Brendan Morrison, the centre for the Vancouver Canucks famous Westcoast Express line and one of Pitt Meadows’ favourite sons, is headed for the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame.
His pending induction was announced last week. He and former teammate Murray Baron, longtime Canucks equipment manager Pat O’Neill and former Canucks defenceman and current B.C. Hockey League commissioner John Grisdale will also be inducted at a July 22 ceremony in Penticton.
Morrison was chosen 39th overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. After he enjoyed a fine year with Penticton of the BCJHL, Morrison went on to an exemplary four years with the University of Michigan. The talented centre topped the CCHA in scoring three straight years and led the Wolverines to the NCAA title in 1996. He was the winner of the Hobey Baker Award in 1997.
Morrison played a regular shift with New Jersey in 1998-99. He scored 46 points and played a good two-way game. But he was traded to the Canucks with Denis Pederson for star Russian sniper Alexander Mogilny.
Morrison centered all-stars Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi, and was an important player with the Canucks, as his speed and anticipation landed him significant time on both the power play and penalty kill. His career highs in goals (25), assists (46) and points (71) were hit during the 2002-03 season.
He had an ironman streak to 542 consecutive games.
In the summer of 2008, the Anaheim Ducks signed the unrestricted free agent forward Morrison to a one-year, $2.75 million contract, and he left the Canucks.
His last season in the NHL was 2011-2012, split between the Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks.