Morrissey excited to get going

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This article was published 08/09/2023 (759 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Whether it’s on the ice, in the dressing room or in the community, there’s no question Josh Morrissey carries himself like a leader.

Which begs the natural question: Is he about to be named the new captain of the Winnipeg Jets? Morrissey, 28, admitted to the Free Press on Friday the thought has crossed his mind.

“Certainly that’s something I wouldn’t take lightly and would be honoured to receive,” the Calgary product said in a wide-ranging chat at Pine Ridge Golf Club, where he was hosting his annual charity tournament in support of The Dream Factory.

The Jets went without a “C” last year after veteran Blake Wheeler had the duties removed by new coach Rick Bowness, who wanted to open things up for new voices to emerge. Morrissey sure found his. He set new career highs in goals (16), assists (60) and points (76), was named an All-Star for the first time and finished fifth in Norris Trophy voting.

Unfortunately, his season came to a painful end when he suffered a serious knee injury early in Game 3 of the first-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights. The best-of-seven was tied 1-1 coming back to Winnipeg, but the Jets wouldn’t win again without Morrissey’s services.

“Obviously it was heartbreaking timing for me,” he said. “I felt I wanted to be a difference-maker in that series. I felt I was ready to be a difference maker in that series. To be taken out of it is tough.”

Morrissey said it was a four-to-six week recovery window, which means he was able to have a normal summer of training and is now 100 per cent healthy. Memo to the NHL: He’s not planning to rest on his past accomplishments.

“I feel fantastic on the ice right now,” he said. “I want to personally build off my individual year last year and even improve on that. Very motivated and excited to get going.”

When training camp began a year ago, Bowness raised some eyebrows when he declared Morrissey had the tools to be a Top 10 defenceman in the NHL. That was music to the ears of the team’s top blue-liner, who went out and proved his coach right. And then some.

“I think I’ve always been a player, and I think most guys would fall into a similar category, where you might feel you have more to offer or give or more levels to your game,” said Morrissey, who was drafted 13th-overall in 2013.

“But until you actually do it, it’s just sort of a feeling you have. You don’t know for sure. That was a huge year for me, a huge step forward.”

Now, the key is to make it the new normal, rather than the exception.

“There’s a bunch of stuff I’ve been working on this summer to try to improve my game,” he said.

“That’s always what’s motivated me, to try to get better and try to work on various elements of my game. Offensively, defensively, all over the ice. That’s the fun part. I want to build off the success I had last year and be better for my team and try to win more hockey games.”

More than a dozen Jets players are already in town and have been holding informal skates at the hockey for all centre for the past week. There are a handful of new faces including Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari who all came over from Los Angeles in the blockbuster trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois.

In addition to Dubois, Wheeler is now gone from the group, having had the final year of his contract bought out and later signing a one-year deal with the New York Rangers.

“It’s a good time of year to skate, train, maybe play some golf and watch some football, stuff like that. Get to know some of the different guys,” said Morrissey.

“Personally, I think I’m really excited about our group. I think we made some nice additions. I think our depth this year is going to be a real strength of our team. For some of the young guys that took steps forward last year, I think they’re ready to do more and take on more. Overall I’m excited to get going.”

Morrissey, who is signed for five more years at US$6.25 million, has served as an alternate captain with the team since 2019. Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele are the others. Bowness is expected to name a captain either before or during training camp, which officially begins Sept. 20.

The Consensus is Morrissey is the front-runner, with Lowry a close second.

“That’s a decision for the organization to make and the powers that be,” Morrissey said. “There’s lots of great leaders on our team. For me, personally, whether I was named the captain or not, whether our team names a captain or not, that doesn’t change the way I act day to day or conduct myself.”

Which, for Morrissey, is with grace and class, which was all on display Friday as the local ambassador for The Dream Factory was the star. Now in its sixth year, more than $650,000 has been raised to help children fighting life-threatening disease and illness experience memorable events.

“You hear some of the stories and what they go through. It’s pretty unfathomable, really. Especially seeing how young and small some of these kids are,” said Morrissey.

“I was blessed to have a healthy childhood. I couldn’t even imagine that.”

Morrissey, who experienced a huge personal loss in August 2021 when his father, Tom, died of brain cancer, regularly keeps in touch with several of the kids and families he’s met, including hosting them at various Jets games throughout the season.

“We’re the happy side for these kids. Creating dreams and making their dreams come true,” he said.

“I really feel like that’s been the most amazing part. It puts life into perspective, it puts winning and losing into perspective. So I think that’s been something that I’ve learned and taken through this process. And the resiliency these kids have, along with their families, is something everyone can admire.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg