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Former Dallas Stars Captain Morrow’s Return to the SCF

By Allison Scott

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Brenden Morrow was a staple of the Dallas Stars organization during his thirteen seasons with the team. Although he and the Stars didn’t achieve the success they would’ve liked to, he never failed to put in 100% effort on a nightly basis. Today, we’ll take a trip down memory lane of Brenden Morrow’s career thus far, everything from being drafted to this year’s playoffs with the Lightning.

1997-2000: Draft, NHL Debut, and Stanley Cup Finals

On June 21st, 1997 eighteen-year-old Brenden Morrow was drafted 25th overall to the Dallas Stars. At the time he was playing for the Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL, but little did he know that he would call Dallas home for years to come.

Morrow made his NHL debut on November 18th, 1999 and spent the rest of the 1999-2000 season splitting time between the Michigan K-Wings of the IHL and the Stars. That was also the season that saw the Dallas Stars return to the Stanley Cup Finals, this time to take on the New Jersey Devils.

Ultimately the Stars fell to the Devils in double overtime during game six and their hopes of being back-to-back champions, as well as Morrow’s first shot at the cup, were over.

2000-2008: End of an Era, Lockout, and Becoming Captain

The seasons following Morrow’s first Stanley Cup Final trip were let downs after having been so successful to end the 90’s. From 2000-2004 Dallas saw a fall in production as they failed to qualify for the post-season during 2001-2002 and they didn’t make it passed the second round in the years they did qualify.

Then, Morrow experienced his first NHL Lockout during 2004-2005 in which he played for the Oklahoma City Blazers of the CHL. Just prior to the start of the 2006-2007 season Morrow was named the fifth captain of the Stars since they moved to Dallas in 1993.

By the time the 2007-2008 season came around the Dallas Stars’ roster had evolved immensely. Most of the players that won the cup just nine years earlier had moved on to play elsewhere or were retired; however, Morrow remained. He, alongside the great Mike Modano, led the Stars through tough series and ultimately found themselves in the Western Conference Finals.

Unfortunately, the Stars couldn’t beat the firepower that was the eventual champion Detroit Red Wings as they fell in six games. Eight years later and that was the closest Morrow has been to a final since his rookie season.

2008-2013: Rebuilding, New Faces, and a New Team

After the great run that was the 2008 playoffs for the Stars the team began a rebuild that saw many changes. Former Dallas Stars forward Joe Nieuwendyk was named the new general manager in June of 2009, Head Coach Dave Tippet was fired in favor of Marc Crawford, and the financial troubles of owner Tom Hicks prevented the Stars from spending as much as the other teams in the league.

Personnel changes entirely transformed the look of the team once and for all in 2010 when Nieuwendyk failed to re-sign both longtime starting goalie Marty Turco as well as the face of the franchise Mike Modano. Throughout all of this rather chaotic time Morrow found himself with more responsibility than ever before in the NHL, while he simultaneously dealt with an ACL injury during 2008-2009 that held him to only eighteen games.

Then after five seasons of failing to make the playoffs, and an almost unrecognizable roster after all the changes, Brenden Morrow and the Dallas Stars went their separate ways. Nieuwendyk facilitated a trade that sent him to the Pittsburgh Penguins with a pick for defenseman Joe Morrow (no relation) and a fifth round pick. The parting was amicable as Morrow waived his no-trade clause to begin a new chapter with the Penguins.

2013-Present: Penguins, Blues, and Lightning

Morrow only played fifteen games for the Penguins before signing a one-year deal with the St Louis Blues in the off-season of 2013 as an unrestricted free agent.

Today Morrow finds himself on a Tampa Bay Lightning team that won the Eastern Conference and surprised many. His role is much different than the one he had in Dallas for all those years, but that doesn’t diminish his importance to the team. Tomorrow night he will make his return to the Stanley Cup Finals a decade and a half after he made his first trip.

Brenden Morrow and the Lightning will take on the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow night in Tampa Bay and the game can be seen on NBC and CBC at 7PM CT.

Want to revisit Chicago Blackhawks forward Brad Richards’ journey to the cup? Check back tomorrow and as always, thanks for reading!

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