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topicnews · July 19, 2025

'Father Time Wins': Former Winnipeg Jet's captain Blake Wheeler says he is in retirement – Winnipeg

'Father Time Wins': Former Winnipeg Jet's captain Blake Wheeler says he is in retirement – Winnipeg


The former captain of Winnipeg Jets, Blake Wheeler, enjoys life after hockey, now more than a year since he last played an NHL game.

While there was no official announcement for retirement last summer when he did not sign a new contract, Wheeler confirmed the issue of Jets at 12 p.m. on Wednesday that it was actually done and withdrawn from the pro game.

“I knew more or less that I was done,” said Wheeler. “I just had no rush to make a formal announcement or something. But yes, after my injury and somehow things ended last year, I just had nothing in the tank for it. So I was in peace almost immediately after last year, and I only enjoy being a father and slowing down, and I'm in my family.”

Wheeler ended his career in the 2023-2024 season at the New York Rangers. In February 2024 he suffered a bad leg injury and returned a game in the playoffs that would turn out to be the last game of his career as a player.

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“I torn the ligaments on both sides of my ankle and then broken my fibula,” he said. “When I was injured, I somehow had the feeling that it was even healthy in New York in my last year. And when the injury happened, it just felt like it was a kind of sign. I was more or less not really injured.”

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Wheeler played 12 seasons in Winnipeg and opened openly about his time on Wednesday and admitted that things sometimes burdened him as a team captain.


“I think in 2018 we can all agree that we were the best team in the league, and we let it out,” said Wheeler. “I wanted to win a Stanley Cup in Winnipeg with every ounce. And pretty quickly as I would somehow call it, I would call it a turbulent year in 2019. Buff (Dustin Byfuglien) withdrew and it just fell apart pretty quickly.

“I was at a point, I was 35 years old. At that time I was our best paid player. The expectations were Sky High, the captain was in a small Canadian city. All this pressure and then they have three small children at home. It was really difficult for me and ultimately the father wins and I was able to feel my game to slip.

“Now I answer questions. It just started to promote myself. And then I started to deal with a few things that made it very difficult. And it caused my lead to show up. I mean, you could probably also see how I reacted. It was just not what I wanted to be.”

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Wheeler worked on radio during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but nowadays the 38-year-old trains his children's hockey teams and also works with other professional athletes as a trainer for mental performance.

“I started working with some boys, and obviously there is a lot of sensitivity like the WHO. But that is definitely part of my goal. I think my experience as a professional athlete, but also the additional tool kit with which I was equipped with some of these challenges with which athletes could relate in a different way.”

& Copy 2025 Global News, Department of Corus Entertainment Inc.