Averaging nearly three points per game in the Western Hockey League playoffs, Brad Morrison has been giving force to the storm that is the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Producing points with the style and ease of a well-rehearsed puck magician, with every stutter-step to shed a checking defenceman and every no-look pass to assist an open teammate, the 21-year-old left winger has captured the attention of the league, helping the Hurricanes gather strength in what promises to be a tough third-round series with the Swift Current Broncos.
Morrison's explosive speed and soft hands around the net are complemented by his vision of the ice and his knack for making the right play at the right time, and he's not afraid to go into the corners to go after the puck. Those same qualities set him apart from the majority of his peers and got Morrison drafted in the fourth round by the NHL's New York Rangers in 2015.
But there's something else which makes him unusual.
When he was 12, Morrison was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a mild form of Asperger's syndrome, a developmental disorder related to autism which shows up as obsessive and repetitive behaviour and an inability to focus on topics that don't interest him. Morrison's lifelong obsession has been hockey, but despite his talent for playing the game his mental condition left him prone to distractions which kept him from tapping the motherlode of his potential.
Until now.
Now that he knows he has to take his prescribed medication faithfully to treat his condition and keep his mind focused, he's playing the best hockey of his life. It's no coincidence.
"There's different forms of it and it has to do with paying attention to things, but I have medication for it now," said Morrison. "I just got medication at the beginning of playoffs.
"I talked to the doctor and got it sorted out and obviously it's helped me quite a bit. I'm just able to focus on the game a little more and play the game differently. I just respond differently to certain situations. I'm happy - it's helped me so far and I guess I've been producing ever since."
According to his father Doug, a former Boston Bruins winger who lives in Prince George, Brad's obsessive habits were key in developing his above-average stick skills and his ability to leave opponents fishing for the puck.
"He always spent a lot of time when he was younger just hitting the ball against the boards for the whole 60 minutes of (older brother) Curt's games," said Doug. "He had that attention span where he would just do that the whole time. If he liked something, he would just keep doing it over and over again."
People with Asperger's typically like routines and use repetitive behaviour to keep their mind trained on what interests them. Morrison's mother Pauline is convinced his affliction has made her youngest son a better hockey player.
"What kind of separates him from a lot of players is because he's so focused," she said. "I've read a lot about Asperger's and they tend to just like one thing and that's what they focus on, and that's Brad's focus. He loves hockey, it's what matters to him and it makes him happy and that's a good thing.
"I call what Brad has, his tic. Everybody's has something. Nobody's perfect, and he handles it well. You'd never know, unless you were his coach and with him every day and on the bus. You would say he's not paying attention but now he's so focused. Something clicked when he went to Lethbridge and I'm so happy it's happening now."
Morrison spent the first 10 years of his life in Prince George, then moved with his mom to West Kelowna, where he played three seasons of minor hockey before enrolling in the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton for his second bantam season. He had 97 goals and 170 points in 68 games with the bantam prep team that year and the Prince George Cougars picked him seventh overall in the 2012 bantam draft. He made the jump to major midget with the Prince George-based Cariboo Cougars the following season and collected 20 goals and 50 points in 38 games. He excelled at any level he played and especially thrived when coaches encouraged him to use his skills.
"He's obviously a special player and in playoffs you need guys to rise to another level and he's done that, he's been our best player every night basically and he's working hard," said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio.
"We all know he can make plays but what we like now is he's working hard on both sides of the puck. We knew when we got him he was a skilled, dynamic player who put up some points in the league and that's what we needed at the time. I don't think anybody expected him to come in and produce like he has."
Morrison had difficulty in school focusing on topics he didn't care about. On the ice, his unusual habits led to misunderstandings between him and some of his hockey coaches who couldn't seem to get through to him. There were times he'd be focused on something happening in the stands rather than the game. That momentary lapse of attention could mean a missed assignment on the ice and sometimes that landed him in hot water and an extended seat on the bench.
"I've got medication now so that's all gotten better," he said.
Doug Morrison doesn't fault coaches who vented their frustration at Brad's seeming indifference to what they tried to teach him. Last season he went from being the Cougars' top scorer at the Christmas break to being benched and at the end of the season there was mutual agreement when he asked for a trade. He was later dealt to the Vancouver Giants.
"It was hard for me to watch because I could see him going down and down," said Doug. "He was drafted high and then it just seemed like he was on a spiral downward and at the end of the season he wasn't even playing."
Last summer, at the urging of his dad, they went to see a doctor who prescribed the medicine Morrison now takes.
"After he's taken his medication I notice it in 15 minutes, he's a different person - his personality changes," said Doug. "It's a good different and I do know it works. It's quite amazing and it allows him to see the game a lot better now.
"I don't think he was taking it properly when he was in Vancouver, he was on and off. Then he came to Lethbridge and he kind of realized he had to take it every day. He got 40 points in the 32 games he played there and took that right into the playoffs. From January to now he's just changed immensely as a player.
"Every game I go to I think he's not going to play like he did last time and he does the same thing again. Three points a game in the playoffs is amazing, it's like something you get in peewee hockey. It's working for him."
Morrison has thrived under Kisio, who has suggested he consider becoming an advocate for kids affected by ADHT and Asperger's. For Morrison, that seems a logical progression as he becomes more at ease speaking publicly about his affliction.
"Brent told me that would be a good idea one day if I'm playing pro hockey to be a positive influence on kids in the community who struggle with ADD or ADHD or Asperger's or whatever it may be, to show anything's possible," he said.
