Player Discussion: Morrissey's quiet redemption

[Jetabre]

This guy's highest point total for a season before this season was 37 points in 79 games (Best pace was 31 pts in 59 games)....

Now he's got 33 pts in 29 games this season so far. Literally could not score for the rest of the season and call it an average season for his past self's scoring.

Talk about an absolute flip of the switch.

 

[WolfHouse]

This guy's highest point total for a season before this season was 37 points in 79 games (Best pace was 31 pts in 59 games)....

Now he's got 33 pts in 29 games this season so far. Literally could not score for the rest of the season and call it an average season for his past self's scoring.

Talk about an absolute flip of the switch.

If only we could pinpoint one significant change they enabled this breakout... hmm guess we will never mo... I mean know

 

[Jet]

If only we could pinpoint one significant change they enabled this breakout... hmm guess we will never mo... I mean know

I don't think it's that simple, though.

Morrissey went through a lot of psychological things, from suddenly being the man on D after the entire rest of the core left, to his dad passing.

I remember hearing him talk about how the pandemic affected him a well.

Bowness does deserve a lot of credit for getting Morrissey on track, but the player also has to be ready for it.

 

[WolfHouse]

I don't think it's that simple, though.

Morrissey went through a lot of psychological things, from suddenly being the man on D after the entire rest of the core left, to his dad passing.

I remember hearing him talk about how the pandemic affected him a well.

Bowness does deserve a lot of credit for getting Morrissey on track, but the player also has to be ready for it.

Agreed. But look at our entire D... suddenly Dillon isn't a bust etc... only one that hasn't changed is Stan

 

[Jet]

Agreed. But look at our entire D... suddenly Dillon isn't a bust etc... only one that hasn't changed is Stan

No argument there

 

[surixon]

I don't think it's that simple, though.

Morrissey went through a lot of psychological things, from suddenly being the man on D after the entire rest of the core left, to his dad passing.

I remember hearing him talk about how the pandemic affected him a well.

Bowness does deserve a lot of credit for getting Morrissey on track, but the player also has to be ready for it.

Yup, he wasn't ready for the number 1 spot and to be fair he wasn't expected to get it when he did as Buff was still expected to be on the team.

Then our coach put in a more restrictive d scheme which didn't align with his offensive strengths. I also think he was hurt his first year as the number 1 as well because his physical game was non existent thay year and he missed time at random points in the year.

He started getting this caliber of play going halfway through last year and Dave Lowry is a big reason for it. Dave remembered him from junior and gave him the freedom to play that game. (About the only good thing Dave did apart from playing Cole in the top 6). He's just built onto that foundation he started laying last year.

Now he looks like a superstar dmen. I think Moe got it pretty wrong with Josh. I think he fell in love with the d first dmen he was and didn't do enough to nurture his offensive skills while he was our coach. Josh flashed these types of skills at times under him (namely when training in the third period). Had he done so we may have had this version of him much sooner as Maurice very rarely took the shackles off him offensively.

 

[jetsfan91]

I can’t get over how good Morrisey looks out there. Looks like a super star. You can see he’s totally confident in his game, there was flashes of what he could offer offensively, but this year it’s been taken to the next level. Night in and night out he’s been amazing I really credit Bones because he said in training camp he wanted his D more involved in the offensive zone you could tell in the past Morrisey was asked to just be that shut down defender. I’m glad he’s thriving and having a career year, he deserves it!

 

[BoneDocUK]

I can’t get over how good Morrisey looks out there. Looks like a super star. You can see he’s totally confident in his game, there was flashes of what he could offer offensively, but this year it’s been taken to the next level. Night in and night out he’s been amazing I really credit Bones because he said in training camp he wanted his D more involved in the offensive zone you could tell in the past Morrisey was asked to just be that shut down defender. I’m glad he’s thriving and having a career year, he deserves it!

Agree.

He's also giving a masterclass in D mobility and play selection night in and night out. One of the handful of players in the league that I would watch skate round the ice doing nothing in particular just to marvel at his mechanics and edgework.

The elite IQ, passing and improved shot are merely the icing on the cake.

I note that in the recent Athletic playing cards his value has skyrocketed. Finally.

 

[WolfgangPuck]

I think Bones has given the green light to the D to create offensive and take more chances. Look at DeMelo last night doing that too. Josh had flourished the most in this new system
This takes commitment from the forwards to be more responsible defensively. I thought 55 might not adjust and look bad this season but seems like all the forwards have bought in

 

[Adam da bomb]

Agreed. But look at our entire D... suddenly Dillon isn't a bust etc... only one that hasn't changed is Stan

Haha. Stan looked good out there the last game big physical and played a simple game. We need more physicality out of berg.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Yup, he wasn't ready for the number 1 spot and to be fair he wasn't expected to get it when he did as Buff was still expected to be on the team.

Then our coach put in a more restrictive d scheme which didn't align with his offensive strengths. I also think he was hurt his first year as the number 1 as well because his physical game was non existent thay year and he missed time at random points in the year.

He started getting this caliber of play going halfway through last year and Dave Lowry is a big reason for it. Dave remembered him from junior and gave him the freedom to play that game. (About the only good thing Dave did apart from playing Cole in the top 6). He's just built onto that foundation he started laying last year.

Now he looks like a superstar dmen. I think Moe got it pretty wrong with Josh. I think he fell in love with the d first dmen he was and didn't do enough to nurture his offensive skills while he was our coach. Josh flashed these types of skills at times under him (namely when training in the third period). Had he done so we may have had this version of him much sooner as Maurice very rarely took the shackles off him offensively.

