The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/465847
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? guy, you think, 'This is tough to swal- low, but I have three more years.' "But when I looked around the room, and you see the seniors, and realize these guys will never put this jersey on again, you feel like you let those guys down. It's a very emotional time when that happens, and you just vow to be even more committed to your own game, to the team, to whatever you have to do so you never experience that feeling ever again." Morrison and his teammates would have to live through that disappoint- ment again, in 1995, when U-M lost 4-3 to Maine in triple-overtime of an NCAA semifinal, but in 1996, the Maize and Blue would vanquish their demons, winning all three of their NCAA Tournament contests — 4-3 over No. 5 Minnesota, 4-0 over No. 3 Boston University and 3-2 over No. 1 Colorado College — to capture the na- tional title. Fittingly, Morrison scored the game- winner. "It was almost like it was meant to happen," Morrison said. "The puck came directly to me and it was a wide- open net. I remember shooting it, and I can picture the puck going end over end — it took forever to go in the net. "I was asking myself, 'Is this reality? Is this happening?' I circled the net and Harold Shock came flying off the blue line and we collided; there is a cool picture of both of us airborne, running into each other. "That moment is something I will remember the rest of my life." Now that he is retired from the NHL, Morrison spends the majority of his time with his wife, Erin, and their four children. PHOTO COURTESY BRENDAN MORRISON