In some ways one should ask 'when is Darryl Sutter going to lure Markus Naslund out of retirement' for all the reclamation projects he has tried this off season. Now with the quick signing of Brendan Morrison after he was released from his PTO with the Canucks, Sutter has tried two of three players from the previously great Vancouver first line.
It's not going to be easy to watch B-mo lace 'em up for the enemy but it shouldn't be hard either. He was a player who was cast off from the Canucks after his last contract with the team ran out. Never a superstar in his own right and always some one seen as riding the coattails of Naslund and Bertuzzi, Morrison seems to have eked out a small niche for himself in this cap crazed hockey environment.
With the Ducks he was to be used as 2nd or 3rd line centre providing depth and skill to the team. Traded to the Stars, he never lasted past the season but he landed on his feet in Washington scoring 42 points in 74 games. But this year, the 5th of the CBA, sees the economic reality of the choices and decisions made in those negotiating sessions. It's what I call the 'veteran squeeze'.
In the past, once a player reached free agency he would be able to command money based on what he had done, it was rare for a team to get a shot at signing a decent player come July 1st. In Morrison's case it seems it's harder to find a team willing to take a chance on an aging yet capable veteran for an audition. The NHL landscape mirrors the 'younger is better' theory seen in so many other industries for those in the middle or end of their careers.
For Morrison it was his old stomping grounds which provided him a stage to audition his talents. A player who spends much of his off season in his hometown, it was easy for him to ask and Mike Gillis and the Canucks to accept his offer to take a PTO. What we or many others would realize is that Morrison was more than serious about making an impact-and that is exactly what he did. Until the last week he was possibly the best of the prospects and invites to camp who were trying for a position with the Canucks.
As some will remember most folks were okay to see him leave Vancouver, and I'm sure many of the same were happy to see him return. Sports is a fickle thing. We love you when you are young, take you for granted as you age, develop a distaste as you begin to disappoint but welcome you back with great hopes for silly yet sentimental reasons. I see this same cycle with B-mo.
When it came time for MG to make cuts and trim the roster those of us hanging onto our sentimental feelings were hoping there was a way. Some possibility of a cap solution we did not see. A chance that the brain trust saw something in B-mo's game which would make him appealing for this next of most important seasons for the franchise. Well it was not to last. The PTO contract was terminated and Morrison was open game for any to pursue. Sutter and Feaster wasted little time and made their move. Given the current state of Flames centers, it was a prudent smart move, one I would have done as well.
During his heyday with the WCE Morrison had a huge body with good hands who was the picture of a power forward on one side. On the other side he had a deft winger who had found his position and scoring touch with a lethal wrist shot. Morrison was the guy in the middle, doing the dirty work and getting very little of the glory. In Calgary he could find himself in a similar situation should coach Sutter choose to try. A power forward with a big body and pure determination on one side and although a natural centre, a deft shooter with a more than just a deadly wrist shot on the other. It's almost surreal if Jokinen was a winger, and just 'Sutter crazy' enough that it could work.
In every story there is a bit of irony and this one is no different. This camp has two former Canucks competing for a roster spot- Peter Schaeffer is still in the mix too. He is still part of the squad and is believed to be debating a two way deal with Vancouver for this season. Gillis knew there was a chance that he could make Morrison available to a rival. However, in the beginning he couldn't have thought he would be picking between two former Canucks and that no matter how the situation turns out there will be some form of irony? I doubt it, but isn't that ironic too?
Enjoy the rest until opening night.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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