Former Flin Flon Bomber and NHL player Lew Morrison passed away July 15.
Morrison played for the squad in the 1960s, heading north from his hometown of Hartney, Man. after winning three provincial hockey titles with regional clubs. In 1966, Morrison joined the Bombers and, along with players like Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Ron Burwash and others, helped push the Bombers to a Manitoba Junior Hockey League title. The Bombers would later contend for a Memorial Cup, reaching the quarterfinals before losing to eventual national finalists Port Arthur.
The next season, Morrison would be a part of the first Bomber team to play in what would later become the Western Hockey League, earning a reputation as a top penalty killer and defensive forward while still scoring nearly a point per game in maroon and white. The then-20-year-old Morrison would be picked directly from the Bombers in the first round of the 1968 NHL Amateur Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, the same club that would pick Clarke in the second round the next year. Both Lew’s brothers, John and Don, would later go on to play with the Bombers and would crack the minor pro ranks.
After a season in Quebec City with a Flyers minor-league team, Morrison debuted with the Flyers in 1969 and, alongside Clarke, made an immediate impact.
"Lew was a great guy. He gave his all. Our team wasn't ready to win yet while he was here but he understood his role and was a team-first player,” said former teammate Joe Watson in a statement released by the NHL and the Flyers on Morrison’s passing.
“Our coach, Vic Stasiuk, came to trust him - and there weren't too many rookies, outside of Clarkie, that you could say that about in those years."
Morrison would play three seasons with the Flyers before being picked by the Atlanta Flames in an expansion draft. Morrison played two seasons with Atlanta before being picked in a second expansion draft, this time by the Washington Capitals, where he played part of a season before being dealt to Pittsburgh. Morrison played parts of four seasons with his former club’s arch-rivals, just missing out on the chance to be part of the Flyers’ championship teams in 1974 and 1975.
Morrison hung up his skates in 1978, having played 563 games and eked out a career as an elite penalty-killing forward. Morrison scored 39 goals in that time and tallied 91 points.
Morrison was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017. He was 75 years old.
