Brad Morrison is usually the setup man for the Prince George Cougars.
Heading into Saturday’s game against the Saskatoon Blades as the Cats’ leading point-getter he had nearly three times as many assists as he had goals.
In four seasons in the Western Hockey League, Morrison has gained a reputation as a jackrabbit on skates who can stickhandle in an area the size of phone booth. He also knows how to put the puck in the net, as the Blades were reminded Saturday.
With three minutes left, Morrison fought through traffic in front of the crease and got his stick on linemate Jesse Gabrielle's pass from behind the net to knock in the winner – his second goal of the night in a tense 2-1 victory over the Blades in front of an enthusiastic, near-sellout crowd of 5,577 at CN Centre.
Morrison now has six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 13 games, which moved him into a tie for fourth place in the WHL scoring race. Morrison’s linemates Gabrielle and Jansen Harkins each finished with a pair of assists.
“I think with me, Jesse and Jansen it was a bit of a slow start – maybe we didn’t get the passes where we wanted them or get in the right area but towards the end of the game, once I scored that goal and Jansen hit the post there was a big change and it gave us a lot of confidence to go out in the third and do what we did,” said Morrison.
“Jesse found me in the slot there, he took a second to make the play. A lot of people say he’s a shooter but he can make great plays too. Him and Jansen and me have good chemistry and we’re going to take that into the next game for sure.”
Gabrielle, who also has six goals this season, says he’s used to Morrison being the playmaker and he was glad to see him finishing plays as the go-to guy to end the Cougars’ three-game home-ice losing streak.
“Usually it’s the other way around, he’s got the I.Q. and I put the puck in, but there was a little role reversal there and he just got open and was going to the net and it worked out for us tonight,” said Gabrielle.
“We were confident that we’re the better team and just had to stick to our systems. They got a little energy but it wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before and we stuck to our system and got the win we wanted. We knew it was going to come, it was just a matter of when.”
The two-point improvement kept the Cougars (11-2-1-0, 23 points) at the top of the WHL standings as they remained two points ahead of Regina (9-0-3-0) and three up on Everett (9-2-2-0). The Blades (6-5-1-0) went 2-3-0-0 on their five-game B.C. Division tour.
The teams played nearly two full periods before anyone scored. Morrison finally gave the biggest Cougars’ crowd of the season a reason to let loose with 57 seconds left in the second period, capitalizing on a bad giveaway from Blades centre Mason McCarty. Morrison snapped a rebound through the legs of goalie Brock Hamm, who had stopped Harkins’ quick wrister from the slot after McCarty put his clearing attempt on the stick of Gabrielle.
The Blades tied it up 4:07 into the third period. Cats defenceman Tate Olson overskated the puck and lost it along the boards to Cameron Hausinger, who fed linemate Josh Paterson in the slot for a high shot that sailed in behind Ty Edmonds.
Edmonds, in his fourth straight start in the Cougar nets, stopped 29 shots, including a game-saving stop off McCarty with two seconds left. The Cougars’ goalie denied McCarty on a breakaway chance in the second period and was at his best in the first half of the third period after Paterson scored the tying goal, successfully holding off a sustained flurry of dangerous shots from the Blades top line – Patterson and his wingers Hausinger and Lukas MacKenzie.
Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk hands out an axe in the dressing room after each game to the player who works the hardest during the game and it was given to Edmonds, who earned his eighth win of the season.
“He was our best player, I don’t want to take any of the credit for what we did tonight,” said Morrison. “He made two breakaway saves on the penalty kill and a great save at the end there. He’s the reason we won tonight.”
The Cougars caught a huge break at the 12:38 mark of the third when an apparent goal from Wyatt Sloboshan was waved off. Sloboshan took off on a breakaway after Sam Ruopp whiffed on his attempt to hold the puck in the Saskatoon end and beat Edmonds with his shot but not the goal post. Referee Collin Matt immediately put up his hands to signal he wanted to get a look at the replay, which confirmed the puck went off the post and came out the other side of the net. This is the first year the WHL is using video replay to back up its on-ice officials and whatever all that equipment cost the Cougars, on Saturday they were considering it money well spent.
The game was one of 12 featured games on the Cougars’ home schedule this season and both teams fed off the energy emanating from the packed house.
“We notice when there’s extra people in the stands and we build off it, they’re all on our side which is a good thing,” said the 19-year-old Morrison. “Being in the league for a long time, a lot of the rinks we go to are kind of packed like that most of the time. It’s good when you get the fans out supporting us and it helps contribute to the win for sure.”
The Cougars outshot the Blades 41-30. Neither team scored on the power play. The Cougars were 0-for-3 and the Blades went 0-for-5.
Hamm was especially busy in the second period, stopping 18 of 19 shots fired his way. The Blades were playing their fourth game in five nights and they sagged visibly in the middle frame but Hamm kept them in the game.
“Certainly our goalie gave us a chance to win before (the tying goal) and we had our chances – we had three breakaways and didn’t score a goal and that makes it tough,” said Blades head coach Dean Brockman. “We had a couple games off where we didn’t play very well so maybe that gave us extra legs and I’m proud of the guys, they gutted it out. Obviously P.G. is a very good team and they weren’t at their best and we’re thankful for that."
LOOSE PUCKS: The three stars were 1. Morrison; 2. Edmonds; and 3. Hamm... Hamm was forced to leave the game 6:25 into the first period when the blade dropped out of his skate after facing three Cougar shots. Logan Flodell took over in the crease for about five minutes of playing time while equipment manager Chad Scharff made the necessary repair, allowing Hamm to get back in the game… The announced crowd, which was 372 short of a sellout, included about 1,000 elementary school students from six Prince George schools who participated in the Cougars’ Spirit of Healthy Kids health and wellness program to encourage reading and physical activity… The Cougars are now 5-3 on home ice. They concluded a four-game homestand and play in Cranbrook on Wednesday against the Kootenay Ice. The three-game trail also includes games Friday in Lethbridge and Saturday in Calgary. They return to CN Centre on Wednesday, Nov. 2 to face Medicine Hat.
Saturday WHL summary
Blades 1 at Cougars 2
First Period
No scoring.
Penalties – Gabriele PG (hooking) 1:31, Hausinger SA (interference) 4:55, Rubinchik SA (kneeing) 7:29, McDonald PG (high-sticking) 11:33, Hajek SA (roughing) 20:00.
Second Period
1. Prince George, Morrison 5 (Harkins, Gabrielle) 19:03
Penalties – Martin SA (hooking) 5:58, PG bench (too many men, served by Morrison) 13:50.
Third Period
2. Saskatoon, Paterson 3 (Hausinger) 4:07
3. Prince George, Morrison 6 (Gabrielle, Harkins) 16:57
Penalties – O’Brien PG (goaltender interference) 8:49
Shots on goal by
Saskatoon 10 10 10 -30
Prince George 12 19 10 -41
Goal – Saskatoon, Hamm (L,1-3-0-0, 36-shots-34 saves) and at 6:25 of first, Flodell, (5-5), replaced by Hamm at 11:05 of first); Prince George, Edmonds (W,8-1-1-0, 30-29.
Power plays – SA: 0-5; PG: 0-3
Referees – Mike Campbell, Collin Watt; Linesmen: Devin Kohlhausser, Jory Lutzmann.
Attendance – 5,577.
