Post-Game Talk: Doomsday in Bubbleland [Jets bow out in Qualifiers]

[Jets 31]

3 years ago, his speed disappeared. just...poof!
i always wondered what happened. if you can find old highlights, he was much faster than he is now.

He used to carry the puck down the wing and drive hard straight to the net at least once a game, haven't seen that in a long time. Wheeler should be on the second line with a healthy Jets team.

 

[HannuJ]

He used to carry the puck down the wing and drive hard straight to the net at least once a game, haven't seen that in a long time. Wheeler should be on the second line with a healthy Jets team.

i'm more curious as to how the decline happened and if it's reveresable with some solid off-season training. it always looks like his stamina is low as well. it's really curious.
should he be on the second line? don't know, don't care. any good team will theoretically have a 1st and 2nd line that's pretty much interchangeable scenariowise and TOI-wise. Wheeler needs to play with the player(s) that compliment him best and vice versa.

 

[Jets 31]

The Jets missed Buff more than anyone else in these playoffs . Buff and Scheifele were are 2 best players in the run to the Conference Finals . Last season i think he was hurt against the Blues or we might have beaten them, i miss Buff but this team misses him even more.

 

[iannn]

i'm more curious as to how the decline happened and if it's reveresable with some solid off-season training. it always looks like his stamina is low as well. it's really curious.
should he be on the second line? don't know, don't care. any good team will theoretically have a 1st and 2nd line that's pretty much interchangeable scenariowise and TOI-wise. Wheeler needs to play with the player(s) that compliment him best and vice versa.

I wonder if he's consciously altered his playing style so that he can stay healthy and have a longer career. Driving to the net like he used to is how-to-injure-yourself-101, maybe now that he's older he's trying to avoid it.

Gotta say, would be nice to see some of that in playoff games though.

 

[sipowicz]

He used to carry the puck down the wing and drive hard straight to the net at least once a game, haven't seen that in a long time. Wheeler should be on the second line with a healthy Jets team.

wheelers game was all about speed, now that he’s lost a step (or two) he just doesn’t have the skill to compensate and the reason that he looks like a tabletop hockey figure out there!

wheeler didn’t look great in the regular season but he really got exposed against the Flames where he basically accomplished nothing through 4 games!

 

[HHel]

We should try to sign RNH to our 2C and if we get lucky and get Laf, then our roster could look like this.

Ehlers - Chef - Laine
Connor - RNH - Laf
Copp - Lowry - Wheeler
Harkins - Roslovic - Appleton

Morrisey - Demelo
Samberg - Pionk
xxx - Poolman

Little doesn't come back and MattyP can go were ever he want.

I could go with that roster.

 

[Jets 31]

We should try to sign RNH to our 2C and if we get lucky and get Laf, then our roster could look like this.

Ehlers - Chef - Laine
Connor - RNH - Laf
Copp - Lowry - Wheeler
Harkins - Roslovic - Appleton

Morrisey - Demelo
Samberg - Pionk
xxx - Poolman

Little doesn't come back and MattyP can go were ever he want.

I could go with that roster.

I don't care who they get but we need a very good 2nd line center and a very good first pairing defenseman. Little is done unfortunately in my mind and Frenchie can go take stupid penalties and fall down somewhere else. Frenchie cleans the ice better than a frickin zamboni with all the snow he picks up on himself by falling down all the time. Help i've fallen and i can't get up.

 

[sipowicz]

I don't care who they get but we need a very good 2nd line center and a very good first pairing defenseman. Little is done unfortunately in my mind and Frenchie can go take stupid penalties and fall down somewhere else. Frenchie cleans the ice better than a frickin zamboni with all the snow he picks up on himself by falling down all the time. Help i've fallen and i can't get up.

LOL! Yeah playing half of every shift lying on the ice sure doesn’t help your team!

 

[HannuJ]

I wonder if he's consciously altered his playing style so that he can stay healthy and have a longer career. Driving to the net like he used to is how-to-injure-yourself-101, maybe now that he's older he's trying to avoid it.

Gotta say, would be nice to see some of that in playoff games though.

it's not even the net drives. it's beating another player to the puck or skating fast down the wing. that's been gone for a while. looks like his stride pains him. and whenever he's in his own zone, he stands around, semi-hunched over. he's always had an awkward skating stride, but this looks weird. 3 years now. Murat should ask him

 

[Gm0ney]

Wheeler's turning 34 in a couple of weeks, he's not getting any better at this point, only the same - or probably worse. With a full NMC on his deal for the next two seasons, even if you could find someone who'd want his $8.25M (EIGHT POINT TWO FIVE MILLION!) cap hit.

This was the bullet we dodged with Ladd. Took it right between the eyes for Wheels though.

Glad the 7-year patience plan to build a perennial contender and not just a one-good-run-and-done team resulted in...a one-good-run-and-done team and another rebuild. TRUE NORTH!