I don't think any of the other offensive Dmen who are getting all of the ettention are as good defensively as Josh is. Correct me if I am wrong. I don't watch them that much. But what we are getting from Josh this year is one of the best defensive Dmen in the league + one of the best offensive Dmen in the league.

Unless he ends up actually outscoring Karlsson/Makar/Fox he probably won't get the consideration he deserves at awards time but I think we can stop saying that we don't have a 'true #1 Dman'.

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

I can’t get over how good Morrisey looks out there. Looks like a super star. You can see he’s totally confident in his game, there was flashes of what he could offer offensively, but this year it’s been taken to the next level. Night in and night out he’s been amazing I really credit Bones because he said in training camp he wanted his D more involved in the offensive zone you could tell in the past Morrisey was asked to just be that shut down defender. I’m glad he’s thriving and having a career year, he deserves it!

I think positionless hockey (aside from goalie) could be coming down the pipeline in the next two decades, and a player like Morrissey shows why it's a possibility. If every D-Man was like him, I'd bet the transition would have already been made.

Look at the developments in Basketball and Soccer - especially in soccer with fullbacks. You're going to see dominant teams use D-Men like the best soccer teams use their fullbacks.

 

[Jets 31]

Bowness told Morrissey that as a opposing coach they used to game plan specifically against him. Bowness has given the defensemen full rein to jump up on the play and Morrissey is just getting a chance to actually use all of his talent now. A reason why i think Heinola could actually shine eventually under Bowness.

 

[surixon]

I think positionless hockey (aside from goalie) could be coming down the pipeline in the next two decades, and a player like Morrissey shows why it's a possibility. If every D-Man was like him, I'd bet the transition would have already been made.

Look at the developments in Basketball and Soccer - especially in soccer with fullbacks. You're going to see dominant teams use D-Men like the best soccer teams use their fullbacks.

Started seeing that already with Colorado last year with Makar and Byram.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

He's really been playing like a leader.

But I question if he'd take it for granted like Wheeler did.

 

[Adam da bomb]

Started seeing that already with Colorado last year with Makar and Byram.

People keep talking about this “new hockey” positionless hockey moving away from big physical hockey, yet look how the Jets are getting pushed around out there and other teams are taking liberties with our players.

 

[LowLefty]

Agreed. But look at our entire D... suddenly Dillon isn't a bust etc... only one that hasn't changed is Stan

Smitty looks better, Pionk looks worse (cheating a bit too much), and Stan looked good before going down.
The changes have impacted a few of the guys - but JoMo is the only reason we are talking about it.

 

[FlamesThrashersJets]

 

[AlaskaJet]

People keep talking about this “new hockey” positionless hockey moving away from big physical hockey, yet look how the Jets are getting pushed around out there and other teams are taking liberties with our players.

True that, but mostly just the smaller D guys like Ville. Maybe there’s an antidote..pairing a bigger guy with him..
Perhaps Tree might evolve into that guy.

 

[Jet]

People keep talking about this “new hockey” positionless hockey moving away from big physical hockey, yet look how the Jets are getting pushed around out there and other teams are taking liberties with our players.

I think that's a team thing, though. It's nice to have a nuclear option, but finding guys who are that player but don't take a ton of dumb penalties , don't take themselves out of the play, and can actually play are so rare.

That's what made Buff so frigging special.

We have a lot of meat on this team, Lowry, Dillon, Dubois, Maenalanen, Stanley, and a bunch of players who aren't physical by nature but can withstand physicality through size like Schiefele and Barron.

I'd like to see these players be a bit more forceful in their games, which I think can improve our team toughness.

 

[DRW204]

 

[BoneDocUK]

Thanks for this -- I'm hitting a paywall from the UK but would to be interested to hear more about the "unique ways" JNo is dominating offensively from anyone who's had a chance to read the piece.

 

[BoneDocUK]

I think that's a team thing, though. It's nice to have a nuclear option, but finding guys who are that player but don't take a ton of dumb penalties , don't take themselves out of the play, and can actually play are so rare.

That's what made Buff so frigging special.

We have a lot of meat on this team, Lowry, Dillon, Dubois, Maenalanen, Stanley, and a bunch of players who aren't physical by nature but can withstand physicality through size like Schiefele and Barron.

I'd like to see these players be a bit more forceful in their games, which I think can improve our team toughness.

This seems like an important insight. Watching PLD bulldoze his way through a team is pretty spectacular, but watching him hold up a puck against strong pressure for long enough to make a deft pass, draw a penalty or pull defenders out of position is maybe just as critical.

He's doing through strength and patience what Ehlers and KFC can do with speed, what JMo can do with brains and sheer mobility and what Perfetti, Wheeler (and maybe Heinola) can do with vision and deceptive puck movement.

 

[Adam da bomb]

This seems like an important insight. Watching PLD bulldoze his way through a team is pretty spectacular, but watching him hold up a puck against strong pressure for long enough to make a deft pass, draw a penalty or pull defenders out of position is maybe just as critical.

He's doing through strength and patience what Ehlers and KFC can do with speed, what JMo can do with brains and sheer mobility and what Perfetti, Wheeler (and maybe Heinola) can do with vision and deceptive puck movement.

Wheeler and Heinola in their current forms are not like the others.

 

[gojetsgo]