheifele and Dustin Byfuglien, but the wheels began to come off after their dismissal at the hands of the Golden Knights in that playoff campaign.

At the time of his being named captain, Wheeler seemed to be looking to build a strong leadership group within the Jets' locker room rather than just having those who wore letters do the leading.

"I really look forward to being the leader of this team," Wheeler said in 2016 after being named captain. "But it's not just going to be us three. We have a great group of men in our room, so this is going to be a joint obligation for everyone. Everyone is going to share in this responsibility."

After a stunning loss in the opening round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the first major crack emerged as Dustin Byfuglien told Cheveldayoff a night before training camp that he wasn't sure he had another season in him. While no one openly talked about the conversation between the two men, Byfuglien was suspended as the team allowed him to "think through some things and to see if there was any change of direction or change of mind."

Behind the scenes, there were rumours that Wheeler's no-nonsense approach after the stunning loss to St. Louis one season earlier clashed with Byfuglien's fun-loving, jokester approach to the game. While no one has publicly confirmed anything like this, the Jets and Byfuglien parted ways on April 17, 2020 after a number of squabbles between the player and team. If the above is true, the Jets only made a bad situation worse with a player that was universally loved for his demeanour both on and off the ice.

Where we may not need much speculation, though, is evaluating Wheeler's relationship with Patrik Laine who the Jets traded on January 23, 2021 to the Columbus Blue Jackets. To say the relationship was uncomfortable might be an understatement, but it was Wheeler himself who accepted blame for the broken bond between the two former teammates.

"If I have any regrets, my regrets would be some of the frustrations that took place over the years," Wheeler said to the Winnipeg Sun's Paul Friesen after the trade, quickly adding he and Laine never fought, never yelled at each other. When asked to elaborate, Wheeler replied, "Maybe I could have communicated a little better instead of just getting frustrated."

That's what a good leader does: communicates well. If Wheeler either wasn't willing to or didn't communicate with Laine very well, his leadership should be called into question. After all, getting a goal-scoring phenom on the same page as the rest of the team when it comes to the defensive side of the game should have been expressed to Laine, but it seems Wheeler simply couldn't find the words.

While this is casting a negative light on Wheeler in terms of his locker room interactions, let me be clear in that he was more than willing to face the music and meet with the media after a bad game or rough road trip. I respect Wheeler for taking his lumps as the captain when the team was performing poorly, and he deserves kudos for that. It takes a lot of gumption to stand before the media who are blaming everyone from the GM to the anthem singer for a team's poor performance and put the blame one one's shoulders. Wheeler always seemed to do that, and he always seemed to speak honestly.

"It's been my job to build the culture here and I've taken a lot of pride in that over the years," Wheeler told the media at the end of the 2021-22 season. "I certainly look in the mirror on that one, and where we've gotten to, the team that we were and the team that we are now – I don't hide from that at all. I certainly take the responsibility for where this team sits."

And that brings us to the decision today by Bowness to remove the captaincy from Wheeler. Bowness isn't blind to what has been happening in Winnipeg for some time, and it's likely that word spread quietly about the locker room issues in Winnipeg among the NHL brethren. Removing the captaincy might be an indictment of Wheeler's leadership, but it could be more about resetting the balance in the locker room. While Wheeler certainly had a clique of players who he was closer to, this move restores some balance where other players - Dubois, Ehlers, DeMelo, Perfetti, or Pionk - can have a bigger say in the direction of both the club on the ice and the culture in the organization.

Wheeler seemed to put on a brave face for reporters after the news rippled through the hockey world.

"I don't need a letter on my jersey. I think there was a time in my career where that validation was important to me. I don't need that anymore," he stated matter-of-factly. He did acknowledge, though, there was a point of pride in leading the team.

"There's nothing in my life I've taken more pride in than that, outside of being a husband and a father," he added. "Never in my wildest dreams as a young player growing up, I never thought I'd be in that fraternity of being a captain of an NHL team."

That's the part that we should probably focus on. Having the captaincy taken off his sweater doesn't mean that Wheeler's voice won't be heard nor will it mean he'll have less of a say in the room. It likely won't affect how he plays his game, and it may allow him to let go of some of the pressures that came with being the captain. Or, for the Jets' benefit, maybe his pride will fire him up to prove to Bowness that he's still got lots in the tank when it comes to leading the team. He even said as much today.

"If you think that because of this I'm just going to fade into the back and not be a leader on this team you're sorely mistaken," he clarified.

If this is the first step in the Jets' plan to move their former captain, it makes sense. If this is a move by the coach to motivate players to step up as leaders, it makes sense. If this is a tactic by Bowness to fire up Wheeler, there likely were other ways to do that, but this works as well based on Wheeler's comments above. If this is Bowness shuffling the deck just because he can, I'm not sure I approve of this tactic, but it may send a message that he's willing to change the culture at all costs.

What we'll see when this season opens is how this move has affected the team. On paper, the Jets don't look any better than last season, and may have actually taken a step backwards in their quest for a Stanley Cup. Having a rotating cast of characters serve as captain doesn't seem to add anything positive to that quest, and the vast number of question marks will remain until this team starts putting up meaningful results.

Captain or no captain, the Jets have had the most puzzling off-season of any team. Making this move only adds to the confusion, and I'm hoping we start seeing some clarity to the madness they've shown.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!