 

[tntkid]

Wheeler's turning 34 in a couple of weeks, he's not getting any better at this point, only the same - or probably worse. With a full NMC on his deal for the next two seasons, even if you could find someone who'd want his $8.25M (EIGHT POINT TWO FIVE MILLION!) cap hit.

This was the bullet we dodged with Ladd. Took it right between the eyes for Wheels though.

Glad the 7-year patience plan to build a perennial contender and not just a one-good-run-and-done team resulted in...a one-good-run-and-done team and another rebuild. TRUE NORTH!

Building a team to only be a contender for 1 and 2 seasons is beyond frustrating.

Even the Knights have been consistently good since they came in to the league because their GM will take chances and moves guys out when they are no longer contributing.

Losing all our defense last season and the numerous injuries has crippled this team.
The blinding loyalty of True North to coaching staff and players that are not good enough has also crippled this team.

 

[ryerockarola]

Wheeler's turning 34 in a couple of weeks, he's not getting any better at this point, only the same - or probably worse. With a full NMC on his deal for the next two seasons, even if you could find someone who'd want his $8.25M (EIGHT POINT TWO FIVE MILLION!) cap hit.

This was the bullet we dodged with Ladd. Took it right between the eyes for Wheels though.

Glad the 7-year patience plan to build a perennial contender and not just a one-good-run-and-done team resulted in...a one-good-run-and-done team and another rebuild. TRUE NORTH!

Signed through 2023-2024, those last couple years could be rough for what he's getting paid

 

[Gm0ney]

Signed through 2023-2024, those last couple years could be rough for what he's getting paid

Well he's going to spend most of his time on Line 1 with Scheifele til death do they part, contracts do they expire, or Maurice do they fire...he's already lost a step and can't drive play anymore.

 

[PaulPooley]

Building a team to only be a contender for 1 and 2 seasons is beyond frustrating.

Even the Knights have been consistently good since they came in to the league because their GM will take chances and moves guys out when they are no longer contributing.

Losing all our defense last season and the numerous injuries has crippled this team.
The blinding loyalty of True North to coaching staff and players that are not good enough has also crippled this team.

Even when you go back to the very beginning, Chipman handing the reins over to Claude Noel instead of an actual, qualified NHL coach was bush league. Loyal to a fault. But blind loyalty in pro sports don’t get you much.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

 

[Jets 31]

What's frustrating is how good this team was with a good 2nd line center like Stastny was, Chevy absolutely has to get a good center and then we have 2 great lines again instead of one.

 

[sipowicz]

wheeler sure proved he didn’t belong anywhere near that list with his dismal performance against the Flames!

 

[Jets 31]

wheeler sure proved he didn’t belong anywhere near that list with his dismal performance against the Flames!

Actually to me it proved just how great of a center Scheifele is .

 

[AKAChip]

What is this supposed to prove? NHL.com writers are horrid at talent evaluation? Convincing.

 

[AWSAA]

Sam Bennett has more career playoff goals than Wheeler in less than half the # of games.

 

[Andy6]

Building a team to only be a contender for 1 and 2 seasons is beyond frustrating.

Even the Knights have been consistently good since they came in to the league because their GM will take chances and moves guys out when they are no longer contributing.

Would that not be an easier approach to take when you are in a city that most players would love to go to, as opposed to one of the least popular destinations in the league? (the "one of" is probably being a little generous, unfortunately)

 

[Andy6]

Even when you go back to the very beginning, Chipman handing the reins over to Claude Noel instead of an actual, qualified NHL coach was bush league. Loyal to a fault. But blind loyalty in pro sports don’t get you much.

Having the reputation of being a classy organization that is loyal to the people it hires is one way to overcome the reluctance of many players and personnel to choose Winnipeg over other larger and more attractive (they think, anyway) cities.

 

[Crocket]

He used to carry the puck down the wing and drive hard straight to the net at least once a game, haven't seen that in a long time. Wheeler should be on the second line with a healthy Jets team.

One reason is because he is over played. Maurice double shifts him, even during the regular season. He always plays long shifts in the third. He's just tired all the time. You can see it in his game. He played over 20 minutes our last game.

In this series, why not role 4 lines, and play as high tempo as possible knowing everyone is out of shape, so spread it out. Calgary was slow and bad too, they just rolled lines better.

 

[Jets 31]

One reason is because he is over played. Maurice double shifts him, even during the regular season. He always plays long shifts in the third. He's just tired all the time. You can see it in his game. He played over 20 minutes our last game.

In this series, why not role 4 lines, and play as high tempo as possible knowing everyone is out of shape, so spread it out. Calgary was slow and bad too, they just rolled lines better.

Without Scheifele and Laine our lines weren't good enough to roll. Let's be honest , with the lineup we had would you have rolled our lines if you were coach ? I know i wouldn't have if i was coach, especially with my season on the line.

 

[Tommigun]

What's frustrating is how good this team was with a good 2nd line center like Stastny was, Chevy absolutely has to get a good center and then we have 2 great lines again instead of one.

A good 2nd line center, a 1st defender and 2-3 top 4 defenders, a couple of really good bottom 6 players and a team player. The entire team was different.