It’s been a hard-fought journey for Flyers Prospect Samuel Morin. If you want to get technical, it’s been a little bit over a nine-month journey that has consisted mostly of rehab.
Back on May 9th of last year during a playoff game for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Morin’s playoff run took a turn for the worst when he tore his ACL in the 1st Period. Morin would not only not return for the playoff series, but he would be out for what then-Flyers GM Ron Hextall said would be about nine months, which was pretty accurate actually.
Last night, the highly anticipated Flyers Prospect made his season debut versus the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Not only did Morin play, but he was out there for the first shift of the game.
After the game, Morin admitted that he was a tad bit nervous for his first shift considering he hadn’t played in a game in over nine months.
“Yeah a little bit (referring to his nerves). You need to get in-game action. It’s a lot different in practice. In practice you have no pressure, you have time, and guys are going at it, forechecking hard. Like I said, I have a lot of work to do to get back to where I was and I have to keep working at it”.
Even the game as a whole consisted of some nerves for Morin who also admitted he was extremely tired and that he’s nowhere close to playing the way he had in the past.
”Yeah, I was a little bit nervous. I was exhausted out there. I was cramping up at the end so much. It’s not easy what I did today. Obviously, I’m not where I was last year. You can see it”.
Who could really expect Morin to be playing at a high level right out of the gate? When you don’t get into a game for that long, it takes a toll on the player both mentally and physically. At least for most guys it does. Rarely do you see a player come back after a major injury and play at 100%. It takes some time to get back into the swing of things and to build up confidence.
The 6’7” defenseman didn’t do anything that would blow anyone away, but he didn’t do anything wrong either. He played effective hockey and stuck to the basics. One step at a time for the up and coming 23-year-old. The more he plays, the better he’ll get and the more effective he’ll be. Get ready for those bone-crushing hits. Everyone knows Morin is capable of throwing his body around.
Getting used to playing in a game is something Morin also admitted will take some time. Everything is slowly but surely coming back to him.
“It’s good to get back out there. I think my body needs to get used to it again though. I mean it can’t get harder than that right? Coming back after nine months.”
The worst part is over for the big man. He took part in his first game this season with the Phantoms and now knows what it feels like to be back out on the ice during a game. All he can do now is continue to work hard and improve his game. Don’t be surprised if, in the near future, Morin is called upon to play for the Flyers. If he had never gotten hurt, there was a good chance he would have made the Flyers out of training camp. Either way, it’s good to see the highly anticipated prospect back out on the ice. It’s no fun having to sit and watch on the sidelines.
As always, Let’s Go Flyers and in this case, Let’s Go Phantoms!
Photo credit: Alex Mclntyre
