Player Discussion: Blake Wheeler Discussion

[AKAChip]

Hmm so you want Laine and Ehlers to be more like a list of mostly inferior players. Interesting strategy...

It’s no coincidence that the list of “good players with good effort” are all North Americans and the two slackers aren’t. Hmm...

 

[AWSAA]

The decision to extend Wheeler shortened our window significantly. By the time it ends Scheifele will be past his prime. That cap space should've gone to upgrading the C position or blueline moving forward.

 

[Ukkosenjumala]

Talent without effort might not mean much but neither does hard work without smart work. Being a captain is about leading by example, hard work is part of it and it's good to reward hard work if it's done right. If it's not then you're enforcing a cycle of errors. If your captain is throwing fits, making forced plays due to frustration, being undisciplined because he has a lot of passion, that's not gonna help the team gather their wits and get the focus they need to close out a game. Again I have to reiterate, I like Wheeler but I don't think he's any more of an in-game leader than the next hard working guy. He's a decent captain but I think there's better options out there.

 

[surixon]

I expect them to work and play hard. Just like their captain does. If they can't do that then time for you to go. They are not mysteriously going to work there ass off because the move Wheeler

I still question how any one can say who works hard and who doesn't by watching games. I mean Lidstrom never looked like he was working hard on the ice but he was still a darn good player and leader. Crosby is also more cerebral these days as a player and doesn't go balls out unless he sees the opportunity. This whole mantra that players need to look busy on the ice as a sign that they are working hard needs to end. I want players to play smart and hard, not just play hard. I thought are leaders this past season weren't playing smart, that includes Wheeler and Mark. Flying the zone early, poor defensive coverage and positioning. Standing still on breakouts.

I want my leaders to play smart hockey, I want them to exemplify best practices and proper adherence to the system. They need to set a good example, not just in terms of on and off ice work rate but in terms of good habits on the ice.

Our leaders are all fairly flawed as players when you think about it:

Buff likes to roam around and deviate from the system. He also takes super long shifts. He can be an impact player but he isn't a role model for most players on this team with regards to how they should be approaching the game and playing within the system.

Scheifele and Wheeler both over extend shifts and both cheat for offense at the expense of play in their own end. Is that how we want Conner, Ehlers and Laine to approach the game? We are still seeing a bunch of sloppy defensive play by all of the other three, no real surprise when the team leaders are sloppy in their end.

Wheeler and Buff also have a discipline issue (Any shock the Jets are continually one of the more penalized teams with its leaders taking a lot of penalties)?

Toews, Kopitar and Crosby all emulate the types of leaders that I would want to build around. All three play the game the right way in all ends of the rink. All three bust their butts in practice as well.

Scheifele looks like he was trending that way but he seemed to take a big step back this past season. Perhaps he just needs a reset and he will be back to the two way player he was a couple of years ago.

Simply put our leaders need to get back to playing responsible hockey at both ends of the rink while adhearing to the system. They do that and the other players will follow, we saw that the prior year where top to bottom the team was organized and a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Board Bard]

A world class player wouldn't have disappeared for 3 months. He could be world class but he is far from that yet. If those 2 guys worked as hard as Tanev we would be laughing about how good we are now. They don't and they seem to think they don't have too

Is Scheifele a world-class talent? He disappeared for three months too and he's had several more years than Laine to work on his game. Was that a teenage drama? Why did Maurice keep playing disappeared players, some on the top line with big minutes? Was that a teenage drama? There's lots wrong on the team, and the last half of the season should corroborate that, by eye test, metrics and results. Was all of that mess a teenage drama? I don't think cohesive teams have that kind of collapse whatever their ages. Sooner or later it comes to a head. In the Jets' case it was later, in the locker room after yet another putrid game, and only after the laughable trade for Hendricks failed (which in and of itself is pretty much proof of a problem in the room).

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

They tend to be the guys that exemplify themselves on and off the ice with a work ethic. Motivation is never a problem. Someone you can point to and say "that is who you need to be like". You never have to ask them to be a certain way or behave a certain way because they already do it without asking.

They are leaders because you want to follow them not because they tell you to follow them

If all of our players followed Wheeler's example next year, we'd have an excellent shot at the first overall draft pick.

