Morrison: ‘Total regression’

Players are healthy lineup scratches all the time in the
NHL. Randy Carlyle knows this.

But no sooner had the words “Brendan Morrison”
and “healthy scratch” left my mouth after Tuesday’s practice that Randy Carlyle
interjected, in his typical faux-frustration, “you just want to talk about the
negative, huh?”

In the pantheon of players not meeting expectations, and the
coach responding with a lineup scratch, you get the feeling that Morrison is a
different case. He is taking it deep to heart, unable to explain why his
recovery from ACL surgery last April is still keeping him from replicating his
form of a decade spent in the NHL.

Morrison posted consecutive two-goal games late in December,
in Calgary and Dallas, but hasn’t scored a goal since. He’s also been held
without an assist in his last seven games. After being a healthy scratch in
back-to-back games against Buffalo and Minnesota last week, he was playing
among the Ducks’ bottom six forwards the next two games.

“Around December is when I was playing my best hockey of the
year for a stretch. I felt like things were coming,” Morrison said. “It’s
almost like there’s been a total regression the last month. Production-wise,
there’s been zero production. I’ve been embarrassed by it. You have to face up
to it, own up to it. I’m not going to sit here and make excuses, it hasn’t
gotten done.”

In terms of hockey, maybe a worse thing couldn’t be happening to a
better person.

“One thing about him, he takes responsibility for his actions,”
Carlyle said. “You always defend an individual who does the necessary things to
make him a strong NHL player, and he continues to do that. Other than the lack
of production, he’s been a great teammate, he’s worked hard, he’s supported our
younger players. He’s supported every player who’s been in a tough situation.
It’s not easy sitting a player out like that.”

As far as getting him back into the lineup, the question is,
where does Morrison fit best?

He was at right wing with Travis Moen and Todd Marchant
against Nashville, then centered the fourth line between George Parros and Mike
Brown against Calgary. In practice Tuesday, he was back on the second line with
Bobby Ryan and Teemu Selanne.

“So far,” he confessed, “things haven’t really jelled, or there
hasn’t been a lot of chemistry.” Added Carlyle: “It’s a work in progress and
we’re going to continue to find a fit for him.”

For Morrison to catch on as a top-six forward for the Ducks’
stretch run, he will need to display the quickness of skate and stick that made
him a stable force in the Vancouver Canucks’ lineup from 2000-08. Those skills
have been displayed in spurts this season, but when (or if) Morrison regains
his pre-surgery quickness is anyone’s guess.

“You talk to people that have gone through [ACL surgery];
everyone typically says it takes at least a year until you feel fairly good
again,” Morrison said. “I’ve had this conversation with Brendan Mikkelson. He
said it took him longer than that, but you always think it’s not going to take
me that long. It’s never been an issue for me, skating, but this year it has as
far as challenging guys, breaking away from guys, beating guys to pucks — it’s
almost been nonexistent.”

This entry was posted in Anaheim Ducks/NHL by J.P. Hoornstra. Bookmark the permalink.

About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.

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