Alex Morrison of Saltcoats, Saskatchewan may only be 17 years old but he is already making an impact with the Melville Millionaires. Morrison is in his first full season in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and finds himself getting regular ice time on the Millionaires third line. This past Saturday night Morrison scored his first career SJHL goal.
The Millionaires were tied with their archrivals the Yorkton Terriers in the dying moments of the second period when Morrison scored his first career SJHL goal. “Raiden Zacharias was taking it wide and I was just trying to drive the net and get in front of the goal, and he (Zacharias) got the shot off the right pad, and I kind of just banged it in there and it was pretty special moment,” Morrison says. “I was pretty shocked I didn’t celebrate or anything, so I didn’t know what to do. I was just pumped up for the boys and that we were up by one.”
Melville went on to win 5-3 and they currently have an 8-2-1-0 record. Their 17 points puts them first in the entire SJHL. Morrison feels the start of the season has been awesome and has expectations for the rest of the season. “It’s going awesome, we’re gonna be a really good team, I think,” Morrison adds. “Its a strong bond here, so I’m very excited for the future.”
Despite the early success Morrison remains humble and has not forgotten where he came from. “There’s not really any youth hockey in Salt Coats so I grew up playing my minor hockey in Yorkton. I played atom AA, my second year and then played house, my peewee first year and just went after AA from that and just worked, worked hard and just took my opportunities.” Morrison wants to be an inspiration to young kids from small town Saskatchewan (such as Salt Coats). He feels that with a little luck and a lot of hard work anything is possible. “Keep working, you’re gonna have lots of opportunities and take your chances, just work your bag off all day and you know, just keep grinding.”
Morrison’s play and work ethic is not going unnoticed by head coach Doug Johnson. “Mo brings a boat load of speed,” Head coach Doug Johnson says. “He’s fearless, he’s not afraid to block shots. And he’s still learning the game, he’s young, there’s gonna be a lot of internal improvement there, and that’s why we’re excited about, because he has the work ethic and, his skill is gonna set the floor and his work ethic sets the ceiling and that’s with all our young guys.”
Next up for Morrison and the Millionaires is a date with the Weyburn Red Wings on Friday night in Weyburn. Weyburn sits in second in the Viterra division, three points behind Melville for first.