Brendan Morrison
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Left |
| Nickname(s) | Mo, B-Mo, The Iron Man |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 185 lb (84 kg/13 st 3 lb) |
| NHL Team F. teams |
Vancouver Canucks New Jersey Devils |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | August 15, 1975 , Pitt Meadows, BC, CAN |
| NHL Draft | 39th overall, 1993 New Jersey Devils |
| Pro career | 1997 – present |
Brendan Morrison (born August 15, 1975 in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League.
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[edit] Playing career
Brendan Morrison was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 2nd round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, and was the 39th player selected overall. From 1993 to 1997, he played four seasons for the University of Michigan Wolverines, including winning the NCAA National Championship in 1996. In 1997 he won the Hobey Baker Award, awarded annually to the best NCAA ice hockey player. He also began his professional ice hockey career in 1997, playing mostly for the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League. He appeared in 11 NHL games for New Jersey during 1997-1998. He eventually landed a full-time spot on the Devils' roster for 1998-1999, where he stayed until 2000 when he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks along with Denis Pederson in exchange for Alexander Mogilny.
Morrison's most productive seasons in the NHL have been the 2001-02 and the 2002-03 seasons, when he scored 67 and 71 points respectively, third most on the Canucks team after linemates Todd Bertuzzi and Markus Näslund. Once he became the normal third member of Näslund and Bertuzzi's forward line in 2002-03, the usual Vancouver top line was established, and was dubbed the West Coast Express (named after Vancouver's commuter rail service of the same name). The line earned the Canucks a great deal of attention, and Näslund finished 2002-03 with career highs of 48 goals and 104 points, to finish second overall in NHL scoring. Complemented by Bertuzzi's fifth place finish in league scoring and Morrison's 71-point career high, many considered the Näslund-Morrison-Bertuzzi to be the most effective line combination in the league that season. The line was considered by many, including hockey great Wayne Gretzky, to be the best offensive combination of players in the world. During their prime the three players were featured on the covers of magazines such as Sports Illustrated and The Hockey News. Gretzky compared the 'West Coast Express' to the line of Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, and himself that dominated the NHL during 1980s while playing for the Edmonton Oilers. Bertuzzi, Morrison and Naslund remain extremely close to this day.
On August 5, 2005, Morrison was re-signed by the Canucks for three more years for a total value of over $9 million.
In 2004-05, he represented Linköpings HC of the Swedish Elitserien during the NHL conflict.
Morrison's international play for Team Canada includes the 2000 and 2004 Ice Hockey World Championships, winning the Gold Medal in 2004. On August 14, 2005, Morrison was added to the Team Canada Olympic Orientation Camp roster, for the team that represented Canada at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. However, Morrison didn't make the final roster.
On February 25, 2007, he became the NHL's reigning ironman, when Karlis Skrastins was forced to miss a game with a knee injury. Earlier in the day he played in his 493rd consecutive game (484 of them with Vancouver).
On December 12, 2007, Morrison's ironman streak of 542 games snapped when he decided not to play a game due to wrist complications.[1] Cory Sarich is now the reigning ironman with 419 consecutive games.[2] Out of Morrison's overall ironman streak, 534 were played as a Canuck, which is currently the Canucks' franchise record for consective games played.
[edit] Awards
- Hobey Baker Award - 1997
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1990-91 | Ridge Meadows Knights | BCAHA | 77 | 126 | 127 | 253 | 88 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1991-92 | Ridge Meadows Lightning | BCAHA | 55 | 56 | 111 | 167 | 56 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1992-93 | Penticton Panthers | BCJHL | 56 | 35 | 59 | 94 | 45 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1993-94 | Michigan Wolverines | NCAA | 38 | 20 | 28 | 48 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 1994-95 | Michigan Wolverines | NCAA | 39 | 23 | 53 | 76 | 42 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 6 | ||
| 1995-96 | Michigan Wolverines | NCAA | 35 | 28 | 44 | 72 | 41 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 4 | ||
| 1996-97 | Michigan Wolverines | NCAA | 43 | 31 | 57 | 88 | 52 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 8 | ||
| 1997-98 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 11 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1997-98 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 72 | 35 | 49 | 84 | 44 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 19 | ||
| 1998-99 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 76 | 13 | 33 | 46 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1999-00 | SK Horacka Slavia Trebic | Czech-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | HC Pardubice | Czech | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 44 | 5 | 21 | 26 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 12 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 10 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000-01 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 82 | 16 | 38 | 54 | 42 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2001-02 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 82 | 23 | 44 | 67 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2002-03 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 82 | 25 | 46 | 71 | 36 | 14 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 18 | ||
| 2003-04 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 82 | 22 | 38 | 60 | 50 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | ||
| 2004-05 | Linköpings HC | SEL | 45 | 16 | 28 | 44 | 50 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 2005-06 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 82 | 19 | 37 | 56 | 84 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2006-07 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 82 | 20 | 31 | 51 | 60 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 2007-08 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 39 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| NHL Totals | 674 | 159 | 315 | 474 | 352 | 53 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 38 | ||||
[edit] References
- ^ MacIntyre, Iain. "Canucks lose ironman Morrison to injury", Vancouver Sun, 2007-12-12. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
- ^ Lefebvre, Jean. "Flames claw past Panthers", Calgary Herald, 2007-12-12. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Brian Bonin |
Winner of the Hobey Baker Award 1997 |
Succeeded by Chris Drury |
