Morrissey concentrates on getting faster, avoiding hits

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This article was published 06/07/2015 (3743 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For those who thought Josh Morrissey wasted a year in junior, that he was bored or uninterested, the now-20-year-old defenceman has a different opinion.

“I don’t agree,” Morrissey said today, having posted less-than-brilliant numbers in the WHL with Prince Albert, then Kelowna. “Junior is a great development scenario for players. For me to go back and play on two teams where I was given a lot of opportunity to play and improve and with great coaching staffs… you develop a lot as a player.”

Morrissey, the 2013 first-round draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets was a standout in the spring of 2014. After he finished his WHL season, he moved up to help the St. John’s IceCaps in a run to the Calder Cup final.

Back in the WHL in 2014-15, he had just 13 goals and 38 points, down from 28 goals and 73 points the year previous. Of course, it would be unwise to ignore his World Junior gold medal and his WHL title from the year just completed.

“(Junior was) great because it gives you a little more time out there sometimes to work on things, work on your defensive play and in my case some D-zone things, closing gaps,” Morrissey said. “And also work on experimenting with different nutrition things, stuff like that, seeing what works better with my body and what I feel better with or don’t feel as good with.

“That was a big part (of my year), working with Craig (Dr. Craig Slaunwhite, the Jets strength and conditioning guru) here and throughout the season. I guess for anyone who says you can’t get any better, that definitely wasn’t the mentality I had and I was pretty happy with the way I was able to improve over the year.”

After the fourth day of the five-day Jets development camp at the MTS Iceplex, Morrissey said he dropped about 12 pounds during the season and aims to keep that weight off because it made him feel sluggish last fall at Jets camp.

“I’ve kind of changed the way I’m training,” he said. “Last summer it was all about gaining weight and I came into camp and felt slow. I felt heavy. My body fat wasn’t in the right spot.

“I think for anyone who’s seen me play, the biggest thing for me is to be quick and fast and the faster I can get to pucks and avoid hits is probably better than taking them and being a little slower.

“So I’ve changed the way I’ve been training. I just feel a lot better and a lot better on the ice.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca