Team Canada beat Czechia 5-0 on Thursday to start their Olympics with a win. Jordan Binnington picked up the shutout amid a brutal NHL season, and Macklin Celebrini netted his first best-on-best goal. But Canada had an injury on the backend, as Josh Morrissey left the game. Jon Cooper provided an update on the Winnipeg Jets defenseman after the game to Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskas.
“Postgame, Jon Cooper told [Bukauskas] that Josh Morrissey tried to come back, but couldn’t. They are hopeful it’s not serious,” Elliotte Friedman reported.
Now that Team Canada has played a game, they are not allowed to bring in an injury replacement. They had Shea Theodore as the seventh defenseman and Travis Sanheim in the press box during the Czechia game. How Cooper will deploy those two players if Morrissey cannot go in their second game.
Team Canada continues their Olympics run on Friday against Switzerland at 3:10 p.m. Eastern. That is a quick turnaround for Morrissey, and considering the Canadians already have this big win, he may not play for cautionary reasons.
This is not a new experience for Morrissey and Jets fans, as he missed the 4 Nations Face-Off final due to illness. He missed just one game for Winnipeg after the Final, so it was not too costly for the team. But this injury could be different depending on how the rest of his Olympics go.
Canada powered through the injury to pick up a 5-0 win thanks to their elite top-end talent. That will win out for most of the Olympics, as Macklin Celebrini, Sidney Crosby, and Connor McDavid flexed their muscles against Czechia. But against the top medal contenders, Canada's depth will have to dominate to win another Gold Medal.
Morrissey started the game on the second pair with Colton Parayko, but did not spend much time on the powerplay.