And please @iannn , enough with the hugging Laine stuff. That's low hanging fruit as far as leadership displays go. He knew the cameras would be on Laine and put on a show for them.

 

[DRW204]

His 5on5 scoring rates are very mediocore... 1.99/60 is good for 99th in the league (min. 500:00). Kucherov lead the league with 3.37/60. Copp had 1.81/60.

yea i am aware. i said they were one of the best on the team... him and Scheifele were neck and neck. and then you have Ehlers @ 1.88, KC @ 1.8, Little @ 1.58 and Laine all the way down @ 1.35

 

[Gm0ney]

This is obviously a great time for some sober reflection on Wheeler's season...

Well, the good news is his 5v5 and powerplay production did not decline much this year:

The bad news is that most of his shot attempt numbers were quite bad - career lows (bolded) in quite a few areas:

Season	CF%	FF/60	FA/60	FF%	SF/60	SA/60	SF%	GF/60	GA/60	GF%	SCF/60	SCA/60	SCF%	HDCF/60	HDCA/60	HDCF%	HDGF/60	HDGA/60	HDGF%
08-09	52.34	44.94	40.57	52.56	33.48	30.49	52.33	3.71	1.66	69.14	29.17	26.25	52.63	13.13	9.61	57.73	1.86	1.19	60.87
09-10	54.15	42.15	38.65	52.17	30.42	29.31	50.93	2.46	2.64	48.19	26.73	22.12	54.72	11.12	9.59	53.71	1.35	1.47	47.83
10-11	59.83	58.23	37.86	60.59	40.54	28.93	58.35	2.86	1.96	59.26	37.33	26.43	58.54	15.36	10.90	58.50	1.79	1.43	55.56
11-12	53.34	48.97	42.02	53.82	34.59	30.85	52.86	3.06	2.87	51.64	31.63	27.93	53.10	13.46	10.59	55.96	1.89	1.65	53.42
12-13	50.24	45.24	44.32	50.51	30.66	30.83	49.86	2.92	3.33	46.67	29.33	29.08	50.21	11.25	12.66	47.04	1.42	2.17	39.53
13-14	49.91	42.63	42.06	50.34	31.62	29.9	51.4	2.66	2.35	53.13	26.51	24.84	51.63	11.38	9.50	54.50	1.41	1.46	49.09
14-15	54.36	45.42	37.89	54.51	32.45	27.28	54.32	2.75	1.52	64.47	27.85	22.51	55.30	11.79	8.93	56.91	1.40	0.62	69.44
15-16	55.17	47.39	38.74	55.02	33.33	28.69	53.74	3.02	2.24	57.43	28.9	24.42	54.20	11.72	10.99	51.61	1.51	1.61	48.33
16-17	54.87	45.26	36.86	55.11	32.18	26.8	54.56	2.61	2.56	50.49	28.31	22.38	55.85	11.31	7.95	58.75	1.61	1.36	54.24
17-18	50.02	45.14	43.11	51.15	33.59	30.8	52.16	2.89	2.28	55.88	27.76	25.89	51.75	11.09	9.32	54.34	1.57	1.17	57.41
18-19	49.08	43.18	44.77	49.10	31.50	33.24	48.66	2.78	2.83	49.56	25.89	28.22	47.84	9.94	12.32	44.64	1.54	1.24	55.36

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So career lows in CF%, FA/60, FF%, SA/60, SF%, SCF/60, SCF%, HDCF/60, HDCF%.

Make of this what you will. I'm not super encouraged looking ahead at 5 x $8.25M...

 

[Neuf]

Ladd's last year as captain - Wheeler brought it every single game, faced the media, never took a night off. He deserved the C. I don't know what happened with him and 55 and Maurice this year, but he absolutely led this team prior to this season.

 

[Board Bard]

Ladd's last year as captain - Wheeler brought it every single game, faced the media, never took a night off. He deserved the C. I don't know what happened with him and 55 and Maurice this year, but he absolutely led this team prior to this season.

I give him the gears now but he has been a very good player for the Jets. Wish we could have that Wheeler back, and at that salary.

 

[irunthepeg]

Ladd's last year as captain - Wheeler brought it every single game, faced the media, never took a night off. He deserved the C. I don't know what happened with him and 55 and Maurice this year, but he absolutely led this team prior to this season.

