The Canadian club made a telling decision.
Blake Wheeler is no longer the captain of the Winnipeg Jets. PDO
The NHL club Winnipeg Jets announced on Friday that it will play the upcoming season without a permanent captain. However, assistant captains will be appointed to the team, whose names will be announced later.
That means Blake Wheeler will lose the honor he held for six years. At the beginning of the 2016-17 season, the letter c was sewn into the chest of the USA striker’s shirt. Before that, he had held the position of assistant captain for two seasons.
Wheeler, 36, assured at the press conference that the title of captain is no longer important to him at this point in his career. He still emphasized that he still wants to be featured prominently within the team.
– If you think that I just fade into the background and am no longer a leader, you are wrong again, the man stated.
Jets head coach Rick Bowness said that the captaincy was the idea of the coaching team.
– Our goal is to expand our leadership base within our team, Bowness explained.