Goaltender Mike Morrison signs with Coyotes

[coyoteshockeyfan]

http://tsn.ca/nhl_network/news_story/?ID=170316&hubname=nhl_network

Interesting, I hope it is a two-way contract (ie: he can be sent to the minors), because I really dont think he will beat out David LeNeveu. He is an improvement on Sauve, though.

 

[howlincoyote2k1]

I really don't understand this signing. Given our money situation after Jovanovski, I didn't think we had enough to sign any more players.

Plus, an extra goalie really wasn't what we needed. Lenny is gonna be our man after Cujo. I think we could have gotten a 3rd-line energy guy for a similar price, depending on how much we're giving him.

 

[boondockdrunk]

I really don't understand this signing. Given our money situation after Jovanovski, I didn't think we had enough to sign any more players.

Plus, an extra goalie really wasn't what we needed. Lenny is gonna be our man after Cujo. I think we could have gotten a 3rd-line energy guy for a similar price, depending on how much we're giving him.

I think the reason he was brought in was to be competition for the back-up job behind Cujo. Gretz loves people to work for their spots on the team and not take anything for granted. As long as it was an extremely cheap deal, I am okay with it. Plus it can get Lenny some more time to grow and full playing time in the AHL.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

The deal ended up being one year, $500,000. At least we didnt overpay.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

The deal as it turns out is a two-way contract, so if he doesnt beat out LeNeveu he's ticketed for the starting role in San Antonio. The New England Hockey Journal had a pretty good article on Morrison a few days ago, here's an excerpt:

“It’s just a good situation. Obviously, (head coach) Wayne Gretzky, (goaltending coach) Grant Fuhr – I’ve always loved Grant Fuhr – and I had a chance to meet Wayne this year and it’s a U.S. team and the situation (is good),” said Morrison, when reached on his cell phone while navigating the traffic on I-93. “I could’ve gone back to Ottawa, but then I’ve got to deal with (Ray) Emery, who I respect and I think should start in Ottawa until his loses the job. And they brought (Martin) Gerber in.

And I had opportunities from teams like Boston – they’ve got (Tim) Thomas and (Hannu) Toivonen – and with Phoenix it was like, ‘We’ve got CuJo, and Mike, you can be the next guy in line.’ So, you look at that and just say, ‘Wow.’ Really it’s not about the money now, it’s about a chance that I really didn’t expect would come.”

http://www.hockeyjournal.com/nhl/200607/20060716NHLMorrison.htm