SUDBURY, ONT. – Don’t ask Seacow Pond native Brad Morrissey to look ahead to where his hockey career might take him. He’s too busy living in the moment and enjoying his Telus Cup experience in Sudbury, Ont., with his Notre Dame Hounds teammates.
The Saskatchewan midget AAA champions and Western Region representatives take a 4-0 record into their final round-robin game of the Canadian midget AAA championship tournament today at 1 p.m. Atlantic against Moncton Flyers, the Atlantic champs. They have already clinched first place in the round-robin standings and will get to play the fourth-place team in a 4:30 p.m. semifinal on Saturday.
The Hounds, from Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask., picked up their fourth consecutive win with a tight 2-1 decision over the Pacific champions, the Lethbridge Hurricanes (2-1-1), Thursday afternoon. The Hounds are three points ahead of the second-place Hurricanes.
“It’s been really good so far,” Morrissey said in a telephone interview Thursday evening after watching the Toronto Young Nationals (1-2-1) skate to a 5-1 decision over the Flyers (1-3-0).
“We were confident coming in. We knew if we were playing to our capability we could beat any team at this tournament,” Morrissey said when asked if he is surprised to be at 4-0.
The Grade 11 student at Athol Murray College and a Charlottetown Islanders draft pick was chosen the game star in the Hounds’ 5-3 win over Toronto in their tournament opener. He had a goal and two assists in that game, picking up two points on the power play.
“Our power play was clicking that game; it’s been clicking all week,” he said.
It’s a busy week for the Morrissey family.
His mother, Nicole, is in Sudbury for the tournament. His father, Paul, stayed east, taking in the Don Johnson Cup Atlantic junior B tournament in Membertou, N.S., where Brad’s brother, Connor, is playing with the Arsenault’s Fish Mart Western Red Wings.
“Our parents are definitely proud of us this year. We both had successful years,” Brad acknowledged.
Morrissey, who is one of three Islanders on the Hounds’ bench (the other two are coaches Devan Praught and Kevin White), said making it to the Telus Cup was a team goal at the start of the season. Now that they’re there, they want to win the cup.
“Every game is going to be a battle from here out, because every team is going to be wanting to get to the gold medal.”
He describes the Telus Cup as a world-class event. “It’s a great experience to be at a big event like this.”
