Calgary’s Morrissey relishes shot with goaltender- heavy Blades
Jake Morrissey last met the Saskatoon Blades at the point of Nik Amundrud’s flying fist.
Morrissey, a Calgarian who was traded to the Blades on Wednesday night, engaged in a spirited goaliescrap with Amundrud at centreice in Kelowna while playing last season for the Rockets.
Now, suddenly, the two goaltenders are teammates — sharing a jersey, and a memory.
“It’s pretty funny, actually — makes for a good story, more than anything,” Morrissey, 18, said prior to his first Blades practice on Thursday. “I went to lunch with ( Amundrud) today. He’s a good guy.”
Morrissey said the third- period goalie- on- goalie rumble during a 5- 1 win for the Rockets, was the first and only one he’s ever engaged in. He was tossed immediately after.
“There was a couple of fights going on the ice and we thought it would be a lot of fun, I guess — pump the crowd up a little bit,” he says now.
Morrissey played 11 games as a rookie for the WHL- champion Rockets last season, compiling a 1.98 goals- against average and .932 save percentage. He was the oddman out during training camp this season, and the team cut him loose on Sept. 21. The Tri- City Americans listed him, then traded him to the Blades for a sixth- round bantam pick in 2018.
Morrissey’s addition leaves the Blades with three goalies in camp, including Amundrud and Brock Hamm. At some point, somebody will have to go.
“I thought we needed to bring somebody in to take a look and see,” said Blades coach and general manager Bob Woods, whose team — which has one win and an overtime loss through two games — hosts 1- 1 Medicine Hat Friday night at 7 p. m. ( SaskTel Centre). “We only saw him once. But looking at his numbers, he’s worth a look.
“We’ve got to assess the situation and keep the best two. It’s not a rush, but you don’t want to keep three goalies around too long. It’s never a healthy situation. We’ll take a good look here, and figure out which way we want to go.”
Morrissey carries imposing hockey bloodlines. Brother Josh played up the highway with the Prince Albert Raiders, suited up for Team Canada at the world junior hockey championship, and was a first- round draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets in the 2013 NHL draft.
He honed his shot by firing pucks at Jake, who is two years younger.
“That’s how I got my start in goal — when I was five, six years old, he’d make me go in the net and he’d shoot at me,” Jake said with a grin. “We had a little net in the basement, I have pictures of it somewhere, and we had roadhockey balls. He’d make me go in that net, and I’d get hit in the head a few times. He was always a good player, and I can thank him a little bit for getting me used to it.”
The Morrissey trade was one of two deals consummated by the Blades Tuesday night. They also sent forward Garrett Armour to the Brandon Wheat Kings for a conditional pick in 2018. Armour, 18, compiled one goal and five assists in 45 games with the Blades last season.