Yup, I remember this too. It's hard to judge, I imagine it's difficult to hold that same level of motivation every game, every year. Especially now that he has locked up his biggest and likely last big contract. And things happen outside hockey.

 

[Deedog99]

The decision to extend Wheeler shortened our window significantly. By the time it ends Scheifele will be past his prime. That cap space should've gone to upgrading the C position or blueline moving forward.

How do you go about upgrading the centre position? Only way is by drafting and developing. That has no bearing on the cap space

 

[Trinity]

This is obviously a great time for some sober reflection on Wheeler's season...

Well, the good news is his 5v5 and powerplay production did not decline much this year:

View attachment 218995

The bad news is that most of his shot attempt numbers were quite bad - career lows (bolded) in quite a few areas:

Season	CF%	FF/60	FA/60	FF%	SF/60	SA/60	SF%	GF/60	GA/60	GF%	SCF/60	SCA/60	SCF%	HDCF/60	HDCA/60	HDCF%	HDGF/60	HDGA/60	HDGF%
08-09	52.34	44.94	40.57	52.56	33.48	30.49	52.33	3.71	1.66	69.14	29.17	26.25	52.63	13.13	9.61	57.73	1.86	1.19	60.87
09-10	54.15	42.15	38.65	52.17	30.42	29.31	50.93	2.46	2.64	48.19	26.73	22.12	54.72	11.12	9.59	53.71	1.35	1.47	47.83
10-11	59.83	58.23	37.86	60.59	40.54	28.93	58.35	2.86	1.96	59.26	37.33	26.43	58.54	15.36	10.90	58.50	1.79	1.43	55.56
11-12	53.34	48.97	42.02	53.82	34.59	30.85	52.86	3.06	2.87	51.64	31.63	27.93	53.10	13.46	10.59	55.96	1.89	1.65	53.42
12-13	50.24	45.24	44.32	50.51	30.66	30.83	49.86	2.92	3.33	46.67	29.33	29.08	50.21	11.25	12.66	47.04	1.42	2.17	39.53
13-14	49.91	42.63	42.06	50.34	31.62	29.9	51.4	2.66	2.35	53.13	26.51	24.84	51.63	11.38	9.50	54.50	1.41	1.46	49.09
14-15	54.36	45.42	37.89	54.51	32.45	27.28	54.32	2.75	1.52	64.47	27.85	22.51	55.30	11.79	8.93	56.91	1.40	0.62	69.44
15-16	55.17	47.39	38.74	55.02	33.33	28.69	53.74	3.02	2.24	57.43	28.9	24.42	54.20	11.72	10.99	51.61	1.51	1.61	48.33
16-17	54.87	45.26	36.86	55.11	32.18	26.8	54.56	2.61	2.56	50.49	28.31	22.38	55.85	11.31	7.95	58.75	1.61	1.36	54.24
17-18	50.02	45.14	43.11	51.15	33.59	30.8	52.16	2.89	2.28	55.88	27.76	25.89	51.75	11.09	9.32	54.34	1.57	1.17	57.41
18-19	49.08	43.18	44.77	49.10	31.50	33.24	48.66	2.78	2.83	49.56	25.89	28.22	47.84	9.94	12.32	44.64	1.54	1.24	55.36

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So career lows in CF%, FA/60, FF%, SA/60, SF%, SCF/60, SCF%, HDCF/60, HDCF%.

Make of this what you will. I'm not super encouraged looking ahead at 5 x $8.25M...

That's going to be an ugly 5 years.

 

[kanadalainen]

I like the idea of Morrissey as the captain going forward.

A very smart player, well spoken, cerebral, calm.

 

[Trinity]

I agree. I love the idea of Morrissey as our captain but he's probably still a bit too young. In a few years I'd give it to him. Plus he still needs to sign long term.

 

[iannn]

If all of our players followed Wheeler's example next year, we'd have an excellent shot at the first overall draft pick.

And please @iannn , enough with the hugging Laine stuff. That's low hanging fruit as far as leadership displays go. He knew the cameras would be on Laine and put on a show for them.

