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Tuesday, November 30, 1999
Give us mo', Mo!
RALEIGH, N.C. -- They want mo' from Mo.
"I think I've played good so far," reasons Flame defenceman Derek Morris, "but not great. I haven't gotten in too much trouble, but I haven't generated as much as I could've, either.
"Do I think I should have more points? No doubt. It's at the time where I have to want to be the go-to guy. I have to want the puck when we need a goal or a play from the point."
Saying is one thing. Doing is another. No doubting that Morris has the ingredients to be a commanding presence on this team; in this league. Right now, though, seven points in 23 starts isn't what anyone had envisioned.
"We want him to be more aggressive with the puck, use his skills more to the maximum," says assistant coach Al MacNeil. "Hey, this guy's a horse. He has great stamina.
"We know he's going to be a 50-55-60 point guy. But we'd rather have it be sooner than later."
That's sooner, as in immediately.
"I wouldn't want people to misread it as a summit or anything," says coach Brian Sutter, "because we're constantly talking to our young players. But we sat down the other day with Mo and Savvy and Iggy and talked about things.
"He has to show more push to his game. And he has to shoot the puck quicker. This guy has a cannon. But right now he winds up and it's the old 1,001, 1,002, 1,003 ... "
The development of Morris, his ability to reach "the next level" was one of the critical elements to the Flames making a run at a playoff berth this season.
Sutter pointed to one moment in Denver the other night as a curriculum in how Morris should play all the time: With Peter Forsberg, no turtle, giving chase behind the Calgary net, Morris exploded up the middle, leaving his tracker in the dust. Reaching the Avs' blueline, he dished a backhand pass, putting Jason Wiemer in the clear off the right wing.
It was a strong, bold, decisive move.
"I don't agree with a lot of what Brian says but on that he's dead right," agrees Morris. "I have to skate more with the puck. My first three-four strides should be stronger; that way I'm already in gear, instead of trying to turn it on later up the ice.
"Look at Val. What's the difference between him last year and now? The way he uses his legs. He's driving with his legs. Same with Iggy. When Iggy's driving off the boards, no D-man can stop him. It's when he starts trying to get fancy and stickhandle his way into the middle that he gets in trouble.
"The talk with Brian was good. He wasn't all over me about playing poorly. He just wanted me to work on some things to make me better.
"I got the message:
"If I up the tempo, I'm going to up my production and my overall game."
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