A 3-0 start has the hockey world talking about the Jets and that’s a good thing especially with the 4 Nations Face-Off around the corner. Morrissey’s name is front and centre on many roster predictions for Canada and it should be, the Calgary native has 145 points (26 G, 119 A) over his last two seasons.
Morrissey has been quarterbacking the Jets top power play unit for a while and now is back on the penalty kill, something he did a lot of when he first came to the NHL. The Jets had Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, Toby Enstrom and Jacob Trouba sitting in front of Morrissey on the depth chart.
“If I wanted to play I kind of had to learn the PK and that side of the game. Did that for a number of years and I enjoyed it, I thought I did well. I thought it added a lot to my game when growing up that wasn’t a huge part of my game, the offensive side was,” said Morrissey.
“Now to be back on the PK is exciting. Something that Arnie (Scott Arniel) talked about when he got the head coaching job, something that I wanted to do or be a part of. Certainly, I think any player wants to be out there more, more situations, more minutes. For me I want to be the best all-around player I can be. So, if they feel that’s something I can help the team on the PK, I’ll do whatever’s asked of me.”
One of Arniel’s hires this offseason was assistant coach Dean Chynoweth, who comes from a hockey a huge hockey family in western Canada. His father, Ed, was the president of the Western Hockey League for over two decades. Chynoweth is in charge of the defence and the penalty kill and while the two didn’t know each other personally before Dean joined the Jets, there was a connection.
“Dean’s niece is actually my brother’s fiancé. I know their whole family well, I played with Dean’s brother, Jeff’s son Ryan growing up. They are a big hockey family with a ton of history in western Canada and the NHL and the WHL and everything else,” said Morrissey.
“It was funny when Arnie called me and said ‘Hey, we hired Dean Chynoweth.’ He had no idea that I actually had never met Dean or talked to him but all the inner connections, it’s been really fun working with him. He’s got a ton of experience as a player. As a coach, he’s worked with a lot of great defencemen.”
Morrissey’s brother Jake, also played in the Western Hockey League for Kelowna, Saskatoon, Vancouver and Medicine Hat. But once his major junior career ended, Jake chose to take a different path than his older brother and is currently in med school.
“Decided to go take advantage of the scholarship program and do his under grad in Calgary and then his masters. So, I think his goal has always been to go to med school and be a doctor. He’s worked really hard, and I can say now that he matches brains with work ethic. (The) whole family and I are unbelievably proud of him,” said Morrissey.
“As a younger brother, there were probably elements of him being under my shadow at times with my career and everyone talking about me. So, for him to have his thing and for it to be pretty amazing is wicked. Really pumped to see him kind of forge his path here and doing his thing.”
Being from Calgary, Morrissey grew up close to the Rocky Mountains and still has a love of skiing.
“Definitely something I would love to do after my career. Of course, with the liability of it now, it’s just not possible. But it was something that I enjoyed. We were a hockey family so Saturday, Sunday it was my game, practice. My brother both days,” said Morrissey.
“So, we grew up skiing and then it became less and less frequent as we were teenagers but certainly, something I would love to get back into. Hopefully, many years down the line.”
Watch the rest of the interview below:
