Josh Morrissey’s stellar season wasn’t enough to earn him consideration for some hockey hardware.

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman is not a finalist for the Norris Trophy, which is awarded annually to the league’s best player at that position.

Erik Karlsson of the San Jose Sharks, Adam Fox of the New York Rangers and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche have the honours, the league announced Thursday evening. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Nashville on June 26.

Morrissey, 28, had a career high 76 points (16 goals and 60 assists) in 78 regular-season games. That more than doubled his previous best of 37 points and established a new franchise-best for the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers organization.

He finished tied for second in points among NHL blue-liners.

Karlsson led the way, becoming just the fifth defenceman in league history to have more than 100 (he finished with 25 goals and 76 assists).

Morrissey’s memorable campaign ended in disappointment, as he suffered a suspected knee injury in the opening minutes of Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights. He was ruled out for the rest of the series, which the Jets lost in five games.

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Play will continue for another Winnipeg defenceman.

Dylan Samberg has been named to Team USA for the upcoming IIHF World Championship being held in Finland and Latvia between May 12-28.

The 24-year-old Minnesota product has previously worn the red, white and blue on an international stage in two appearances at the World Juniors (2018 and 2019).

Samberg just completed his rookie season with the Jets, scoring two goals and adding six assists in 63 games. He also went plus-10 and had 25 penalty minutes.

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A tip of the helmet to Manitoba Moose captain Jimmy Oligny, who has been selected as the winner of the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award for 2022-23.

The annual honour is given to AHL player for his “outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations.”

Oligny, 30, is an undrafted defenceman from Quebec who has payed all nine of his pro seasons in the minors, including the past five in Winnipeg on an AHL-deal. He was limited to just 17 games this year due to injury, recording three assists with 30 penalty minutes.

He’s been Manitoba’s nominee as the AHL “Man of the Year” three times.

“Oligny increased his involvement with the Winnipeg community this season by creating a unique program in conjunction with the Kinship and Foster Family Network of Manitoba, a non-profit organization that provides kinship, adoptive and foster parents with training, guidance and assistance to enhance the quality of life for children in their care,” says an AHL news release.

“As part of the program, Oligny hosts a foster family at Moose home games, providing them with tickets meeting with them after the game.”

Oligny also did volunteer work with St. Amant and Siloam Mission and was involved in numerous team and community initiatives.

The league award is named after the late Yanick Dupré, who passed away in 1997 at the age of 24 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. A second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1991, Dupré played four seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears and was an AHL All-Star in 1995.

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They don’t yet have an opponent. But the Winnipeg Ice now have some dates for the upcoming Western Hockey League championship series.

The Ice, who have gone 12-2 through the first three rounds of the playoffs, will host Game 1 of the best-of-seven series on Friday May 12 at Wayne Fleming Arena. Puck drop is 7 p.m. Game 2 goes Saturday May 13 at 6 p.m.

The remainder of the schedule will be announced at a later date.

Winnipeg will play the winner of the ongoing Seattle Thunderbirds vs. Kamloops Blazers series, with a trip to the Memorial Cup on the line. (Seattle led the best-of-seven series 2-1 heading into action on Thursday night).

Since Kamloops is hosting and gets an automatic berth (along with the WHL, OHL and QMJHL champion), a Blazers win over the Thunderbirds would automatically get the Ice into the prestigious final four.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg