Shayne Morrissey Trade

Shayne Morrissey (7) is a highly skilled forward

Today the Prince George Spruce Kings announced a trade with the Carleton Place Canadians of the CCHL acquiring Shayne Morrissey. The twenty year old forward from St. John's, Newfoundland has shown some offensive skills with his game and has been featured on a few sports highlight reels including TSN for a move called "the Morrissey Mixer" that he showed off at his hockey school.

Morrissey led the Canadians last season in scoring with 87 points (34 goals, 53 assists) and has posted some impressive numbers in his junior career. In 190 games with St. Andrew's College, Battlefords North Stars and Carleton Place Canadians, Morrissey has a record of 102 goals, 130 assists and 232 points.

Spruce Kings GM, Mike Hawes said that he has spoken with Shayne a few times and is very impressed and looking forward to getting him to Prince George. Shayne has started the process of heading west and is expected to be here Wednesday night and on the ice with his new team Thursday morning.

In the media release Hawes said Morrissey is a "highly skilled, impact player who will come in and compliment an already strong forward group. He is also a tremendous young man who will fit in well with our organization's core values."

What you might not know about the twenty year old is that he is completely focused on pursuing his hockey goals via the educational route with a NCAA scholarship. "Playing pro is important to me, and I’m going to continue to become a better player so I can achieve that goal one day. By playing NCAA hockey, I get an opportunity to get a high quality education," Morrissey told The Telegram in St. John's.

Morrissey received national attention after pulling off a move you have to see to believe. Using the butt end of his stick he picks up a puck and does a couple of overhead moves before jumping over the stick as he flips the puck up and then comes down with the one-timer in the air.

The unfortunate part of any trade is the player that has to go the other way, in this case that player is Alec Butcher who also led his team in scoring last year playing with the Pikes Peak Miners of the NAPHL. The Canadians wanted Butcher because of his potential and also the years of junior availability - something Morrissey is into his final year of.

Sometimes the older age group creates situations that aren't always ideal for the players or their teams. I think that might have been the case here with Morrissey starting the season with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL but was sent back to the Canadians. The CCHL has a similiar rule for the maximum allowable number of twenty year olds as the BCHL which is six.

By my count, Morrissey would have brought that number on the Carleton Place roster to eight. The Spruce Kings roster will now have five twenty year olds with Kirk Thompson, Trevor Esau, Brad Ryan, Coltyn Hansen and now Shayne Morrissey. The new forward will get his first taste of the BCHL in the big arena in Surrey on Friday night with the first meeting of the season against the Eagles.