Loading articles...

Oil Barons Morison commits to Western University

Fort McMurray Oil Barons forward Reed Morison/Dan Lines Photography

A pure goal scorer who knew how to find the back of the net, Reed Morison enjoyed two strong years in the blue and gold for the Fort McMurray Oil Barons.

The Calgary, AB native is the most recent Oil Baron to commit to a post-secondary institution as he will head to Western University (London, ON) to suit up for the Mustangs of USPORTS in the fall.

“It wasn’t just one thing to be honest,” said Morison on why he chose to go to Western University. “They treated me really well when I flew down there, I liked that it’s a bit of a smaller city and has a university feel to it. They have a pretty good hockey team, they’re not losing too many players so I think we can put a push in for Nationals and they have a good business program which is what I’m thinking of going into to so it was a lot of little things.”

Morison is coming off a dominate season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League where he led the league in goals with 41 and finished third in scoring with 79 points. The 20 year old was the Oil Barons driving force all season and when he was rolling, the MOB were off and running. He quickly became a player the opposition looked to shutdown when he roared out of the gate scoring 11 goals in the first 9 games of the season.

“Throughout the course of the year, he was a go-to player for us and played in every game situation,” said Oil Barons Head Coach/GM Tom Keca. “Reed was a force for us all season and that’s a testament to the work he put in last summer to be ready for the year. As an organization, we’re happy he’s able to continue his playing career and begin his studies at Western next season.”

Morison was acquired by the MOB just prior to the start of the 2017-18 season from the Calgary Canucks. He was coming out of the Western Hockey League after player the previous year with the Kootenay Ice. He immediately gave the MOB another scoring threat to complement Will Conley. In Morison’s first season with the MOB, he finished second on the team in goals with 26 and points with 58 in 58 games.

Entering his second season, he wanted to get faster, stronger and more explosive. With a big 6’3, 200lbs frame, he became a tough player to knock off the puck but also to catch as he added another gear and was able to pull away from defenders. Heading into USPORTS as a freshman, Morison knows he will once again have to continue to improve his game.

“You always have to get quicker and stronger because next year I’ll be playing against 24, 25 year olds so it’s kind of like you’re re-doing junior again but you’re taking classes this time,” said Morison who mentioned the Mustangs plan to use him at left wing which is what he played during his first season with the MOB before switching to centre this past season. 

Morison helped guide the Oil Barons to the second round in back to back years and wishes the club could’ve made a deeper run. Despite a heart-breaking Game 7 loss at home to the Whitecourt Wolverines two seasons ago at the Casman Centre, that game stands out as a highlight to his tenure in Fort McMurray.

“Skating out to a fully packed rink and even though we lost in overtime, I’ll never forget how loud it was when I scored to make it 3-3 in the third period of that game. It was insane but that’s Fort Mac and that’s the fans we have there and Fort McMurray fans are the best and that’s why it’s one of the best places to play for sure.” said Morison who also pointed out that scoring his 40th goal this year was a special moment for him which evidently also came at the Casman Centre against the Wolverines. 

Morison finished his career with the MOB with 67 goals, 70 assists for 137 points in 117 games. His strong two-way game also made him an effective penalty killer as he tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with 4 in back to back seasons.

He was recognized this past year by the AJHL as he was nominated for the league’s Most Valuable Player Award and the North Division’s All-League Team. Morison was also named a co-recipient of the AJHL’s Viterra Cup after he received Viterra Star of the Game honours 13 times during the regular season.

Morison becomes the sixth Oil Baron from the team’s 2018/19 roster to commit to a post secondary institution, joining Liam Izyk (Alabama-Huntsville, NCAA), Ryan Conroy (Yale, NCAA), Jaedon Leslie (Ohio State, NCAA), Peter Tomaras (Concordia, ACAC) and Taner Miller (Grant MacEwan, ACAC).