George Morrison, Minnesota Fighting Saints

From Third String Goalie

Born on this date in 1948, George Morrison became a star for the University of Denver Pioneers of the WCHA and later played in the NHL and the WHA. In his freshman season at DU, Morrison scored 58 points on 40 goals and 18 assists in just 32 games, leading the WCHA in scoring.

Denver would reach the NCAA National Championship game against Cornell and their goaltender and future NHL star and Hall of Famer Ken Dryden. Morrison would score the Pioneers second goal of the game enroute to a 4-3 victory and the title. "It's funny how I wound up at Denver," Morrison says. "I'd played around my home town [Scarborough, Ontario], but I had no particular plans. Then a friend who had gone to Denver asked me if I'd like to play hockey in college. I said sure. Within a few days I was out here taking exams. It all happened only a few weeks before school started, and I couldn't be happier."

The next season was more of the same for Morrison, as he led the WCHA in scoring with 30 goals in 32 games and a 57 point season and being named a WCHA First Team All-Star and NCAA All-American for the second consecutive season. He would sign as a free agent with the St. Louis Blues in September of 1970 and score 15 goals and 10 assists as a rookie with the Blues in 1970-71. Morrison was on the ice for Bobby Orr's famous cup winning goal in overtime and has joked "I was covering my man."

The following season with the Blues, Morrison would score 13 points in 42 games, but missed a number of games due to a bout of mononucleosis and then sat out the end of the season following a trade to the Buffalo Sabres when he refused to report to their minor league club in Rochester. His career took a turn when he was selected by the Minnesota Fighting Saints in the 1972 WHA General Draft.

With an opportunity for more playing time, Morrison signed with the Fighting Saints for the 1972-73 season and quickly became our favorite player when growing up as an impressionable young Fighting Saints fan with his iconic number 9, his offensive ability (and he always seemed to score two goals when we went to games in person) and speed, which was accentuated by his long hair flying behind him, unencumbered by a helmet.

Morrison would score 16 goals and 24 assists for 40 points in 70 games in St. Paul, including the first goal against Winnipeg at the brand new St. Paul Civic Center on January 7, 1973. He would add another goal in five playoff games that season. Don't fail to notice the clear dasherboards used at the St. Paul Civic Center in the above photo, the only rink in North America with a set of them. It was during the next season that George would achieve the finest season of his professional career and cap it off in stunning fashion. Going into the final game of the 1973-74 season against the Vancouver Blazers, Morrison had 36 goals, needing four to join teammates Mike "Shakey" Walton and former Blues teammate Wayne Connelly with 40 or more goals. He did score a power play goal at 15:42 of the second period and then rapidly got another one just 14 seconds later after splitting the defense. No one expected what happened next, as Morrison completed a hat trick in a WHA record 43 seconds at 16:25, with all three goals coming on assists from Connelly and Bob MacMillan.

Of course, when you're hot like that your teammates will try to set you up for the rest of the night, especially knowing you need one more to reach 40, which he was later able to get, joining Connelly (42) and Walton (57) as those who hit 40 for the Fighting Saints that year. Sadly, that remarkable record died with the WHA and is a forgotten achievement today, although Morrison's stick from that game does reside in the archives of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Morrison would add another 5 goals and 10 points in 11 playoff games as the Fighting Saints would defeat the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs 4 games to 1 before losing to the eventual champion Houston Aeros in a memorable six game series that featured as much mayhem as hockey. The 1974-75 season was another successful one for George, with 31 goals and 60 points in 76 games with another 14 points in 12 playoff games as Minnesota defeated the New England Whalers before losing to the Quebec Nordiques in six games.

Morrison was traded by the Fighting Saints to the Calgary Cowboys for John McKenzie just prior to the 1975-76 season and scored 25 goals and 32 assist for 57 points followed by 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points in his final season as a professional in 1976-77. His final combined NHL and WHA totals are 476 games played with 140 goals and 163 assists for 303 points.

Following his playing career, he was active in sports management and was a volunteer coach for the Union College women's team in Schenectady, New York. “He was everything to our team — a leader, a mentor, a teacher, a father figure and a coach,” said Union head coach Claudia Asano.

Sadly, Morrison passed away on November 12, 2008 at age 59 from a brain tumor.

 SCHENECTADY, N.Y. –National Hockey League and World Hockey Association veteran George Morrison has joined the Union College women’s hockey staff as a volunteer assistant coach, announced by first-year Head Coach Claudia Asano. Morrison most recently coached in the Capital District as a volunteer assistant coach with the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s men’s program.

 

“I am thrilled that George has joined our staff,” said Asano. “He brings a tremendous amount knowledge both from his playing career – both pro and college - and his lifelong study of the game of hockey. His assets will further complement our efforts both on and off the ice.”

 

Morrison played two seasons with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues before splitting the remainder of his pro career with the Minnesota Fighting Saints and the Calgary Cowboys of the WHA. Morrison retired from professional hockey in 1977 with a career total 140 goals and 163 assists in 476 games spanning seven seasons.

 

A two-time WHA All-Star, Morrison’s stick is in the Hockey Hall of Fame for scoring three goals in only 43 seconds against Vancouver.

 

A native of Bobcaygeon, Ontario, Morrison was a two-time All-American at the University of Denver, helping the Pioneers to the 1969 NCAA title. Morrison won the WCHA scoring title in each of his two seasons at Denver totalling 70 goals in 64 collegiate games.

 

Morrison, who previously served as a volunteer assistant coach under Dan Fridgen at RPI in 2004-05, is president of Overtime Sports Management Group, which concentrates on television productions and other sports related properties.

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