How jaded do you have to be to believe that the captain of our NHL team was 'putting on a show for the cameras' instead of trying to console a young star player on his team.

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

How jaded do you have to be to believe that the captain of our NHL team was 'putting on a show for the cameras' instead of trying to console a young star player on his team.

My jaded goes to 11. And it's got sustain.

 

[Trinity]

My jaded goes to 11. And it's got sustain.

I like your theory on the cameras.

 

[Trinity]

I find it very interesting that Wheeler deleted his Twitter account mid-season.

 

[potroaster]

I don't think Wheeler wants to be Captain anymore. He wears his heart on his sleeve too much.

He should take a break. But as was said in previous threads, then who? I don't have a clue who would warrant being a Captain at this point. Lowry?

This loyalty BS from TN extending Little, Wheeler and Perrault to multi year contracts that don't make sense long term is gonna bite us in the ***.

I get it though. They want brand recognition, lock in their core etc...

Buff gets a pass. We had to sign him when we knew Ladd was going. Ehlers and Scheiffle will be ok. They are young.

 

[LadyJet26]

I find it very interesting that Wheeler deleted his Twitter account mid-season.

Why? He tweeted maybe twice a year. Why have it?

I hate how everyone in the media is shitting all over Wheeler for saying f*** off to the worst media person since Lawless. This is so stupid. He gets mics shoved in his face right after spending the last four minutes in the box and what looked like crying in the box at the end. Like f*** off media. Wheeler isn't the only player that shit the bed. Friesen's question wasn't a hard question- it was a stupid one.

 

[VictoriaJetsFan]

I want them to be complete players. One guy disappeared for 3 months this season and the other guy disappears in the playoffs. There are problems in the dressing room and it isn't about Wheeler and about guys that don't seem to give a ****

If your going to hold up Laine and Ehlers to a certain standard, Schief and Wheeler need to be held accountable for how they played like useless floaters the las 25 games of the season. This is not as cut and dried as your making it out to be.

And I think that's what your not addressing...the double standard.

 

[PhilJets]

A Sports Team Captain

By: Hsin-Yi Cohen BSc, MA, MSt (28 Aug 18)

Perhaps nowhere is the importance of good leadership as apparent as in a sports team. A good sports team captain can lead his team to success and recognition; and can help a moderate team play better; whereas, a weak captain with poor leadership skills can hinder a team’s chances of competing and bonding successfully.
Why Is A Good Sports Team Captain Important?

An analysis done by various coaches showed that although there are a variety of reasons why teams do not achieve their potential and ended their seasons early – such as injuries, conditioning, poor officiating and eligibility – there is main reason is lack of good leadership. And while leadership does come from coaches, the real leaders come from within the team itself so selecting a good team captain is vitally important.
Are You Sure You Want To Be A Sports Team Captain?

Being a sports team captain isn’t just about wearing the cap or being the boss or even just cheering your friends on. It requires a number of things including:

• the desire to lead by example
• a passionate belief in team spirit
• the ability to handle the conflicts that invariably arise when a team is under pressure
• the desire to put more input in planning the team’s strategies
• the ability to handle problems which may arise in a fair and expedient manner (eg. disqualifications)
• the ability to behave professionally and responsibility despite personal feelings of frustration and anger
• a thorough knowledge of the rules of the game
• a desire to build relationships with other members of the team, in good times and bad
• the ability to handle the burden of being captain while still playing in the team
• the ability to inspire and motivate and raise team morale

A Sports Team Captain

I admire Wheeler. But he might be a little over his capabilities. This doesnt mean his a bad person or anything.

 

[VictoriaJetsFan]

Why? He tweeted maybe twice a year. Why have it?

I hate how everyone in the media is ****ting all over Wheeler for saying **** off to the worst media person since Lawless. This is so stupid. He gets mics shoved in his face right after spending the last four minutes in the box and what looked like crying in the box at the end. Like **** off media. Wheeler isn't the only player that **** the bed. Friesen's question wasn't a hard question- it was a stupid one.

Friesan' question was totally logical. Wheeler's reaction says more about Wheeler than it does about the reporter.

These shoot the messenger arguments make utterly no sense.

 

[robertocarlos]

There's no crying in hockey, unless you are 12 years old.