Kevin Morrison
| Kevin Morrison | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
October 28, 1949 Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 202 lb (92 kg; 14 st 6 lb) | ||
| Position | Defenceman | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
New York Golden Blades New Jersey Knights San Diego Mariners Indianapolis Racers Quebec Nordiques Colorado Rockies | ||
| Playing career | 1969–1986 | ||
Kevin Gregory Joseph Morrison (born October 28, 1949) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 418 games in the World Hockey Association and 41 games in the National Hockey League, scoring a total of 97 goals and 235 assists.
Morrison was scouted while playing high school hockey for Sydney Academy and junior hockey for Saint-Jérôme Alouettes. He was drafted in the third round of the 1969 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. After two seasons in the Eastern Hockey League and Central Hockey League, he played 29 games for the AHL's Rochester Americans, scoring two goals. Morrison spent the following season with the New Haven Nighthawks, tallying 7 goals and 28 assists.
Despite solid offensive ability, Morrison was mostly known as an enforcer who was involved in a number of memorable hockey fights. During his season with the Nighthawks, he tangled with fellow tough guy J. Bob "Battleship" Kelly of Rochester Americans in what some, including Rochester's legendary coach Don Cherry, have called one of the greatest fights in hockey history. Both combatants fought furiously until exhausted, had a brief respite, then continued until neither man could punch anymore.
Morrison spent the next five seasons, from 1973 to 1978, exclusively in the World Hockey Association. He scored better than 20 goals in his first three seasons in the league and was selected to the one WHA All-Star game. He was involved in another memorable fight during the 1978-79 season against legendary enforcer Steve Durbano, of the Birmingham Bulls. In this skirmish, Durbano continued to go after Morrison even after Kevin was assessed a penalty and stood in the penalty box. Durbano managed to break free of the linesman holding him back and took several wild swings at Morrison who himself broke free of the other linesman and decked his opponent with a clean right that sent Durbano crumpling to the ice.
Splitting 1978-79 between the AHL and WHA, Morrison, on October 20, 1978, Morrison recorded the only assist on hockey legend Wayne Gretzky's first professional goal, a backhander scored on Edmonton Oilers goalie Dave Dryden. Morrison spent half his final year in pro hockey playing in the NHL for Don Cherry's Colorado Rockies. In 41 NHL games he scored 4 goals and added 11 assists.
Morrison retired from senior hockey in 1986 and, as of 2016, lives in his hometown of Sydney, Nova Scotia.
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