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Sam Morton’s professors weren’t simply supportive. They had been pumped.
Whereas Morton is engaged on a grasp’s diploma in industrial and organizational psychology, the 24-year-old grad scholar has additionally been busy filling the online for NCAA’s Minnesota State Mavericks.
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On Monday, after wrapping his school hockey profession with a convention player-of-the-year nod, Morton took a significant stride towards scoring his dream job by inking a contract with the Calgary Flames. That one-year, two-way deal doesn’t kick in till 2024-25, however he’ll instantly be a part of the AHL’s Wranglers on a tryout that lasts for the rest of this season.
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And yeah, he’s bringing his homework with him.
“The professors in our program are unbelievable,” Morton mentioned as he hustled Monday to catch a flight to Calgary. “They’re all hockey supporters, they’re all hockey followers, so that they get it. Consider it or not, they had been rooting for me to not be right here and end this system in-person.
“In order that dialog was fairly simple. They had been tremendous excited for me.”
Morton is an intriguing addition to a pipeline that’s skinny on pivot prospects. After digital conferences with a number of suitors, it’s hardly a shock that he talked about “alternative” as one of many causes that he signed in Calgary.
The brand new man put up stellar numbers in his remaining collegiate marketing campaign, piling up 24 targets — six greater than another dude within the Central Collegiate Hockey Affiliation — and 34 factors in 37 video games. (That’s a credit score to his efforts to rehab from a significant knee harm that value him a lot of the earlier marketing campaign.)
Morton was additionally an ace on the faceoff dot, profitable 55.6% of his attracts, and wore the ‘C’ on his sweater because the Mavericks’ group captain.
The experiences from Pierre-Paul Lamoureux, who scouts the NCAA ranks for the Flames, had been overwhelmingly constructive. Calgary’s hockey-ops honchos studied his work and had been equally impressed.
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“Historically, we don’t go after 10 school free brokers — we attempt to goal one or two, and he was one of many guys that we focused,” mentioned Flames assistant common supervisor Brad Pascall. “What we like about him is A) He’s a centre; and B) If you watch, he’s a great all-around participant. He had an incredible offensive yr, scoring 24 targets, however the e-book on him is that he’s additionally stable in his aggressive nature, aggressive on pucks, accountable defensively. He took all the important thing faceoffs within the defensive zone.
“So whereas he had a great offensive yr, I feel he prides himself on his defensive sport, and that was engaging to us to have a great, well-rounded participant coming in.”
The query now’s how will it translate to the professional ranks?
Morton, who’s listed 6-foot and 185 lb. and has a left-handed curve on his stick, might begin his AHL audition as quickly as Tuesday, when the Wranglers host the Bakersfield Condors on the Saddledome.
“I couldn’t be extra thrilled to get going with it,” he mentioned.
Morton will not be the splashiest signing, however that was additionally true just a few years in the past when the Flames landed one other school free agent out of Minnesota State. Walker Duehr turned out to be a pleasant discover.
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Whereas Morton will flip 25 earlier than his first NHL coaching camp, this California-born centre believes his maturity may be an asset as he chases his dream job.
“All through my school profession, I performed in a variety of totally different roles,” he mentioned. “The primary couple of years, it was simply attempting to deliver power, forecheck and create momentum for our group in no matter approach doable, in addition to be accountable defensively. Because the years went on, type of picked up a job of attempting to supply offensively and rating targets and create offence.
“So I feel simply the expansion and improvement that comes via taking part in 5 years of faculty hockey, dealing with totally different roles, taking part in in numerous conditions, taking part in in significant video games … That’s what I hope will assist me translate to the subsequent stage.”
He’ll additionally proceed to chip away at his grasp’s diploma
He promised his professors that a lot.
“I’m hoping I can keep it up, as a result of it’s all the time slightly more durable once you cease,” mentioned Morton, who will gather a cap-hit of US$950,000 subsequent season if he sticks on the highest stage. “So simply preserve selecting at it and hopefully get that accomplished.”
wgilbertson@postmedia.com
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