For Samuel Morin, a magical moment, one the Flyers hope turns around their uneven season
After missing nearly three seasons and enduring two torn ACLs, Morin scored his first NHL goal to give the Flyers a 2-1 win over the Rangers.
For one day, the courageous Oskar Lindblom had to relinquish his unofficial title as the most popular person in the Flyers’ locker room.
Lindblom, of course, has overcome a life-threatening bone cancer and has become the NHL’s top contender for the Masterton Trophy.
If he keeps up his inspiring play, Flyers defenseman Samuel Morin — whose first NHL goal Saturday beat the New York Rangers, 2-1, and may be the momentum-builder this fragile team needed — might get a few votes.
Like Lindblom, Morin has become the definition of perseverance.
Like Lindblom, Morin somehow managed to keep a perpetual smile on his face even after life threw him a curveball.
Oh, there were tears in private. Tears and doubts. But they were short-lived because of the support they received from teammates, friends, and family members.
And because of the belief they had in themselves.
Injuries galore
Morin’s comeback has seen him overcome several obstacles — two torn ACLs in the same right knee and a handful of other injuries — that would have sent a lot of players into early retirement.
Before he underwent another surgery and another grueling rehab, Morin broke down. He sat in his truck and cried minutes after a doctor confirmed the ACL had indeed been torn again.
“I said to myself, ‘I think I’m done,’“ he recalled before this season.
His parents, his agent and his teammates calmed him down, put him in the right frame of mind.
Through all the injuries and a brief and ill-advised position switch to left wing earlier this season, Morin, 25, has maintained his wickedly dry humor and his upbeat attitude. He kept believing his day would come.
It arrived Saturday afternoon.
After all those setbacks, all those roadblocks, Morin’s late heroics gave the Flyers a much-needed win over a Rangers team that had trounced them in their previous two meetings, 9-0 and 8-3.
“Best moment of my life,” Morin said of his game-winning goal.
Teammates ecstatic
It was made extra special by his teammates, who seemed just as excited as Morin for what he had accomplished. They mobbed him on the ice after the late goal. They gave him a beer shower in the locker room after the game.
“It’s pretty special,” goalie Brian Elliott said after the hard-earned victory. “This guy’s been through a lot in the organization. A lot of injuries and surgeries and he’s always come back with a smile on his face. Every day, ready to work, and can’t wait to get back on the ice with the guys. I think that’s why everybody is so happy. When you work so hard, and guys can see it, and you bring his energy every day, no matter if he is in the lineup or not in the lineup, it’s something special and just rubs off on the guys and we’re so happy for him.”
Because of all the injuries, Morin played in just 28 games — eight with the Flyers, 20 with the AHL’s Phantoms — over the previous three seasons.
“He’s had a lot of bumps and it’s just been crazy hearing conversations with him you [wonder] whether it’s worth continuing with the injuries and pursuing the hockey career,” Travis Konecny said, “and for him to battle and not play that many games for that long and stay as positive as he has ... always smiling, always pumping up the team. Whether he is just practicing with us and doing reps on the ice, he’s always working hard.”
Konecny said when you’ve had “so many injuries and repeat injuries on the knees, I don’t know how many you can take. It’s a matter of keeping healthy and your life after. .. Not playing for almost three years, too, it’s really, really, really hard on you. Kudos to him, he’s been a trooper.”
Morin said he briefly thought about quitting, but conversations with his teammates and management quickly steered him back toward a hockey career.
‘I love the game’
“It was probably a couple of hours after that, I was like, ‘I’ve got to get back to this,’“ Morin said after Saturday’s win. “I love the game. I didn’t really care where I was — AHL, East Coast, anywhere in Europe. I was just ready for anything. Obviously I thought about [quitting], but I’ve got a lot of support here with the Flyers. ... I worked hard and now I’m there, trying to stay in the lineup.”
He returned from an AHL stay and, in his first NHL game this season on defense, was one of the few Flyers who played well in Thursday’s 8-3 loss. He gave the Rangers something to think about by pounding Brendan Lemieux in a late-game fight that night.
He played another solid defensive game Saturday. Not only did the win come against a Rangers team that had embarrassed the Flyers in the previous two games, but it gave them a pulse.
“A big W for us,” said Morin, a first-round draft selection in 2013. “It was a big moment for me. I’m going to enjoy it and reset. We’ve got a big game against Buffalo [on Monday]. We can’t be too high. Just enjoy the moment and go after it.”
If this team finds a way to get into the East Division playoffs and cause some damage, maybe, just maybe, they will look back at Saturday, at The Morin Moment, as the turning point.