Morin Still Driven by a Dream

It has been been more than six months since Flyers defenseman Samuel Morin suffered the second anterior cruciate ligament tear of his career. The most recent injury happened on Nov. 6 during an innocuous-looking play during a conditioning stint appearance for the American Hockey League's Lehigh Valley Phantoms,

During that time, a global coronavirus pandemic has made professional sports secondary and caused the suspension or cancelation of play in a host of different leagues. It has provided a sobering dose of perspective for athletes worldwide, including Morin.

"The pandemic is a terrible thing, much bigger than hockey. It sucks that the NHL can't play right now. It sucks that it sounds like next season might start later [than normal], but there are bigger things going on," he said.

At the same time, Morin knows he still has a job to do. He has been diligently rehabbing his knee -- both before and during the NHL pause -- under the auspices of Jim McCrossin, the Flyers longtime director of medical services.

If there is a personal silver lining to the pandemic's dark cloud, it's that injury-rehabbing NHL players such as Morin have access to workout and even skating facilities unlike their teammates. Thus, the pandemic restrictions that have kept most NHL players off the ice have not been a setback in Morin's rehab process.

"For me, I look at it like hockey is my job. Right now, my job is to rehab my knee. Like you said, I went through the process before. My knee is feeling great right now. I've been skating for about six weeks now. It's a little lonely in the gym. But Jimmy is the best. I don't take any days off. I do it seven days a week," Morin said.

When he leaves the rink, Morin remains in self-quarantine as the NHL has required of every player. Sociable and gregarious by nature, Morin misses his teammates but said that he does not feel isolated.

"With technology today, you can stay connected to your teammates and your friends. So, no, I am not feeling lonely during this," he said. "We have a great group with the Flyers; a lot of 'beauties' in that room and also a lot of good players. We have a deep team. I wasn't surprised how good the team has played this year."

Above all, it's still the dream of becoming an NHL regular that drives Morin to put in his daily rehab work. The 6-foot-7 defenseman, who will turn 25 on July 12, has missed most of the last two-and-a-half seasons due first to a core muscle injury and then to the two separate ACL tears.

Morin is an optimistic and energetic type of person by nature, but he is also as mentally tough as he is physically intimidating on the ice. He concedes that, immediately after the most recent ACL tear happened, he had a moment of doubt where he lamented how it felt like his dream had been snatched away from him yet again and wondered if he had another rehab process in him. That feeling quickly went away, though, and he turned the page. He set his mind to going through the process one more time.

"I still have the passion for hockey. I want to play in the NHL. I want to play for the Flyers. They drafted me [in the first round of the 2013 Draft]. I have played a few games, but I want to give myself a chance to play more. That's still my goal," he said. "If something [happens again injury-wise] and I have to do something else, I want to know that I gave it everything I had. So, yeah, I have a lot of motivation."

Morin tries to always look ahead, not back. He doesn't dwell on how close he was to earning a regular NHL spot out of camp in late teens or how a repeatedly torn psoas muscle (one of the main muscle groups that comprise the hip flexor) ruined his 2017-18 regular season before suffering the first ACL tear in his third appearance of the 2018 Calder Cup playoffs. He doesn't lament all the games he has missed the last three seasons after never missing a game due to injury his first two pro years.

Even so, he admits that there will be mental hurdles ahead as well as physical ones. It would take take a stretch of game action next uninterrupted by injuries to where he can just worry about recovering his game -- specifically, the physical and aggressive style of play that it is hallmark along with the improved attention to detail he had begun to display before the series of major injuries -- and not first and foremost about staying healthy.

"A French-speaking reporter asked me the same question last week. I have to be honest. It's going to take some time to get all the way back. It stays in your mind a little bit, and the only way to get through it is to play. It is was it is, right? But I feel really good right now, and I still have the same goal," he said.