FRIEND TURNED FOE
Morrison returns to Calgary a week after trade to Chicago
In any manner of workplace situation imaginable — bank, auto-body dealership, newsroom, neighbourhood bakery, NHL inner sanctum — it’s immensely rare to find someone, anyone, who transcends all petty jealousies and personal agendas; who doesn’t irk this person or alienate that one. Who is universally liked. Brendan Morrison is such a someone.
“Oh yeah, he was very popular in our room,’’ said captain Jarome Iginla, the morning before Morrison’s return to the Scotiabank Saddledome as a Chicago Blackhawk. “He gets along with everybody. “Such a good team guy. “It was a definitely a bit of a shock over the all-star break. On one hand, you don’t want to see him go. You hate to see him go. But we’re very happy for him. He’d worked hard to come back from his injuries. “We wish him the best. “He’s crafty. He’s an older guy but once you see the team he’s going to . . . they have a lot of talent, a lot of skill. He’s one of those good fits. They have as good a chance to win as anybody.’’
The 36-year-old Morrison hasn’t been away long. It’s been only a week since Flames GM Jay Feaster rang him up to say he’d been shipped to Chitown for defensive prospect Brian Connelly. It’s unlikely he’s stopped smiling since.
“It’s always fun to play against your ex-teammates and your friends,’’ Morrison said following Thursday’s morning skate up north. “(Tonight)’s game will be no different. I just have a chance to do it pretty early on as it’s only my third game with the Blackhawks. I’ll get it out of the way early. I haven’t seen anybody, so I’ll see them for a bit (today), then it’s time to move on.
“I understand what they’re trying to do in Calgary. They’re trying to get a little younger; I didn’t play a whole lot this year; etc etc.
“I thought something might happen closer to the deadline, but this might work out better because it gives me a longer opportunity to be with the team and mesh with guys.”
A quick glance down that whiz-bang-wow Chicago roster — Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa, Keith, Seabrook — and it’s a wonder he needed to board an aircraft to fly over the mountains west to his old stomping grounds and hook up with the Hawks in Vancouver.
Going from here to there is the equivalent of upgrading a seat at the Geminis for one at the Oscars; trading in a Corolla for a Lexus.
Reduced to spare-part status on a team fighting an uphill battle just to qualify for the playoffs, and a healthy scratch on a few nights, he’s been parachuted in to play a more sizable role — as second-line centre — on a group shooting for the moon and the stars.
“This team, in my opinion, has as good a chance as anybody to win and compete for the Stanley Cup, so I’m excited,” Morrison enthused Thursday.
“It’s a two-way street here. Sure I’m a veteran guy, but I’m in a room now with a bunch of guys who recently won the Cup, which I haven’t done. I can learn from them, as well.
“This is a tremendous hockey club with a lot of high end talent. There’s a lot of guys who can break games open by themselves.’’
He should know. He’s been immediately inserted into the lineup alongside two of ’em.
“I watched part of (Chicago’s) game against Vancouver, bits and pieces of the third period, the other night,’’ mused Flames leftwinger Alex Tanguay. “He was playing with (Marian) Hossa and (Patrick) Sharp.’’ A slow, knowing, not-bad nod of the head. No, none too shabby. “He’s a very nice guy,’’ continued Tanguay. “A very good friend of ours. He worked out great (in Calgary). I enjoyed playing with him last year. He’s a smart player, very gifted with his feet. He thinks the game very well.
“He wasn’t playing a lot here. They were in a situation where they needed a centre to play with those guys, that can be accountable, that knows the game.
“He’s getting his opportunity there and I’m very happy for him.’’ They all are. This is a chance, quite likely Morrison’s last, to go the distance as part of an authentic title contender.
After 15 seasons of being the epitome of a professional. After bravely trying to work his way back after knee surgery, to give himself one more shot at that big, silver, jug-eared trophy that becomes more and more important as the years fly by. Who on earth could begrudge him?
“The tough part,’’ said Morrison, “is that I have four young kids at home and I’m going to be apart from the family. But they’re all onboard. My wife understands this is a pretty good opportunity as far as continuing on into the post-season with a chance to compete for the ultimate prize.”
In a relatively brief period of time, a year and a half, here, Brendan Morrison endeared himself to peers, coaches, mangy media mongrels and staff alike for his professionalism, his candour, his amiability (“He’s an actual adult!” exulted one astonished scribbler).
On the ice, he expended everything at his disposal; last year, more, in fact, than anyone felt he had left to give.
So yes, the best. By all means.
He’s (Morrison) a smart player, very gifted with his feet. He thinks the game very well.
FLAMES’ ALEX TANGUAY