{"id":823429,"date":"2026-07-24T16:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/823429\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T16:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:38:16","slug":"how-morrisseys-prairie-roots-made-winnipeg-easy-to-commit-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/823429\/","title":{"rendered":"How Morrissey\u2019s prairie roots made Winnipeg easy to commit to"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Winnipeg Jets<\/a> didn\u2019t have the season they dreamed of in 2025-26, but the team knows it can rely on a veteran presence from Josh Morrissey on the blueline, with the 2013 pick signed through the 2027-28 season as part of an eight-year, $50 million deal signed in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On a recent episode of FlamesNation\u2019s FN Barn Burner<\/a>, Morrissey explained why he made such a long-term commitment to the city and how growing up in Calgary influences his love for hockey in Canada\u2019s flatlands.<\/p>\n

Ryan Pinder: Winnipeg is a market that we hear a lot about being not sexy, which is fair. I mean, there are places like Miami, Los Angeles, New York, but there seems to be this stigma about it. You\u2019re a Western Canadian; you went there. What did you know about Winnipeg before you got there, and what do you know now that you know made you commit to a maximum-term deal to stay there? Like, you must really enjoy it because it\u2019s a place you\u2019ve spent a lot of time.<\/p>\n

Josh Morrissey: For me, as you mentioned, being a Western Canadian guy, playing a lot of junior hockey in Saskatchewan. I have roots in Alberta and Saskatchewan, so that\u2019s just what I\u2019m used to in a lot of ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Getting drafted to Winnipeg really wasn\u2019t much of a change. I\u2019d say now, looking back at my time there, just people are great, the fans are so passionate. I\u2019ve made many friends outside of the game in Winnipeg, and just enjoyed being a part of the kind of the fabric of the community. I think it\u2019s cool to be part of a place where you know a win or a loss can really affect the city\u2019s mood the next day. Obviously, you hope that it\u2019s more wins than losses, but you know it really does matter to people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was what I experienced growing up here in Calgary as a Flames<\/a> fan. It\u2019s cool when you know the whole city comes together in the playoffs, and you know it just means more and so much to everybody, and I think that\u2019s special.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never really known anything else since I\u2019ve always played my hockey in Western Canada, and the biggest thing, though, really was just having a chance to play, be a part of a good team, have a chance to win, and have a chance to, you know, go after my career and develop my career. I guess I have that opportunity in front of me, and that opportunity was always given to me there, which I\u2019m extremely grateful for. I think we\u2019ve had very good teams through the years and have had chances to win. So that\u2019s all I can really ask for.<\/p>\n

\"winnipeg-jets\"<\/p>\n

Winnipeg JetsTeam Cap Summary<\/p>\n

\"PuckPedia\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cap Summary<\/p>\n

Projected Cap Hit<\/p>\n

$98,468,332<\/p>\n

$86,066,666<\/p>\n

Projected Cap Space<\/p>\n

$5,531,668<\/p>\n

$27,433,334<\/p>\n

Current Cap Space<\/p>\n

$5,531,668<\/p>\n

$27,433,334<\/p>\n

View cap summary for:Calgary Flames<\/p>\n

You can catch Pinder\u2019s full interview with Morrissey here\u2026<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Winnipeg Jets didn\u2019t have the season they dreamed of in 2025-26, but the team knows it can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-823429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}