WINNIPEG — Manitoba Moose defenceman Josh Morrissey was recently named the Moose AHL Man of the Year for all his work in the community this season. He had a big part in the Moose “Stick to Reading” campaign and he volunteered his own time to meet with families directly affected by autism. But Morrissey also had his own initiative to help disadvantaged kids.

Morrissey, 21, purchased tickets with his own money all season so that children from the Winnipeg Jets True North Foundation could attend home games. Around 200 tickets in all just this season.

“Thinking about how I could get involved, more than just maybe a financial donation,” said Morrissey. “But actually get involved and have a chance to meet kids and spend time with the them.”

When each home game is over, Morrissey holds a meet and greet with the kids, which is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

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“Usually they’re pretty loud and amped up from the game,” Morrissey said. “And they’re pretty excited and chatting away and as soon as I round the corner it gets pretty quiet.” Tweet This

RELATED: Josh Morrissey is Manitoba Moose Man Of the Year

And the Moose couldn’t have asked for a better representative.

“It’s really a special thing,” said Moose Vice President of Operations Dan Hursh. “And hopefully it’s something that they’ll remember for a long time and I know that Josh gets a lot of pleasure out of it too.”

What’s really special is no one asked Morrissey to do this. In his first year of professional hockey Morrissey took it upon himself to set up the program as a way to give back.

“This is an instance where he actually came to us and wanted to get more involved with the Winnipeg Jets True North Foundation,” Hursh said.

“Ultimately it’s something that Josh really took on himself and it’s taken a life of it’s own.” Tweet This

“I wanted to be able to get in touch and spend some time with the some of the youth, especially the kids in the True North Hockey Program,” said Morrissey.

Whether or not Morrissey is with the Moose or the Jets next season, you can be sure he’ll be working as hard on the ice as he is off it.

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“For me it’s almost more rewarding just seeing how happy they are,” Morrissey said. “If the kids can kind of take one thing from what I said, whether it was just having fun, or actually learning something for school, or something about life, then that’s a big win.”

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