Aug 31, 2016
Jets name Wheeler captain
The Winnipeg Jets named forward Blake Wheeler the team’s captain on Wednesday, while defenceman Dustin Byfuglien and forward Mark Scheifele will serve as alternate captains.
TSN.ca Staff
The Winnipeg Jets named forward Blake Wheeler the team’s captain on Wednesday, while defenceman Dustin Byfuglien and forward Mark Scheifele will serve as alternate captains.
The 30-year-old Wheeler finished sixth in the NHL in points last season with a career-high 78, and was fifth in the league in assists with 52. He ended the season on an eight-game point streak, scoring five goals and 13 points in that span.
Wheeler will represent the USA in the World Cup of Hockey this September, along with Byfuglien. He previously represented the USA at the IIHF World Championship in 2011, as well as at the Olympics in Sochi in 2014.
Byfuglien, who signed a five-year extension with the Jets in February, recorded 19 goals and 34 assists with 119 penalty minutes in 81 games last season. The 31-year-old was named an NHL All-Star for the fourth time, the team’s nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy and was selected for USA’s World Cup of Hockey team before the year was over.
The World Cup will be the first time Byfuglien wears the red, white, and blue to represent his country.
Scheifele, 23, is entering his fourth full season with the Jets after being drafted with the seventh pick in 2011. The Kitchener, Ont., native, who inked an eight-year contract in July, led the team with a career-high 29 goals last year.