As the saga between the @Winnipeg Jets and @Dustin Byfuglien trudges it’s way to a conclusion of what has turned out to be a messy divorce, the rest of us are stuck here in the middle of it and as always trying to figure out what the heck went wrong, who is to blame for it all, who we should be angry and and kind of wondering if we had anything to do with this.

This ordeal has been going on for almost five full months, but one wonders if it hasn’t been longer than that. Like any good relationship that has gone awry, cracks in the foundation could have formed long before September 13, 2019 when the Jets granted Byfuglien a leave of absence just as the team was coming together to open up camp for the 2019-20 season. There was his no-show of the end of season media availability in April. There were the multiple injuries and questions of just how they were handled through the season.

There may have been issues between the two sides beyond that. Nothing relationship shattering then of course, but who knows.

And that’s part of the problem from our perspective… None of us know exactly what happened and where exactly things have gone wrong, and how could we?

Dustin Byfuglien has always marched to the beat of his own drum and only opens himself up to those deemed worthy, but even those of us who have seen him as an active NHL’er for the last 14 seasons pretty much figured out that he’s a very unique individual. He’s equally parts fearsome for his physical play on the ice, and lovable for his celebrations and penalty box antics and occasional mugging for a camera pointed his way. Is Dustin angry? Is Dustin being goofy? Is Dustin being both at the same time? We never truly knew and that was part of his appeal. He is a larger than life personality in a league that is largely void of personality.

The Winnipeg Jets are a quiet organization. True North Sports and Entertainment, led by Mark Chipman acquired an NHL franchise and were permitted to move them to Winnipeg partly based on how quietly and effectively they operated. Unlike previous would-be NHL owners who made loud boastful claims of franchise relocation, TNSE moved mostly in silence which gained the respect of the NHL. It’s been the M.O. of the club ever since to have as few leaks about the team and how it operates as possible.

Neither side likes to make bold, brash statements ever and would just as much prefer to let actions do the talking and perhaps it’s better that way, but it also leaves the rest of us with nothing to do but speculate, make wild guesses and assign blame even without knowing the full story. Fans and media would probably do that anyway if either side was talking, it’s the nature of the beast.

Like any divorce, those caught in the middle want to lay blame and be angry with one side or another.

Dustin Byfuglien is the bad guy in this. He’s the one who has ruined this Winnipeg Jets season, holding them ‘hostage’ with a Salary Cap situation that has prevented the Jets from making any kind of move to improve their woeful defense. If he wanted to retire, he should have done it months earlier when the Jets could have maybe held on to Tyler Myers or even Jacob Trouba, not the day that camp opened.

The Jets are the bad guys in this. If Buff wanted to retire, they should have let him. They ignored his injuries dating back to last season and didn’t properly take care of him. Byfuglien wasn’t happy with how last season went and the team from Chipman on down to the captain @Blake Wheeler didn’t do enough to hear his concerns.

But if I’m being honest, a lot more blame from media and fans is being placed on Buff than it is the Jets and there are multiple reasons for that which dive into how human nature works, and our natural instinct to push away something we once loved lest it cause us any more pain. For some people, it’s far easier to just make Byfuglien the villain in this story than it is to accept the truth that this is a very complicated story where both sides are guilty of miscommunication and unreasonable tactics.

It only takes a couple of seconds and less thinking to say “Byfuglien doesn’t want to play for Winnipeg” and base jaded feelings off of that, than it does to say “Byfuglien wants to play for Winnipeg and has very admirably for the last seven seasons, but right now he’s unhappy with the team and given some of the circumstances he’s been put through, it’s hard to blame him.”

If Byfuglien truly wanted to “get paid” there were options he had going into camp where he could have had that happen. If Byfuglien wanted to be traded away from Winnipeg, he’s been around the league long enough to know that the best way to make that happen is to keep playing on the ice, not say anything and let his work on the ice sell other teams on him.

Also, if he truly wanted out of Winnipeg, he wouldn’t have been spotted in and around the city and area at random times during this entire season.

Once the rumored contract cancellation is done, Byfuglien will be free to do whatever he would like, though it probably won’t happen until summer if word of him not even skating yet is to be believed. It’s very unlikely we’ll see him at all this season.

Buff may sign with a new team in July, which of course would add fuel to the “he didn’t want to be here” narrative. Buff could finally announce his retirement proper, which would be proof to those who feel Kevin Cheveldayoff created this problem by not letting Buff do that the first time around.

At some point we may get details on what exactly happened here, but given how both sides are well known for keeping things quiet, that seems highly unlikely.

Crazy as it may seem, there is still a chance – although admittedly growing smaller by the day – that we see Byfuglien back in a Jets jersey. Maybe the relationship isn’t as broken as we all assume it is.

The end result of all of this is a very sad ending to what had been an extraordinary time spent as a Winnipeg Jet by Dustin Byfuglien. One that deserved a high amount of fanfare and love from a highly appreciative fanbase, but now fizzles out with hurt feelings and many questions left unanswered.