Acquired in January from the Giants in a one-for-one swap that sent 20-year-old defenceman Brennan Riddle to Vancouver, Morrison had a productive half-season with the Hurricanes, putting up 16 goals and 40 points in 32 games. One of those goals was a spectacular play at CN Centre Jan. 19 against his former Cougar teammates when he came out of the corner with the puck, reached behind his back and with his stick between his legs roofed it into the net.
"We can't say enough about him and what he's brought to our team," said Kisio. "As good as he is on the ice and as good a hockey player he is, he's a better person. He always means well and he's been a big impact on a bunch of our guys.
"He's seeing more and more hard matchups, obviously, and it's added depth to our team having two or three scoring lines now. He's a guy teams are paying attention to but he's really good at making plays under pressure - he thrives in those situations."
Kisio is talking to NHL scouts and telling them similar things about Morrison as he piles up the points. He started killing penalties for the Hurricanes with about four games left in the season and now Morrison is indispensable in short-man situations.
"When you get three points a game you get (pro) interest," said Kisio. "He knew he had to come out and have a good playoffs and he has so far. He knows the farther we go and the better he does, the more opportunities he'll have following junior hockey."
It didn't take Morrison long to start ripping it up in the playoffs. In the first round against the Red Deer Rebels he had a six-point night in an 8-3 win in Game 2 March 24 in Lethbridge. He had four-point efforts in the fifth and deciding game of the series and in Game 4 of the second round against Brandon. In only one of the first 10 playoff games did he not pick up at least two points. Through 12 playoff games he has 12 goals and a WHL-leading 30 points.
"It's been a lot of fun, we have a good group of guys and the atmosphere is pretty positive in the room right now," Morrison said. "We have a lot of guys who can play so I think anything can happen in the third round.
"I think we have the best power play in the league and obviously when teams are taking penalties and not being disciplined we're going to sting them. With our team now we know anything's possible."
Crowds have been building in Lethbridge in the playoffs and the ENMAX Centre was close to its 5,479 capacity last Friday when the Hurricanes eliminated the Wheat Kings with a 3-0 win. Morrison scored shorthanded to open the scoring and capped it with an empty-netter. The Hurricanes host Game 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference championship tonight and Wednesday trailing in the series 2-0.
Morrison plays the left side on a line with centre Jadon Joseph and right winger Jake Elmer and draws double-duty on special teams. He usually plays the left point in man-advantage situations and lately has been called upon to kill penalties, usually working as a checking forward with Lethbridge captain Jordy Bellerive.
"We've been good, Jake is a fast player and he can move down the wall pretty good and a lot of my chances have been from him using his speed," said Morrison. "Jadon is more of a defensive centreman and we have some pretty good chemistry there, we all have different strengths."
Tate Olson leads all Hurricanes defencemen in scoring in the playoffs and had three goals and 13 points through 10 games. He and Morrison were teammates for four seasons in Prince George and became best friends while with the Cougars. Now they're playing together again and their chemistry has been rekindled.
"Tate has been great so far," said Morrison. "Obviously we played together a long time in P.G. and now we've got a chance in a different atmosphere and we've already made it two rounds further than we ever have before."
In a 334-game WHL career with Prince George, Vancouver and Lethbridge , Morrison totaled 112 goals and 150 assists for 262 points and had his best season with the Cougars in 2015-16. He played all 72 games and finished with 28 goals and 62 points and was drafted that summer by the Rangers. The following season he helped the Cougars win their first-ever WHL banner as B.C. Division champions but they suffered a disappointing first-round playoff exit. Morrison decided it was time for a change of scenery and was sent to Vancouver for a second-round draft pick.
"I think being in Prince George for the amount of time I was there it was good to maybe get away for awhile and test out what other teams are like," he said. "It's not to do with the guys or the coaches, necessarily, it's just sometimes you click on the ice and sometimes you don't."
Morrison didn't sign with the Rangers and last summer attended the Calgary Flames rookie camp. He remains a free agent but that is likely to change. The scouts have to like his bloodlines. His father Doug was a bigtime sniper as a WHL right winger with the Lethbridge Broncos. He grew up playing on outdoor ice in Prince George until he moved with his family to Vancouver when he was 10. After playing junior A as a 15-year old in Richmond, Doug put up a 59-point rookie season with the Broncos in 1976-77 and ended up with 114 goals and 240 points in 132 regular season games and also had 25 goals and 43 points in his WHL playoff career. The Boston Bruins drafted him in the second round, 36th overall in 1979 and he ended up playing 23 NHL games over three seasons. He scored his only hat trick in his third NHL game in 1980-81, all scored against Los Angeles Kings goalie Mario Lessard. Most of his pro career was in the AHL and IHL and he finished up playing in Germany and Italy.
Doug's younger brother Mark, a former Victoria Cougar, played 10 games at centre with the New York Rangers and now is an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks. Another of Brad's uncles, Garth Butcher, married Doug's sister Tannis, and had an 11-year NHL career playing defence for Vancouver, St. Louis, Quebec and Toronto. Brad's brother-in-law is Buffalo Sabres defenceman Josh Gorges (married to his older sister Maggie) and older brother Curt played junior A hockey for the Spruce Kings from 2004-07.
Gorges lives in Kelowna in the off-season, along with a several NHL players including Carey Price and Shea Weber and invites Morrison to work out with them on the ice in the summer.
"Josh stays on Brad and he's kind of lucky that way, but last summer nobody needed to be on Brad or tell him what to do. He got it, and just started working so hard," said Pauline Morrison. "He wants to do this for a career and thank goodness at the end of his junior career everything seems to be coming together for him.
"I can't say enough good things about the GM (Peter Anholt) and the coaching staff in Lethbridge. They get Brad and they play to his strengths. Whatever they're doing it's working. Brad's happy and he's so confident."
