BLOG: Morrissey "honoured" to be an Olympian

Just over 24 hours after being named to Canada’s men’s Olympic hockey team, Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey was still smiling at the thought at representing his country in Italy next month.

“It’s pretty incredible for sure. I remember ‘02, obviously ’06, '10, '14, specifically '10, the golden goal. But it was kind of that age where, just in high school and watching every moment. So, yeah, I mean, it's just beyond the hockey as well,” said Morrissey from the Jets hotel in Toronto.

“I mean, to be part of the Olympic Games with all the athletes and be a part of Team Canada as a whole. It's special.”

Of course, the golden goal was scored by Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby in overtime against the United States in the gold medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Morrissey finally got to play with Crosby at 4 Nations Faceoff last February, an experience he will never forget.

“He’s so calm. Obviously, he's been in every situation multiple times, Olympics and Stanley Cups. So, just the calm element that he brought, no situation seemed to rattle him whatsoever. And I think that really radiated through the group,” said Morrissey.

“And I think he just did a great job of kind of encouraging guys to play their game. You're there for a reason. And yeah, it was, it's pretty special. So, I'm excited to play with him again.”

There is behind the scenes footage of Canadian forward Brad Marchand introducing the starting line before Canada’s first game against the Americans in Montreal last year at 4 Nations. Before Marchand announced Morrissey he started with ‘he has the best hair in the league’. The 30-year-old appreciated how great of a job Marchand did keeping things light ahead of pressure packed games.

“It's not a surprise why he's been such a great player for a long time and been, like I said, captain and leader on every team he's been on, internationally and in the NHL, so definitely just a great teammate,” said Morrissey.

“And he brings an element that I think, makes you feel as though we have an edge with Marshy there for sure.”

There are a lot of familiar faces on this Canadian roster from the one that won the 4 Nations in Boston. All eight defencemen including Morrissey will be returning, Drew Doughty, Thomas Harley, Cale Makar, Colton Parayko, Travis Sanheim, Shea Theodore and Devon Toews.

“Yeah, I think, obviously, there's so many great players, Canadian players, in the league, but I think specifically the eight guys. I thought we had really chemistry, that there's a good mix of, obviously, puck movement, skill, everybody can defend,” said Morrissey.

“And I think just a lot of the pairs kind of seem to work out pretty well. So, I'm excited to run it back with those guys. And like I said, they're great group of guys and great players.”

It is the Olympic Games after all and there will be many other great athletes representing Canada in their respective sports. Morrissey said he hasn’t had time to think about what other events he will take in should he have the time to do so.

“It's quite a bit spread out from what I remember (from orientation camp) in the summer. So, I think in Milan there'll be, I think it's speed skating, figure skating, and then obviously men's and women's hockey, and then I think maybe curling as well,” said Morrissey.

“So obviously, whichever sports are in Milan, and they were able to go to it'd be fun to check out some other sports when we have the time, but I think we'll learn a lot more about all that in the coming weeks.”