Morrow ‘very honored’ to be inducted into Stars Hall of Fame 

DALLAS -- Brenden Morrow was inducted into the Dallas Stars Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The 45-year-old forward was selected in the first round (No. 25) by the Stars at the 1997 NHL Draft. He played 13 of his 16 seasons with Dallas, scoring 243 of his 265 career goals and 528 of his 575 points with the Stars before later playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, and Tampa Bay Lightning.

“Never expected to be included with those list of guys – [Mike] Modano, [Sergei] Zubov, and [Jere] Lehtinen and [Derian] Hatcher. To be included with them is incredible and something I never thought would ever be possible,” Morrow said. “Very honored to be part of it.”

Morrow’s most memorable moment in Dallas came in 2008, when he scored on the power play 9:03 into the fourth overtime of Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round, a 2-1 win against the San Jose Sharks. The goal was scored after midnight CT on May 5 and affectionately came to be known as “Cinco de Morrow.”

“I was a grinder that played hard and just tried to win every battle and play the same every game,” Morrow said. “I was able to do that for a long period of time in Dallas, and I think I was respected for the way I played.”

He officially retired from the NHL in March of 2016 after signing a ceremonial one-day contract with the Stars.

“He probably goes down as one of the best that ever played with this team. Such a great player, captain, and person,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said. “When you look at the Dallas Stars as an organization, you want good people and obviously good hockey players, and he checks all the boxes for how he went about his business and leading this group and playing the game hard.”

Morrow was Stars captain for seven seasons from 2006-13. His impact is still felt by the current team; he set an example for Benn, who first joined Dallas as a rookie in 2009 and was named captain prior to the 2013-14 season.

“He didn’t talk all that much, but when he did, it was powerful. It had meaning behind it, and everyone listened,” Benn said. “There was no better player to follow out onto the ice than him.”

Morrow said he is proud of the way Benn has evolved as a leader.

“You don’t really learn leadership qualities, you just see how other people do it,” Morrow said. “I think [Hatcher] was very similar in that sense. He was not the most vocal guy. He had guys on the team when I was there, like Brian Skrudland or Guy Carbonneau, that were more the vocal guys and then he went out and led by example. I learned from somebody similar, but I feel like your leadership qualities are something you’re born with than that you learn. Jamie has that in him as well.”