Defenceman Loch Morrison and forward Carter Folk introduced themselves as new Victoria Royals teammates Tuesday with a handshake. Those hands have previously been aimed in anger at the other鈥檚 respective nose and head.
The Western Hockey League trade deadline can take players down some weird and twisting paths. Such as the route that brought the 19-year-old Morrison to Victoria in a Monday deal from the Prince Albert Raiders for 17-year-old blue-liner Brayden Pachal.
Morrison and former Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Folk, a 20-year-old acquired by Victoria before this regular season, fought each other twice during their previous WHL incarnations in the Eastern Conference.
鈥淸Folk] was not fun to play against,鈥� said Morrison, with a wince.
Tonight they will be united in common cause against the Kelowna Rockets at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
鈥淚t鈥檚 funny how the hockey world goes,鈥� said Morrison.
鈥淪ometimes the way it works out, some of your toughest opponents end up being your best friends.鈥�
This personal rivalry, and it was even physical then, goes back to Saskatchewan triple-A midget days between the Regina-raised Folk and Prince Albert native Morrison.
鈥淭he guys you battled against the most are sometimes the guys you get along the best with,鈥� concurred Folk.
鈥淭he guys you played the hardest against are they guys you end up respecting and have the best relationships with.鈥�
That happened often during the seven seasons of Victoria Salmon Kings ECHL hockey when former hard-core junior rivals would suddenly be thrust together as teammates in the pros.
Have hockey stick, will travel, and paths will cross.
鈥淭hank God I don鈥檛 have to face Jack Walker coming down the wall at me again,鈥� said Morrison, about another Royals forward and now new teammate.
Morrison is happy to be on a Royals team likely headed to the post-season, after playing for a Raiders team that was last in the WHL and headed nowhere this season.
鈥淭here are few jitters but I鈥檓 excited to be here in Victoria on a team making a run to the playoffs,鈥� he said.
Dad Ken Morrison made the ultimate playoff run and won the Memorial Cup with the 1984-85 Raiders in a season in which the elder Morrison scored 51 goals with 108 points. The following year, he won another WHL title and went to the Memorial Cup tournament with the Kamloops Blazers in a season in which he scored a remarkable 83 goals with 150 points.
The younger Morrison said his dream is to follow his father, who went on to play for the University and Saskatchewan and pro in Denmark, into the Memorial Cup. That was forlorn hope in his hometown of Prince Albert. In Victoria, there is at least a glimmer on a Royals team that has 15 returnees from last season鈥檚 WHL regular-season championship squad that has overcome a slow start and is 22-16-4 after going 5-1 since the Christmas break.
Ken Morrison coached his son and the rest of the Prince Albert Mintos to the the 2014 Telus Cup national triple-A midget title. The younger Morrison proved a good listener and learner.
鈥淚 consider myself a solid, defensive defenceman who can jump into the play when needed,鈥� he said.
Morrison is no stranger to deadline deals after having been sent from the Calgary Hitmen to his hometown Raiders last year at the trade deadline. The six-foot-one player is entering his third WHL season and gives the Royals blueline experience heading into the stretch drive.
Morrison shook his head and chuckled when everybody was telling him how cold it has been this winter on the Island, pointing out it was -24 C when he departed Prince Albert the day before. This is downright balmy by those standards.
The Rockets (24-15-3), meanwhile, will show off their big trade-deadline acquisition tonight and he, too, has connections to the deep freeze of Prince Albert. Kelowna picked up the rights to 20-year-old forward Reid Gardiner from the Raiders, and he joined the Rockets from the pro American Hockey League. Gardiner had 43 goals and 92 points last season in Prince Albert and three goals and six points in 23 games this season for the AHL鈥檚 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Gardiner scored last weekend in his first game for Kelowna.
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