Wheeler/By S. Bradley
Every day seems like an endless barrage of email senders, feedback posters and talk-radio callers repeat the same opinions of Blake Wheeler.
Blake Wheeler isn’t tough enough. Blake Wheeler doesn’t go to the net. The Bruins should just dump Wheeler, he’s not worth the material his uniform’s made of.
My estimate is there are usually eight to 10 negative critiques of the soon-to-be 24-year-old winger for every positive one coming from the Bruins fans base. And it’s quite ridiculous, considering the number of players that treated last season as some sort of chance no-show job they were handed by Tony Soprano.
Now it looks like we’re going to see if Wheeler can prove the naysayers wrong while wearing black and gold for yet another season. Friday morning, the Bruins officially accepted the arbiter’s one-year, $2.2 million award for the 6-foot-5 forward. He could still potentially be trade bait, but it sounds like he’s here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Whether you want to chalk up Wheeler’s drop in production from 45 to 38 points from his rookie to second NHL season just a sophomore slump or a portend of what’s to come, you can’t deny the fact that the monetary award was a fair one considering what other players like David Perron, Clarke MacArthur have received either through settlements or arbitration rulings. We all know it could’ve been a lot worse, especially within the cozy confines of the Bruins’ salary cap.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Wheeler’s going to earn every penny of that award or turn into the bargain of the year by burying 35 goals and becoming the Bruins’ most successful sniper.
However, there’s one thing we can count on – Wheeler is going to try his best. After his rookie season ended in disaster because the rigors of the NHL caught up to him in his first year out of college and he missed just one regular season game (he was then scratched at the end of the ’09 playoffs), Wheeler went home and began to watch what he was eating better and bulked up. He reported to camp last fall heavier, but still mobile and you could at least see his puck-protection improve over the course of the year. He also, obviously, had a tough time adapting to life at a heavier weight, and also suffered from what most of the Bruins were battling all season: a team-wide, season-long scoring slump. As much as he could’ve done more, Wheeler’s centers could’ve done more to get him going as well.
During a conference call to discuss his new deal with the Bruins Friday morning, Wheeler talked about trying to be more physical this season. He wants to become a better forechecker, in the mold of Mark Recchi or Milan Lucic, and make sure that his body does the talking when his scoring touch isn’t working. He also explained that he has been doing some long-distance shooting in his driveway, as he tries to increase his range and make himself a threat from the areas that he might have to shoot from when he just can’t win a battle to get closer.
Again, whether all this work will pay off remains to be seen. But at least we know that Wheeler isn’t shy about identifying his own weaknesses and trying to rectify them. Unlike some of his teammates, in particular a few Bruins veterans that failed to live up to their expectations last season, he doesn’t make excuses about motivation or focus. He knows that he’s been a passenger more often than he’s been an active participant in Boston’s fortunes. For every game like last year’s Game 3 against Philadelphia, there are a bunch like Game 4-7 against the Flyers and other stretches where you want to send out an APB for Wheeler’s presence.
Nonetheless, with the money being an accurate reflection of his production and his potential to this point, the Bruins have themselves a young forward that could blossom. If he doesn’t, it’s a one-year commitment that hasn’t strangled them financially and they can reassess next summer, when Wheeler will again be a restricted free agent and have arbitration rights. Just remember, had the Bruins walked away, Wheeler would’ve been unrestricted and there are any number of teams – the New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild come to mind – that would’ve lined up to get themselves a $2.2 million young forward with size that could put up at least 50 points.
The missed open nets, the offsides calls and the lengthy stretches of goal-less games tend to stand out with Wheeler more than the big-time performances the way we all remember the cornerback’s one missed coverage or the outfielder’s one dropped fly ball. For every mistakes he makes, Wheeler spends at least one extra minute on the ice after practices shooting pucks and talking to the coaches. He’s so hard on himself, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he was one of those radio callers and email senders with awful things to say about his game.
It’s easier to complain than appreciate sometimes. Wheeler might not earn more adulation in 2010-11, but we know he’s going to attempt to earn everyone’s love with all he’s got.
It is a long list of people who gave small efforts last season, no doubt. Start with Wideman and Ryder
You are right, no excuses. Everyone on the team is still a part of the team. My point is if you want to complain about all parts of the team, blame Recchi and Ryder, Wideman and Rask. Or just focus on what the problems are and try to fix those. It’s just fine to point out that Wheeler has some issues that need fixing, he does need to check more and as it was pointed out, we could have seen more effort from him last season. That’s fine, but I am damn tired of hearing him dismissed as a viable member of the team for it!
