Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1171526
M H J O N L I N E . C O M | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9 26 Photos / courtesy of The Wheeler Family Jim & Pat Wheeler's Advice For Parents "ALWAYS ENCOURAGE your children to just try everything. Push them in ways that maybe they don't understand. Push them toward things that you're going to see. Give them those pushes and open up all the doors to them, you never know where they're going to lead." —(Mom) Pat Wheeler "MY ADVICE is actually advice Blake gave me. He said, 'Dad, let me do the work. You sit back and enjoy the ride now.' That's what I learned from him. I'm a competitive guy and I'm in there on every shift, but he told me that. So I tell all parents out there, enjoy the game and let your son or daughter do the work." —(Dad) Jim Wheeler BLAKE WHEELER "You definitely go through the mourning process a little bit," he said. "You feel sorry for yourself. And then I remember getting (mad) and devel- oped a chip on my shoulder and just got to work. I think through that I learned how to work and learned a lot about myself and how I had to push myself to get to that next level. "You're never as good or as bad as people say you are. Twelve months later I was draft- ed 5th overall in the NHL ( by the Phoenix Coyotes), so pretty drastic peak and valley there, but it was a good lesson definitely." BLAKE'S ADVICE Through 12 NHL seasons, Blake has learned one thing to be true: "I think you gotta enjoy the game," he said. "The key to longevity and success, really in anything not BLAKE THE WORKER Blake never had many issues making the top team in the Wayzata Youth Hockey Association that he grew up in. His Bantam A squad even clinched the coveted Minnesota Hockey State Championship. But Blake met adversity as he got older and select teams and festivals were made. "That's where things got difficult for me," said Blake, who was cut at various select camps at age 15, 16 and 17. "I would always get cut about halfway through the selects, never quite making that final round. That was definitely a scare because my goal, my whole childhood, was I wanted to play Division I hockey. If you're not in the top 52 in the state of Minnesota as a 17 year old, that can be tough. After I got cut from that select festival (at 17), playing college hockey seemed like a distant dream. I didn't know how realistic that was anymore." But rather than giving up on that dream—one that worked out well for Blake who amassed 96 points (42 goals, 54 assists) in three seasons at the U—he got to work. You're never as good or as bad as people say you are. Twelve months later I was drafted 5th overall in the NHL (by the Phoenix Coyotes), so pretty drastic peak and valley there, but it was a good lesson definitely.