Top Islander chosen
Seacow Pond native Brad Morrissey excited to be picked by Islanders in QMJHL draft
Seacow Pond native Brad Morrissey excited to be picked by Islanders in QMJHL draft.
Brad Morrissey could find himself living closer to home this hockey season.
The 16-year-old son of Paul and Nicole Morrissey of Seacow Pond was picked Saturday by the Charlottetown Islanders in the third round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s draft in Saint John, N.B. He attended Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask., the last two seasons. Morrissey, who followed the draft online with a few friends in Wilcox, said the Islanders seemed the most interested in him prior to the draft and it was the team he was hoping to be selected by.
“It wasn’t really a surprise, but a lot of relief,” Morrissey said of being drafted by the Islanders.
“I’m really excited to go to a P.E.I. team.”
Islanders head coach and general manager Jim Hulton said Notre Dame’s Devan Praught, a Summerside native, highly recommended the right-winger. The Islanders saw Morrissey in some game tape from Saskatchewan and live at the draft combine.
“The thing that jumped out was his intelligence,” Hulton said. “He’s has good hands, skates well, but really seemed to
think the game well.”
Hulton said he anticipates the youngster making a strong pitch for a spot at August’s training camp.
Although Morrissey admitted he really loves attending Notre Dame and playing for the Hounds, he said he will work hard during the summer to get bigger, stronger and faster in hopes of landing a spot on the Islanders’ roster. Morrissey was third on his team in goals with 16 and sixth in points with 30 in 2016-17, his rookie season with the midget Hounds.
Morrissey will be returning to Seacow Pond when his school year ends in two weeks, and plans to train at West Island Elite in Elmsdale, where he trained in previous summers. Morrissey said he would return to Wilcox if he doesn’t make the Islanders’ lineup this year.
If he does stick in Charlottetown, he would return to Notre Dame after the 2017-18 season to finish his Grade 11 year.
Five Islanders were selected Saturday.
Declan MacEachern became the first member of the Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Pride organization to be drafted when the Rimouski Oceanic called his name in the sixth round, 98th overall.