‘Everything that we’re going through is bringing us closer together’

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The pain was evident as Josh Morrissey limped into the Winnipeg Jets dressing room on Tuesday to clean out his locker and meet the media for one final time this year.

It wasn’t from the serious knee injury the team’s top defenceman suffered Saturday night in Dallas, which knocked him out of what would ultimately be a season-ending overtime loss to the Stars.

“No surgery. Kind of best-case,” Morrissey said. “But I would have probably been out for the rest of the playoffs.”

Nor was it from reflecting on how a concussion chased him from a thrilling, season-saving overtime victory against the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of their previous series. Or how illness kept him from suiting up for Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off final back in February — a game that would also end with an overtime triumph and a gold medal.

“You can feel sorry for yourself or (call it) unlucky or whatever you want, but it is what it is,” Morrissey said on missing out on so many pivotal moments.

No, the reason for his hurt had everything to do with his best friend, Mark Scheifele, and the series of events that transpired as the NHL’s No. 1 regular-season team saw its dream of a Stanley Cup come to a screeching, heartbreaking halt.

“Just a devastating day,” Morrissey said quietly.

Scheifele’s father, Brad, died early Saturday morning. Morrissey called him an “incredible man,” someone he’d spent plenty of time with over the years due to his closeness with the entire family. At hockey rinks, golf courses and dinner tables, among other places.

Although he’d been battling an illness and “we knew behind the scenes obviously a little bit of what was going on, nobody really saw that coming,” said Morrissey.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been through it with my dad (Tom, who died of cancer in 2021),” he said. “Just a flood of emotion. And what (Scheifele) was able to do mentally to play that game and play as well as he did, and obviously score that goal, it’s inspiring to me as his best friend.”

Scheifele gave the Jets a 1-0 lead against the Stars, setting the stage for a potential storybook finish. But not only did Dallas tie the game, Scheifele took a tripping penalty with 14 seconds left in the third period which led to the power-play winner in overtime.

Morrissey wasn’t able to rush to the penalty box to console Scheifele — the way that captain Adam Lowry did — since he was already out of the game with his own injury that occurred in the second period following an awkward collision with Stars forward Mikko Rantanen.

But he was there for him in the hallway as a devastated Scheifele made his way to the room inside a raucous American Airlines Center — the same way he had walked into the rink that afternoon by his teammate’s side.

“I knew the emotion that was going to flood out of Mark when he came off the ice and what he was probably holding back the entire day and game. All you can do is try and be there for your friend, like he was for me,” said Morrissey.

Prior to puck drop, his mother shared a message she had sent to Scheifele’s mother, Mary Lou, in which she mentioned how Tom Morrissey and Brad Scheifele, along with Kyle Connor’s late father, Joe, “would be up there having their drink of choice and watching the game.”

“This is a big family here. Everybody felt that loss,” Connor said Tuesday.

“Everybody is different with how they grieve and deal with that stuff. I just kind of let him be by himself a little bit throughout the game. I’m sure throughout the course of the summer, we will have those conversations. They come. I have had those with Josh.”

“This is a big family here. Everybody felt that loss.”–Kyle Connor

Scheifele’s grief was being shared throughout the Jets room by teammates old and new. Defenceman Luke Schenn jokingly called Brad Scheifele his “billet grandfather,” noting that he had spent several weeks living in Scheifele’s home after being acquired at the trade deadline from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“His dad was here and stayed at the house when we were together, and I got to know him and he’s just the most genuine, nicest guy you could ever meet,” said Schenn.

“Going into that game, the whole morning skate, there was tears because obviously people knew them. Tears for Scheif, silence, it was not your typical game day where you’re going into an elimination game where everyone’s pretty upbeat and great energy. It was kind of the opposite, which is expected when something like that happens to a teammate and family.”

Schenn described how Scheifele, an alternate captain with the club, was trying to rally the Jets during intermissions as he spoke with them in the dressing room.

“It was incredible the strength he showed and how much he cares about the guys in this room,” he said.

“We all wanted to do it so bad for him and his family and, unfortunately, it just didn’t work that way. But, incredible what he was able to play through and score that goal too, I mean, we all had just the biggest smiles on our faces on the bench. And you knew what was happening because, obviously, his dad was looking down on him.”

Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck spoke of the extra-long embrace he had with Scheifele on the ice following the game. The two men have a strong bond, including signing simultaneous seven-year contract extensions prior to the 2023-24 season.

“You know, we’re a family in here and you can really feel it in those moments,” he said. “Everything that we’re going through is bringing us closer together and this team couldn’t be any tighter. So that’s what I’ll say.”

Players were spending Tuesday and Wednesday having exit meetings with head coach Scott Arniel and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and would typically now be going their separate ways for the summer.

But there’s one last team event still on the schedule — Brad Scheifele’s funeral in Ontario, which they are all flying to on Thursday to be with Scheifele, who is already back home with his family.

“Being together as a team for this long, you can lean on your teammates and everybody in the room. That’s where you really dig in there,” said Connor.

Morrissey said he was heartened to see that people have donated more than $60,000 to the True North Youth Foundation in Brad Scheifele’s honour as a “$55 for 55” campaign took off on social media over the weekend with many Dallas fans chipping in.

“A very nice gesture,” he said.

“Sports brings so many people together. It’s unifying, and for it to happen like it did and for Mark to be able to go out there and play, it’s got to be inspiring for so many people. The internal strength that he had to be able to play that game is incredible. And the fact that people have been showing support regardless of who they cheer for, I think that’s what sport is all about.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg