BERNIE MORRIS
Date of Death: 1963-05-16Date of Birth: 1890-08-21
Date of Induction: 2022
Bernie Morris was born in Brandon, Manitoba, in 1890, a year after his parents immigrated from Ireland. Orphaned at the age of 8 along with two brothers, he dropped out of school after the eighth grade to work on his uncle's farm.
He played for several senior teams in Manitoba and Saskatchewan before joining the Victoria Aristocrats of the PCHA in 1914. He moved over to Seattle the following season, played eight seasons for Seattle, and was a member of the Stanley Cup champion 1917 team. He had an outstanding 1917 series, scoring 14 goals in four games.
Morris was scheduled to play in the ill-fated 1919 series, but despite being a British subject he was arrested by the United States for alleged draft dodging and received a sentence of two years, to be served at Alcatraz.
It turned out that as a Canadian citizen employed in the United States, Morris had been registered under the military service acts in both countries, but had received exemptions in each of them. His status in the United States was later changed, however he had been working at remote Canadian government camps and his mail advising him to report for the US Draft was never delivered. He became the "first foreign national on the West Coast convicted of draft evasion."
His situation was eventually resolved and by the Fall he was transferred to an Army unit and in March 1920 granted an honourable discharge. Morris quickly returned to Seattle and played in the 1920 series.
Combining NHA/NHL and PCHA statistics to rank all players of the era, Morris finished in the career top 20 for goals, assists, and points. In per-game statistics for the era, Morris is sixth in goals, fourth in assists, and fifth in points. There are only two players to make the top 10 for all three - Morris and Cyclone Taylor. Amazingly, there is only one player to rank in the top 20 for each career mark and top 10 for each per-game stat - Bernie Morris. Morris was one of his generation's greatest players.
In October 1923, Morris was traded by Seattle to the Calgary Tigers. He played for the Tigers in the 1924 Stanley Cup series against Montreal. In all, Morris played a season and a half with Calgary before being traded again. He was traded to the Montreal Maroons and then to the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 3, 1925. He was released by Boston in February 1925, and he returned west to play for the Regina Capitals.
From 1925 to 1930, Morris finished his career with various teams in the minor California Pro League, Can-Pro, and International League.