Mark Morrison tribute

Fife Today

8 months ago

Fife Flyers retire Mark Morrison's jersey number

Transcript

00:00Mark Hollison, or Moe, as he was affectionately bequeathed known, arrived in Kirkcaldy for

00:11the summer of 1993, having been recruited by vet coach Gerald Lynch. Mark quickly struck

00:17up a dynamic partnership with NHL veteran Doug Stale, and a young local skater named

00:22Stephen Ken, and went on to record his highest single season points total with the White

00:27Flyers for 119, a total which is the third most all-time in Flyers history. His weight

00:33gain sidelined with a broken thumb in the full-length injury-damaged season, Mark once

00:38again led the club into scoring. Following the coaching departure of Jim Lynch, and also

00:42the returning Ronnie Plumb, Mark stepped in as Flyers play coach in November 1995, and

00:48his first game in charge being what became known as the Braveheart game in a televised

00:52meeting with the Sheffield Steelers, where he saw the Flyers take the win.

00:56His first season in charge of the club saw the Flyers compete in the British National

01:01League, and would bring Mark and the first of his three coaching of the year accolades,

01:05a week on the e-court, and find Flyers this day by Al Rogers. Mark's gave the Flyers to

01:11a Northern Premier League Championship, losing just three of 36 games. The following season

01:16guided the club to their first back-to-back league championship for 20 years. This also

01:22saw Mark lead the Flyers this morning for the fourth time in five years.

01:26Season 98-99 was a bittersweet one for Mark, as the season ended prematurely with a broken

01:31ankle, but from the bench, he masterminded a British Championship win at Hull, and an

01:36epic penalty shootout win against the Soyer Jets. If you look, it couldn't get any better

01:42when season 99-2000 yielded the Christmas Cup, Scottish Cup, the league title, and the

01:47retention of the British Championship crown to complete a grand slam. Following this,

01:52Mark guided the club to further success in 2001 and 2002, as he luckily defeated this

01:58Cup, and ended 03-04 one day once again for a British National League Championship.

02:04With a total of 561 goals, Mark's sixth-fourth all-time in Flyers history, his 631 assists,

02:11places in fourths all-time, and 1,192 points, is also the third-best of all-time here at

02:19the Fight Flyers. Please take a look down the screen, and we'll hear from Mark

02:23himself, as he talks about his time with the Fight Flyers.

02:30I have some background in Scotland. My grandfather was born in the Island Sky, and

02:35I always wanted to go visit Scotland and see what it was all about, so when I got the call

02:39from Jim Lynch, it was an exciting opportunity for me, and I spent many years after that phone

02:45call in Scotland.

03:00We just had a really good hockey team. Those were good times, and then we had a new team,

03:05so it was a combination of everything there. I much enjoyed my 12 years there. The people were

03:11amazing. That fan base was very passionate about the game, passionate about supporting the players

03:19on the team, and that's ultimately what kept me coming back to Fife, was the people. I guess some

03:27of the championships we won, I mean, the 1999 championship against Slough stands out to me.

03:36What a great team we had there with a tight-knit group of players. It brings back memories. When I

03:44got the phone call from Tom here, I think I sat down and just thought about all the great memories

03:51in the 12 years that I had there, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. So, completely honored

03:58about having my number retired there, and I'm going to have to come back and take a look.

04:04Thank you to all the great hockey players that I played with and great teammates there,

04:10and thank you to all the Fife Flyers fans that I got to know throughout the years.

04:18I think it would only be proper if I mentioned those names of people that were special to me.

04:27Tom Muir, Jack Wishart, you know, put tremendous teams together when I was there.

04:36Some of the Scottish Flyers that I said this earlier, Andy Sandoval, Davie Smith, John Hickstein,

04:42Kenny Derrick King, Andy Finlay. Thank you for being such a great teammate, and again,

04:50thanks to everybody that I met over there. I couldn't have enjoyed my time more.

06:27you

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