‘C’ seems to suit certain sorts

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This article was published 18/10/2016 (3260 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Teammates say he’s doing a bang-up job, and his head coach says he’s done everything asked of him and more.

So far, the Winnipeg Jets captaincy looks good on Blake Wheeler.

The Plymouth, Minn., product was handed the ‘C’ Aug. 31 — his 30th birthday. The news came as no surprise to anyone within the Jets organization and it shocked no one outside it, either.

Wheeler’s play early in the season has spoken louder — just as he vowed it would the day he was named team captain — than anything he’s said behind closed doors inside the locker room.

“It’s pretty early (for speeches). You want to go out there and try and let your actions do the talking before you try to rile the troops up in the room,” Wheeler said earlier this week.

The Jets, 1-2 to begin the 2016-17 NHL season, had an off day Tuesday to recharge before they host the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at the MTS Centre.

Wheeler has been a huge contributor since the franchise relocated from Atlanta in time for the 2011-12 NHL season. He led the club with a career-best 78 points during the 2015-16 season, sharing sixth place in league scoring with Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames and Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks.

The 6-5, 225-pound right-winger is off to a good start this fall. He has scored in each of the club’s first three regular-season games and was the catalyst in the club’s season-opening victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, scoring a short-handed goal early in the third period as the Jets rallied from three goals down to earn a 5-4 overtime win.

“For me, I want to establish myself on the ice, work every day and then down the road, if something needs to be said, it will carry a little bit more weight,” Wheeler said.

“We’ve got a lot of guys here who can chip in and say a lot of good things in the room, so I don’t have to be the guy always doing things. That helps a lot.”

Defenceman Dustin Byfuglien and centre Mark Scheifele — who both signed long-term contract extensions this year — are the alternate captains.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice has had a front-row seat the last two-plus seasons to Wheeler’s maturation as a player and a person.

He’s been completely impressed by what he’s witnessed.

“His play, at the end of the day, is as consistent as any player I’ve seen,” Maurice said plast week. “In the last two years and leading into this year, he would be the one guy that there’s only a handful of nights you didn’t say he was true to his identity in that game.

“He can be so dominant with his speed and his power and great finishing hands. He’s developed into that new power forward. There isn’t any part of our game that he doesn’t touch.”

Wheeler said the dressing room has a different feel to it this season, a byproduct of injecting a healthy dose of youth into the lineup. There’s also no Andrew Ladd (New York Islanders), Ondrej Pavelec (Manitoba Moose) or Jacob Trouba (free-agent holdout) in the room.

‘He can be so dominant with his speed and his power and great finishing hands.He’s developed into that new power forward’Jets head coach Paul Maurice on Blake Wheeler

As captain, he’s assumed the task of ensuring youngsters such as Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey and Brandon Tanev feel at home in their new surroundings.

“There’s quite a bit of turnover. It’s a challenge. It’s a good challenge,” Wheeler said. “The biggest key is making them feel comfortable, making them feel confident, and you want them to feel like they’re a part of the group.”

Maurice said Wheeler has been a valuable liaison in that regard.

“What you won’t get to see with him is the conversations that happen off ice about where the team’s at, where the kids are at,” the coach said. “As the spokesman for the team, he’s really matured into a guy that understands my job as well, and you need that when you’re changing lines or you have rules for the team and how you’re going to handle it.

“You need a captain that understands the job that I do as well, and he does. He’s got a very good, broad picture of where this team is at now and what it needs.”

Forward Joel Armia, 23, with just 46 NHL games under his belt, said he’s trying to emulate Wheeler — the way he plays the game and the way he carries himself off the ice.

“Wheels? Well, everything,” Armia said, when asked why players look up to No.26. “On the ice, he’s so fast, works hard, got a good shot and keeps his head up all the time and makes good plays, he forechecks and back-checks, so pretty much everything.

“I really try to watch him play and maybe try to learn from him.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell