Former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brenden Morrow announces his retirement after 15 seasons in the National Hockey League.
Every single year, more and more players make their dreams come true as they enter the world of professional ice hockey and make their way into the National Hockey League with hopes of an illustrious career. It’s not every day fans are able to bid farewell to one of those players.
Last night, as the Tampa Bay Lightning made their way to the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas to take on captain Jamie Benn and the Dallas Stars, fans had the opportunity to bid a fond farewell to Left Wing Brenden Morrow as he officially announced his retirement from the National Hockey League.
In order to accomplish this, Morrow signed a ceremonial one-day contract with his former team, the Dallas Stars. Before making his way to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the beginning of the 2014-15 season, which saw the Lightning go all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks, Morrow spent a total of 13 seasons in a Dallas Stars jersey. Seven of those years he served as the team’s captain.
Fans here in the Bolts Nation are more familiar with the 37 year old veteran forward who helped the Tampa Bay Lightning make their way to the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals. While he may not have been the kind of forward you find on the highlight reel every night, but he was the kind of player who could deliver a solid hit on the ice and provide the kind of veteran leadership a team needs to make it to the top.
Over the course of his decade plus long career, Morrow played in a total of 991 regular season games. In that amount of time, Morrow was able to score 265 goals and 310 assists for a grand total of 575 points. Of those 991 regular season games, 70 of them were in a Tampa Bay Lightning jersey. While in Tampa Bay Lightning blue, Brenden Morrow was able to score 3 goals and 5 assists for a total of 8 points.
Brenden Morrow not only displayed his skills in the National Hockey League for 15 seasons, but he also played a role in his native Canada’s success. Every year from 2000-2005 Morrow represented Team Canada in the IIHF World Championships. Brenden Morrow was also a member of the Team Canada team who brought home the Gold Medal at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
When speaking of his time in the National Hockey League, Morrow said he was thankful for every single day he had in the National Hockey League.
"“The game of hockey has given me so many opportunities in my life,” Morrow said. “Winning a gold medal for Canada at the Olympic Games and appearing in two Stanley Cup Final series are things that I only dreamed of growing up. Getting to perform on those stages is still surreal to me. To all my family, friends, trainers, equipment managers, coaches and teammates, thank you for supporting and pushing me throughout my career. Being able to put on an NHL sweater was something that I never took for granted, and it’s with a full heart that my family and I have decided that it’s time for me to officially retire from the National Hockey League.” ~ via Tampa Bay Lightning official site."
As fans were able to witness last night, the Dallas Stars put together a pretty nice video package for Brenden Morrow highlighting a number of his achievements with the Stars organization and comments from some of the players who once had the opportunity to take the ice alongside Brenden Morrow.
After the video package, Brenden Morrow – accompanied by his life Anne-Marie and their children – Morrow bid his final farewell to the fans before taking part in the ceremonial puck drop. As Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn came together in the center of the ice, Morrow would drop the puck, and just like that, Brenden Morrow’s on-ice career would come to an end.
Next: 10 Best Performances In Tampa Bay Lightning History
While Brenden Morrow may not take the ice ever again, we have a distinct feeling he is not quite finished with the game of hockey. The players, coaches, and fans alike all share a mutual respect for Morrow, and we have a decent feeling that at one point or another he will find an off-ice position with the Dallas Stars. Until then, those of us here at Bolts By The Bay wish Brenden Morrow a fond farewell and wish him the best in his future endeavors, whatever they may be.