Josh Morrissey wearing an A

A few weeks after Josh Morrissey signed his eight-year contract extension with the Jets in September of 2019 the team designated the affable and well-spoken Alberta product as one of their alternate captains. Photo Credit: Colby Spence With the 2019 - 2020 NHL season on pause Morrissey took part in a conference call this morning and he was asked about being selected to wear a letter for the Jets. While it was clearly an honour it sounds like there was quite a bit of pressure on the top-pairing D-man when you factor in his new contract and all the departures on the Winnipeg blueline which added more responsibility on his shoulders. "First of all it was a huge honour when I was told. I think at the start of the year, I've talked about it a lot throughout the season, I think there was a lot of new positions for me. Obviously signing a long-term deal, being an assistant captain and being in a different position with a new defence partner and all those kind of things. I don't think any one thing particularly was a big change for me on a daily level but I think just sort of the sum of everything kinda coming at once. As soon as I realized 'Your just playing hockey again'. You know what makes you good as a player. You were given the letter for a reason. I just realized be me, be myself, play my game, play the game that's gotten me to this point in my life and my career. I started to just settle in and I felt from then on an improvement in my game." Photo Credit: Colby Spence The fifth year pro has learned quite a bit from the current crop of Jets leaders (Wheeler, Scheifele, Little) as well as from those who have worn a letter in the past. "As far as being part of the leadership group, you know the guys Blake and Mark and I think of guys like Bryan Little and some of the other veteran guys that have been around I've learned a lot from and it's fun to have that responsibility and I take a lot of pride in it." When the Jets took to the ice in New York City to take on the Rangers to kick off the 2019 - 2020 regular season it was a clearly a memorable moment for Morrissey. "For me it was cool, first game of the season having the 'A' on the jersey, that was something I will never forget. It's such a huge honour and something I really feel comes with a lot of responsibility." On his interactions with the on-ice officials this season. "I thought I was starting to get a little more respect from the refs and linesman. All of a sudden a few guys I maybe hadn't talked to before knew me by my first name. I try to take the nice guy role. Mark (Scheifele) does the bad cop, I do the good cop and Blake (Wheeler) handles everything else." You can hear these comments and more from the nearly 30 minute conference call here.

Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey reflects on first season wearing an ‘A’

Winnipeg Jets designate Josh Morrissey as one of their alternate captains