Morrissey grateful for his time on Olympic squad

Josh Morrissey has done a good job of resisting to get bogged down by the temptation to ask ‘why me?’

The Winnipeg Jets star defenceman concedes that the thought has crossed his mind on several occasions throughout the past 13 months as his bad luck seemed to spiral out of control.

During that span, Morrissey had a nasty flu virus knock him out of the gold medal game of the 4 Nations Face-Off, where Canada outlasted the United States.

He suffered an upper-body injury that knocked him out of Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues after being on the receiving end of a hard check during last year’s playoff run.

After making his way back for the second-round series against the Dallas Stars, he got tangled up with Mikko Rantanen and suffered a knee injury.

Just when you thought he might have left those injury woes in the rearview mirror, Morrissey was knocked out of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics after suffering an upper-body injury early in the second period of the opening game against Czechia.

“It’s tough. I think there are times when you are definitely asking that question,” said Morrissey, who spoke to reporters for the first time since the Olympics on Friday afternoon. “It kind of feels like, ‘Man, I just can’t catch a break.’ At the same time, a mentor of mine just leaves me with the word to focus on — ‘gratitude’ — in that situation. As much as it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and I work very hard to get into those situations and have the opportunity of my life and I’ve been blessed to have those opportunities.

“Whenever my mind has gone to that thought, I think about that word ‘gratitude’ and how much I have in me left and how blessed I’ve been and that’s kind of helped in those moments when it’s been harder.”

Morrissey did everything in his power to get back for both the semifinal and the final, but he was sidelined for the gut-wrenching 2-1 overtime loss to the U.S. and came home with a silver medal.

Asked if he could shed any light on how close he came to getting back into the lineup, Morrissey deflected the question, pointing to the fact there are still 21 games left in the regular season — essentially making it clear that he doesn’t want to be targeted by opponents.

“We’re still in the middle of the year, so I can’t really tell you much,” said Morrissey, who has 10 goals and 42 points in 56 games with the Jets this season. “It’s disappointing, obviously. I worked really hard to get that opportunity and I wanted to be out there helping the guys and representing your country.

“We tried to do whatever we could to try to play throughout the tournament and later on in the tournament and I just wasn’t able to do it. But it was still a great experience and it was something that I take a tremendous honour and pride in and just so proud of the guys for the effort they put in for the entire tournament and representing our country incredibly well. Like all Canadians, it was tough with the final result as well.”

Like all of the players on Team Canada, the loss hit Morrissey extremely hard, even though he wasn’t in uniform.

“In some ways, it hurts just as much knowing you weren’t out there to help the guys and maybe you could have done something to help and find a way to win,” said Morrissey.

“So yeah, it was disappointing. I think for all of us, just thinking about how much it means to everyone back home and to us and to our families and friends and all of the people that helped you get there… Just in those moments, that’s what I was thinking about — the people that have supported me my entire life and career, and the fans, and all Canadians, so it was tough. It was a tough moment for sure.”

Complicating those emotions was the fact two of his Jets’ teammates — goalie Connor Hellebuyck and forward Kyle Connor — were on the other side of the handshake line, celebrating a gold medal victory.

“I think it’s two separate things,” said Morrissey. “You want the best for your friends and your teammates. Obviously, I’m happy for those guys. I think that’s sportsmanship. That’s friendship.

“That’s part of sport: someone wins, someone loses. Especially when it’s your friends and teammates, you can be happy for them and still be disappointed on your side of the coin. That’s how I look at it.”

Hellebuyck had checked in on Morrissey during the Olympics to see how he was holding up.

“Oh definitely. I reached out to him to make sure he was okay,” said Hellebuyck. “In a tournament like that, you can’t give too much information. He’s such a big part of that team, too, it changes the dynamic of it. I would have really liked to see him at his full potential there. It’s just unfortunate.”

Morrissey was activated off injured reserve on Friday afternoon and is tracking to return to the Jets lineup on Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks.

Seeing the Jets collect at least a point in five consecutive games, Morrissey is excited to try and keep hope alive with his teammates.

“Coming out of the Olympics, that’s kind of been the focus for me, turning that page to looking forward to coming back and trying to contribute,” said Morrissey. “To help us continue to push to get into the playoffs. Guys have been playing amazing, scratching and clawing and finding ways to get points and big wins and comebacks. I just want to be able to come back here and help the guys continue to do that.

“I’m really excited to get back and help what they’ve been doing. It’s been fun to watch.”

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