Just a day after being cut from the Vancouver Canucks’ training camp, Brendan Morrison’s roller coaster of emotions has gone right back up as the battered Calgary Flames have extended a welcoming hand to the veteran, and signed him to a one-year contract worth $725,000 on Monday.
The jump from divisional rivals’ camp (Vancouver) to Calgary is primarily due to Calgary’s need to replenish the ailing center position, as Calgary lost their fourth center last week to injury. Although Jokinen has just returned from a short-term apparent back injury, his health status is being watched closely after fellow centers’ Daymond Langkow (neck), Matt Stajan (shoulder), Ryan Stone (knee), and center/left winger David Moss (shoulder) will be out indefinitely with respective injuries. For more detail on the Flames’ injuries, check out my previous article; Flames Burned By Injury Bug.Calgary fans may see this signing as the opportunity to replenish an injured squad, but Morrison may see this opportunity to revive an ending career.
35 year-old Morrison’s frustrations began with the inability to find a contract renewal with the Washington Capitals after displaying a stand-up effort for the Nation’s Capital last year. Morrison played 74 games with the Washington Capitals last season, notching 12 goals and 30 assists for 42 points, with an impressive +23 rating.
The Pitt Meadows, B.C. native has split his 12 years between five teams (New Jersey, Vancouver, Anaheim, Dallas, and Washington), but the majority of his time was spent with the Canucks between 1999 and 2008, which draws the most question in his cut from the teams’ tryout on Sunday. In 543 games as a Canuck, Morrison tallied 136 goals and 257 assists and ranks 11th all-time in franchise scoring. In 829 career regular season games (NHL) he has scored 187 goals, 360 assists, and 424 penalty minutes, and has 8 goals and 29 points in 58 career playoff games.
Morrison brings veteran leadership to this team, and adds a different dynamic from the center position. Morrison is a great heads-up player with great vision that can make tape to tape passes through traffic, and is effective on special teams.
The Flames have questionably re-signed a few players (Jokinen, Tanguay, Conroy) in the off-season after they underachieved for the team last year. The roster isn’t much of a new look from last year at all, the same roster that failed to make the playoffs last season.
Although Morrison benefited from a high octane, energetic young cast surrounding him, Morrison’s efforts did pay off for his team, and the points were found as he didn’t get buried by his teammates in terms of point production, and finished 8th best on the team.
In a comparison, Morrison recorded 12 goals and 42 points last year with a %51.2 in faceoff wins in 74 games. Top line Flames’ center Jokinen, 31, tallied 15 goals and 50 points with a %49.3 on the draw in 82 games. Second/third line center Langkow, 34, scored 14 goals for 37 total points with a %43.5 in the circle in 74 games. Fourth line center Conroy, 35, only tallied 3 goals for 15 points with a %51.5 on the draw. Additionally, winger Alex Tanguay accounted for 10 goals and 37 points in 80 games. To put it short, Morrison’s numbers last year bettered all but one (barring fourth line Conroy, who will not see much powerplay time) in the faceoff circle, and was beaten by only Olli Jokinen in points scored (8 back), and just three goals off of Jokinen’s total tally.
Morrison may go from zero to hero, as no center has meshed perfectly with Iginla over the past few years. Morrison's passing ability, on-ice vision, and veteran hockey smarts could see him up on the top, or second line quite consistently.
- Kendall Grubbs
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