Blake Wheeler blames himself for the Jets missing the playoffs

For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the Winnipeg Jets have failed to make the postseason, getting officially eliminated from contention Wednesday night after Vegas defeated Washington 4-3 in OT. The Jets were seen as close to a shoe-in to make the playoffs at the beginning of the season, but very little went right for the team in 2021-22. As for why that happened, captain Blake Wheeler blames himself.

"Well, I think I would have to take responsibility for that. It's been my job to build the culture here and I've taken a lot of pride in that over the years," said Wheeler. "I certainly look in the mirror on that one, and where we've gotten to, The team that we were and the team that we are now – I don't hide from that at all. I certainly take the responsibility for where this team sits. Hopefully we have a locker room full of guys doing the same thing. Like I said, I've tried to build this into something we can be proud of, something that can be a championship level every year. And when you fall short of that you've got to take responsibility for it."

As for what exactly went wrong for Winnipeg, Wheeler said he's not quite ready to get into that yet.

"You know what, it's probably nothing that I care to share publicly. I think the offseason will be critical to having some conversations and travelling down that road," said Wheeler. "My feelings are potentially a little bit raw right now. Maybe not that well thought out. Just going in a public forum and exposing that to the world, I don't think is necessarily fair right now. I think it's something that's going to take some thought and some deliberation and coming up with the answer. My view may not be even correct, it may not fit with what the organization thinks or what the team thinks."

"Certainly there are steps that need to be taken and some things that we can improve on. Otherwise we wouldn't be sitting where we are."

Winnipeg will now miss the playoffs for the seventh time in 11 seasons since the Atlanta Thrashers became the Jets.

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