I would agree that this team appeared to be plagued with apathy last season, except for maybe March. To me, that isn’t an excuse, for anyone, be it Chara or Wheeler
I think the point of this is that the point of this article is that wheeler is a young talent who has gone through some growing pains and became a scapegoat for the failings of a very talented ye offense challenged team because of his talent and expected potential. One possible conclusion that can be drawn is a lack of effort, desire and work ethic which many have expressed their belief in. Another alternate hypothesis is that Wheeler may be well intentioned and hard working, but was as much a victim of his teammates lack of effort as much as the fan base which would have been one of the sources of his season-long inconsistency. This article provides us information that there is not a lack of effort from him or a lack of work ethic, but rather Julien and the Captains let the team’s desire and drive escape from them. This would definitely affect players who are young and not leaders or confident in their own right, which would help to explain Wheeler’s inconsistency as well as part of Krejci’s midseason slump.
Having been a college athlete for four years (not hockey though) I can say that I have been on teams where there is a rampant lack of desire and effort that most teammates cannot escape, especially if the coach fails to fix the problem. Therefore one might think of Ryder and Wideman as the bad teammates who were not addressed by the coach.
He isn’t the same as Ryder and shouldn’t be put in that category. That said, all this talk about hard work was not evident when Wheeler was out there last season. I think the 2.2 number is a good number and I am glad the Bruins brought him back. He, along with most on this team, needs to put out a much more consistent effort ON THE ICE. If not, then whatever he does off the ice is largely irrelevant. I think if he were out there with Seguin and Krecji, he could score 25. In a wide open system, he probably could score 30. That’s why it is frustrating to see him skate around like he is just happy to be there. I hope for better in 2010.
This article says “Hey don’t make fun of Blake, he works hard and wants to do good”
Fine, who doesn’t???
I agree…we all had mor ethan a few negative things to say. Same goes for Ryder…’dump his ass’, ‘put him in the minors’ but he had the second most goals on the team! Everyone took a back seat last year, and nobody played up to expectations.
It’s great to hear him talk about working on things that he needs to improve on. It was awesome to hear him address his lack of physicality. And it’s comforting to hear him talk about his offseason practices and workout routines. However, a lot of his criticism last season was because of lack of effort on the ice. Often peeling off to make a line change; not putting an extra few strides to make a play; dogging the press on the forecheck; or bump a player off the puck — all effort in game-play.
However, if his extra effort off the ice this offseason is going to help him put that extra effort on the ice during a 60-minute game, then we’ll just have to wait and see.
Im going to make this 5 for 5 positive post for Wheeler. I like this guy, sure he frustrated me with his play, more than occasionally last year. However, there is so much upside potential to this guy, there is no way the Bruins could walk away from this very fair award. Wheeler rarely, if ever, smiles…even after scoring. I believe if he starts having fun on the ice and believes in himself, his game will come and will be a very productive winger for this organization. Welcome back Blake, stay on your skates and prove the skeptics wrong.
I’m glad Wheeler will be back. I see lots of positives from him. Each player has a skill set he is best in and some that they are not so good in. You can’t have 20 Shawn Thorton’s or 20 Sydney Crosby’s….you need balance, a good mix of the skills each player possesses, and of course….heart & a passion to succeed. I think he will continue to get better at what he’s good at and imporove where he needs it. I like him with Krejci, good on the PK and Looch on the LW. Let’s see what happens.
I’m glad to read an article and posts that do not take Wheeler in a negative light and actually take his “gentle giant” tendencies in a more realistic light. Thank you Jim for your historical context.
Like you Matt, I’m optimistic that Wheeler will continue to improve his game. There are lots of examples of taller guys taking a few years to find their game at the NHL level. Wheeler is willing, coach-able and wants to be part of the Bruins. Combine those qualities with solid skills and you have the makings of a good player.
Wheeler spoke about using his size to fore check more effectively, I think that’s great. But fore checking doesn’t necessarily mean crashing into everything. Those of us who are a little older will remember Jean Ratelle or Phil Esposito, guys that were effective fore checkers that didn’t knock people around. Fore checking is about disrupting the other team’s breakout and gaining control of the puck in the offensive end. You don’t always have to blast people.
I’m really dating my self now, but Blake Wheeler reminds me of a young Frank Mahovlich. Mahovlich was also a tall lanky guy that took a few years to find his full game at the NHL level. Throughout his career in Toronto he had a love/ hate relationship with the fans and his coach / GM Punch Imlach because he wasn’t a physically aggressive player. Make no mistake about it Mahovlich was a brilliant player, but was more “the gentle giant” than a force of nature. Some fans in Toronto never warmed up to Mahovlich because they couldn’t understand why a guy his size didn’t fight wouldn’t “mix it up” more. There was such a focus on what this guy wasn’t that his HOF skills were never fully appreciated and he was eventually traded to the Red Wings. My point is that we should learn to see the positives at least as much as we see the negatives in Wheeler’s game. Wheeler isn’t likely to be the next Cam Neely, nor is he going to compare to Frank Mahovlich but he can be Blake Wheeler, a pretty good NHL player given the time and space to develop.
Well said.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Matt Kalman, Boston Bruins Buzz. Boston Bruins Buzz said: The Bruins Blog >> Work ethic makes Wheeler worth it http://buzztap.com/-LQ9Ba6 [...]