Winnipeg Jets’ Josh Morrissey named to Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey roster; Scheifele snubbed

One Winnipeg Jets player will represent Canada at the Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina, but another will not be making the trip.

Defenceman Josh Morrissey was announced by Hockey Canada as one the 25 NHL players going to the Olympics, more than a month ahead of the team’s first game on Feb. 12 against Czechia.

Morrissey joins, on the blue line, Cale Makar (Colorado), Drew Doughty (Los Angeles), Thomas Harley (Dallas), Colton Parayko (St. Louis), Travis Sanheim (Philadelphia), Shea Theodore (Vegas) and Devon Toews (Colorado).

Left out of the lineup and having to watch from home is Jets centre Mark Scheifele.

Scheifele is the fourth highest scoring Canadian in the NHL this year, tied with Brad Marchand, who will be playing February hockey in Italy.

With 45 points, Scheifele leads the way among Canadian players not going to the Olympics, according to Sportsnet.

Winnipeggers CityNews spoke to said they were disappointed that the local star was not going to be part of the Olympic team.

“He should have been on the team, and I think most Jets fans would agree with me,” said James Torrence, a Jets fan. “He would have been a great addition to the team. It’s very disappointing for him and I’m sure jets fans too.”

“I felt really bad for Mark because he puts his heart and soul into the game and I really like his attitude towards the game so on and so forth,” said another Jets fan Ralph Schnell.

Other like Ron Mauthe, though, say the decision to leave Scheifele wasn’t a surprise.

“I think the reasons he wasn’t picked is because he’s known as not being a team player he’s more for himself than a team player,” said Mauthe.

Macklin Celebrini, 19, who sits third in league scoring behind superstar countrymen Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, is one of six additions to the group that won the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament last February.

Joining the San Jose Sharks centre as newcomers up front are Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens, Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders and Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals.

Canada, which plays its first game at the Olympics on Feb. 12 against Czechia, is keeping its 4 Nations defence corps intact, but is switching out two of the three goaltenders, with Washington’s Logan Thompson and Darcy Kuemper of the Los Angeles Kings joining Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues. They replace Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights and Montreal’s Sam Montembeault.

The 4 Nations forwards not making the Canadian cut for the Milan Cortina Olympics are Sam Bennett of the Florida Panthers, Travis Konecny of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes.

McDavid, MacKinnon, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Colorado defenceman Cale Makar, Tampa Bay Lightning centre Brayden Point and Florida winger Sam Reinhart were previously named to the roster in June.

They will be joined by returning forwards Anthony Cirelli (Tampa Bay), Brandon Hagel (Tampa Bay), Marchand (Florida), Mitch Marner (Vegas) and Mark Stone (Vegas).