Who Else?!!!
Who Else?!!!
The true story of the Dallas Stars' Incredible Hulk
This weekend, Brenden Morrow will be inducted into the Dallas Stars Hall of Fame. Good for him. He paid for the party with his sweat and blood. Literally.
I love Brenden – one of my all-time favorite guys to be around. Quiet. Unassuming. If you ran into him away from the rink you’d notice his easy demeanor, his Zenlike approach and appearance – you wouldn’t feel like you were next to a stone-cold killer on the ice.
Like Bruce Banner he went about his daily business without fanfare, without making a scene. Stoic that way. A little like Gainey. Maybe more than a little. But when Brenden hit the ice – and you were on the other side – it was gonna be zero fun. Like Banner’s alter ego - Morrow’s Incredible Hulk appeared in green, muscles rippling, and that intensely scary look in his eye. Given the chance, he’d rip you to shreds and go on to the next guy.
And the team followed his lead well before he had the C on his chest.
The images are seared into our heads…
I remember the images – his wires getting crossed against the Canucks in the 07-playoff series when I thought perhaps criminal assault was about to happen… to this day I don’t know how he held himself back. The fight against Tim Gleason as he stuck up for a teammate who really needed him. Like really. The endless series of the big hits – reversals and otherwise. He hit one Shark (I can’t remember who…) so hard in the ’08 series he sent Milan Michalek into the training room. A 2 for a buck hit. He had several. And the 4 OT goal in game 6 in ’08 to win the series is still a top 5 franchise moment.
As I was looking through some of my old notes and pieces – this one popped up. I wrote this in May of 2015 (after I left the Stars) for NHL.COM – Brenden had been moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning for one last shot at it. This is a good read to find more about who he is. Give it a go. Thanks, and Congratulations Brenden!
There are pieces of Brenden Morrow strewn across the NHL rinks…
You want a story? I’ll tell you a story. It’s a good story. Late May - 2000 – second straight Western Conference final for Dallas and Colorado.
Stars are the defending Cup Champions but needed seven games to get past Colorado the year before. The Avalanche adds Ray Borque to help them get over the hump. Epic stuff. Roy and Belfour, Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk heads up against Modano, Hull and Lehtinen. Zubov, Hatcher, Ozolinsh, Foote.
This time – Colorado has a leg up with a 2-1 series lead after a Game 3 home win. It’s May 20 – the off day between games. The Stars have this 21 year-old rookie who wears number 45 and his name is Brenden Morrow. Except nobody sees him much in the series since he breaks his ankle in Game One a few days earlier. They bring him on the trip but leave his gear in Dallas. He ain’t a player.
So he’s in this walking boot and he looks at his teammates getting ready for practice and he goes to the trainer and takes off the boot and jumps up and down on the foot that’s broken and says: “See? See? I’m fine – I can go.”
Stars Trainer Dave Surprenant is leery but relents and tells Brenden to see how he does with skates on. Except - his stuff is in Dallas so he asks Mike Modano if he can use his. “My feet are bigger than his and I remember he wanted to wrap up his ankle pretty good so he needed the extra room…” Mike Modano said. “So I gave him my skates and he walked around the room for a few minutes just to see that he could stand up ok.”
You lose Game 4 and go down 3-1 – forget it. In those days – nobody came back. But they fly in the gear and the kid comes to play on May 21, 2000 and he’s so jacked up he’s banging everything he can get is body on and is clearing space for his Game 4 line mates Mike Modano and Brett Hull – who score 3 combined (Hull 2, Modano 1) in a 4-1 Dallas win. The Stars outhit Colorado 37-21 in Denver in that game. The kid sets the tone.
Dallas beats Colorado in 7 games again – but this time – in Morrow’s first trip to the playoffs – Dallas is denied in the Final. New Jersey’s Jason Arnott scores the Cup-clincher in OT in Game 6 at Reunion a couple of weeks later. Brenden ain’t been back to the Final since.
But he’s (three) wins away. More correctly – what’s left of him is (three) wins away.
There are pieces of Brenden Morrow strewn all over NHL rinks in North America, mostly in the West. I know – because I saw when the pieces fell. The bone and cartilage and blood have long since been scraped and cleaned from playing surfaces and boards, and the rest went down the drain with the melting ice.
Blessed with the speed of a bottom-six grinder and the hands of a rock hauler, Morrow, despite his first-round-draft pedigree, is the classic over-achiever. “He’s one guy that certainly got the most out of what he was given.” Mike Modano said. “He had an understanding, even at an early age, of how he needed to play the game.”
And how he played it was classic “north-south”. Straight lines. Go to the tough spots. Take the beatings. Give as good as he got. And he picked up a trick from that Colorado series that he still rolls out 15 years later. “I saw Peter Forsberg use his body to block the puck and then buck back into the defender to get separation. I was afraid to try it for a while, but once I figured out how to do it, I did it as often as I could.” Morrow said.
“The Reversal” … as we dubbed it on Stars broadcasts continually caught defenders unaware and gave Morrow the half step he needed to get to scoring areas. But times are changing. “I pulled it out the other night against the Rangers and I got a penalty for it. So maybe I’ll have to change my tactics.” Morrow said.
Ironically, it was that patented move that caused severe knee damage in 2006. Like a lot of the injuries for Morrow over the years, it was self-inflicted. Some were the result of the hundreds of collisions and became chronic issues. “I remember seeing him stretched out in traction in the mornings to give his neck and back relief so he could get out there for the game. What he battled through every year was unbelievable.” Mike Modano said.
Others, like the time Radim Vrbata’s skate slashed through his wrist on December 26, 2008 were just things that happen out there. He missed the next 3 months but returned in time for a memorable 2008 playoffs.
Stars – Sharks 2008 Playoff series
“He was unstoppable in every aspect of the game.” Drew Remenda, then TV Analyst for the San Jose recalls about Morrow’s performance in the Conference Semi-final against the Sharks. “In a series loaded with big stars – he was the one that took it. He physically led the way, emotionally led the way, and scored the biggest goals a guy could score.”
Morrow bagged five goals in the series, including two overtime game winners. His series-winning goal in the 4th overtime of Game 6 in front of the home crowd still resonates as one of the Dallas Stars franchises’ top moments. And all you need to know about Brenden Morrow you can get from reading that score sheet; 51 minutes played, 19 hits, and the goal to send the Stars into the Western Conference Final. As the play-by-play guy – it was my great fortune to put the exclamation point on it as confetti fell from the rafters. “Who else?!...” I yelled as the celebration was underway.
ELSE GOAL - (my call)
It didn’t happen for him – but…
He’s on another extended playoff run with a contending team (Tampa Bay) and playing for a coach he trusts, and who trusts him, and with players he calls some of the best he’s been with. “That Triplett Line might be the best line I’ve ever seen, and our defense is big and smart, our goalie is terrific and I know what my role is here. I’m having a lot of fun.” Morrow said.
It isn’t 2008, and he isn’t counted on to lead the charge. His minutes are well down, and he hasn’t found the net yet this spring. But he’s still out there – and don’t ever count him out.
“He’s a warrior, and if I was going to battle, I’d still want him with me.” Mike Modano said.
The best clean hit in Dallas Stars history --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inCe24BYH9c
Great story Ralph. Brendon was a great Star player that will always be remembered for his grit and toughness.