Morris drafted in first round by San Jose
Morris spent last season as a senior at St. Sebastian's High School in Massachusetts. During the 2001-02 campaign, Morris served as the team's captain and helped lead St. Sebastian's to the Independent School League's Keller Division title. He also led St. Sebs to its second straight New England Prep School Athletic Conference championship. Morris led St. Sebastian's in scoring with 58 points (29 goals and 29 assists) in 31 games and was named the ISL's Most Valuable Player.
The six-foot, 182-pound right winger was a member of Team Massachusetts at the 2000 and 1999 USA Hockey Select – 17 and – 16 teams. In 1999, he helped Team Massachusetts capture a Silver medal in the tournament.
Central Scouting describes Morris as being a very quick and agile skater with good acceleration and a deceiving change of pace. He is a clever playmaker and confident puck handler. Morris was ranked 101st by Central Scouting at midseason and moved up to 57th in their final rankings.
Morris is the latest Husky to be drafted by San Jose. Both Jim Fahey and Willie Levesque, who were seniors last season, were draft picks of San Jose, Fahey in 1998 and Levesque in 1999. Also, Graig Mischler, who led NU in scoring in 2000-01, played last season in the Sharks organization as a member of the Cleveland Barons. Morris joins Mike Ryan (Dallas Stars), Scott Selig (Montreal Canadiens) and Brian Sullivan (Dallas Stars) as current Huskies who have been drafted by NHL teams. A total of nine Northeastern players have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft since Bruce Crowder took over as head coach of the program in 1996.
Being selected 27th overall gives Morris the distinction of being the first player drafted who played high school or prep school hockey last season. He is also the fourth American and the fourth right winger chosen in the draft.
June 22, 2002
Northeastern hockey recruit Mike Morris from Braintree, Mass. was selected in the first round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft on Saturday June 22. The Sharks selected Morris with the 27th overall pick in the draft. It was the Sharks' first pick in the draft.
