Mark Morris (born March 31, 1958) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He was the head coach of St. Lawrence from 2016-2019, succeeding Greg Carvel who departed for UMass.
| Mark Morris | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Morris in 2006 | |||
| Born |
March 31, 1958 Massena, NY, USA | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb) | ||
| Position | Defense | ||
| Played for |
New Haven Nighthawks (AHL) Dallas Black Hawks (CHL) | ||
| NHL draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 1981–1984 | ||
| Coaching career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| 1977–1981 | Colgate | ||
| Position(s) | Defenseman | ||
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |||
| 1984–1985 | Union (assistant) | ||
| 1985–1988 | St. Lawrence (assistant) | ||
| 1988–2002 | Clarkson | ||
| 2003 | Vancouver Canucks (assistant) | ||
| 2003–2004 | Saginaw Spirit (assistant) | ||
| 2004–2006 | Northwood School Prep | ||
| 2006–2014 | Manchester Monarchs | ||
| 2014–2015 | Florida Panthers (assistant) | ||
| 2015–2016 | Charlotte Checkers | ||
| 2016–2019 | St. Lawrence | ||
| Head coaching record | |||
| Overall | 337–225–53 (.591) | ||
| Accomplishments and honors | |||
| Championships | |||
| 1991 ECAC Hockey Regular Season 1991 ECAC Hockey Tournament 1993 ECAC Hockey Tournament 1995 ECAC Hockey Regular Season 1997 ECAC Hockey Regular Season 1999 ECAC Hockey Regular Season 1999 ECAC Hockey Tournament 2001 ECAC Hockey Regular Season | |||
| Awards | |||
| 1991 ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year 2001 ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year | |||
Career
editMorris played four seasons (1981 – 1984) of professional hockey, mostly with the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League (AHL), where he scored 9 goals and 33 assists for 42 points, with 146 penalty minutes, in 156 AHL games played.
Following his playing career, Morris turned to coaching and found his way to Clarkson. He became the Golden Knights most successful coach winning more games, regular season titles, tournament titles and reaching more NCAA tournaments than anyone in school history.[1]
In November 2002, Morris was fired three games into the 2002-03 season following an on-ice incident with one of his own players. Clarkson president Denny Brown said that in light of both the incident and Morris' refusal to take part in an internal investigation that had taken place, Clarkson had no choice but to fire Morris immediately.[2]
In professional hockey, Morris began his professional coaching career under Marc Crawford, serving from February 2003 to April 2003 as the Special Assistant Coach/Interim Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL. Then, after a two-year stint at a prep school in Lake Placid, Morris landed a job with the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League in 2006. He spent eight years as head coach, compiling a record of 339-223-67, making him the only coach in history with over 300 wins in both the college and professional ranks.[3]
In 2016 Morris returned to the college game, taking over at St. Lawrence, which is less than 10 miles from Clarkson University, and attempted to try and continue the success he had in the 1990s. After a good first season Morris found himself mired in an NCAA investigation that alleged multiple serious rules violations but after three months he was cleared on all but one minor infraction.[4] In his third season Morris posted the second-worst record in program history, including the most losses for any Saints team, and was unsurprisingly fired at the end of the postseason.[5]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarkson Golden Knights (ECAC Hockey) (1988–2003) | |||||||||
| 1988–89 | Clarkson | 16–13–3 | 13–7–2 | 4th | ECAC Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1989–90 | Clarkson | 21–11–3 | 12–7–3 | t-3rd | ECAC Semifinals | ||||
| 1990–91 | Clarkson | 29–9–2 | 15–5–2 | 1st | NCAA Frozen Four | ||||
| 1991–92 | Clarkson | 22–10–1 | 16–6–1 | t-2nd | ECAC Semifinals | ||||
| 1992–93 | Clarkson | 20–10–5 | 12–6–4 | t-3rd | NCAA East regional quarterfinals | ||||
| 1993–94 | Clarkson | 20–9–5 | 13–5–4 | 2nd | ECAC third-place game (win) | ||||
| 1994–95 | Clarkson | 23–10–4 | 14–5–3 | 1st | NCAA East regional quarterfinals | ||||
| 1995–96 | Clarkson | 25–10–3 | 16–4–2 | 2nd | NCAA East regional semifinals | ||||
| 1996–97 | Clarkson | 27–10–0 | 17–5–0 | 1st | NCAA East regional semifinals | ||||
| 1997–98 | Clarkson | 23–9–3 | 16–4–2 | 2nd | NCAA East regional quarterfinals | ||||
| 1998–99 | Clarkson | 25–11–1 | 18–4–0 | 1st | NCAA East regional semifinals | ||||
| 1999–00 | Clarkson | 17–15–3 | 9–8–3 | t-4th | ECAC Four vs. Five | ||||
| 2000–01 | Clarkson | 21–11–3 | 15–5–2 | 1st | ECAC Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2001–02 | Clarkson | 17–15–6 | 11–6–5 | 2nd | ECAC third-place game (loss) | ||||
| 2002–03 † | Clarkson | 0–3–0 † | 0–1–0 † | ||||||
| Clarkson: | 306–156–42 | 198–78–34 | |||||||
| St. Lawrence Saints (ECAC Hockey) (2016–2019) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | St. Lawrence | 17–13–7 | 12–6–4 | 4th | ECAC Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2017–18 | St. Lawrence | 8–27–2 | 3–18–1 | 12th | ECAC first round | ||||
| 2018–19 | St. Lawrence | 6–29–2 | 3–17–2 | 12th | ECAC first round | ||||
| St. Lawrence: | 31–69–11 | 18–41–7 | |||||||
| Total: | 337–225–53 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
† Morris was fired mid-season [7]
References
edit- ^ "Clarkson Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
- ^ http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/college-hockey-coach-mark-morris-one-of-a-kind/-->]
- ^ http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/college-hockey-coach-mark-morris-one-of-a-kind/-->]
- ^ "College hockey: SLU head coach Morris cleared of nearly all improprieties". Watertown Daily Times. February 7, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ^ "St. Lawrence Fires Mark Morris". College Hockey news. March 29, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ "Mark Morris Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ^ "2013–14 Clarkson hockey Media Guide". ISSUU.com. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/college-hockey-coach-mark-morris-one-of-a-kind/
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database