Morris succeeded as athlete, coach
Massena's Mark Morris has assembled such an impressive coaching career in the last 25 years that it is easy to forget that he was a standout athlete as well.
Morris was part of the strong hockey teams that Massena high school produced throughout the 1970s, but he also excelled in football and golf, winning All-Northern Athletic Conference honors in all three sports and capturing Section 10 champion honors in golf.
Morris moved on to Northwood Prep for a season, captaining the hockey and football teams, and then joined the NCAA Division I Colgate Red Raiders. He skated as a defenseman for four years under the late Terry Slater, a former St. Lawrence University player. He received the Coach's Award during his sophomore and senior seasons. By the end of his collegiate career in 1981, he had accumulated 73 points (23 goals and 50 assists). That total remains 87th all-time in Colgate history. He also played golf for the Red Raiders.
Morris then skated professionally, signing with the NHL's Los Angeles Kings after graduation. He played for the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central Hockey League and the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League between 1981-84. Morris end his three-year pro career with 42 points (9 goals, 33 assists).
From there, Morris embarked on a coaching career that put him among the most successful ever in college hockey. He began as an assistant at Union College, then spent three years as an assistant for St. Lawrence University head coach Joe Marsh, helping the Saints reach the NCAA final in 1988. That same year he was named head coach of Clarkson University's team and would become the most successful coach in Golden Knights history.
Morris helped Clarkson win eight ECAC titles in 14 seasons as head coach. The Golden Knights won five ECAC regular-season titles and three ECAC tournaments. He was named league coach of the year twice and compiled a 306-156-42 record, recording one of the most successful winning percentages in NCAA history.
Morris was fired by Clarkson after a physical on-ice altercation with a player. He later brought a lawsuit against the university, which was resolved in an out-of-court settlement. Morris moved as an assistant coach for the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, and an assistant coach for Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League before becoming Northwood Prep's head hockey coach in 2004. He coached the team to a 32-11-4 record, and Northwood registered a record 40 wins the following year, going 40-8.
Morris is now the head coach for the Manchester (N.H.) Monarchs of the AHL. His first Monarchs team set a franchise record for wins (51) and points (110) and advanced to the Eastern Conference final of the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time, in 2007. His current team is 21-23-0-5 and in sixth place in the Atlantic Division.
Morris and his wife, Cecily, live in Manchester and Massena and are the parents of four children, including daughter, Emily, a member of two-time NCAA women's hockey champion Wisconsin. Their other children are Mike, Leah and Kevin.
To read about previous selections tot he Times' list of The North Country's Greatest 100 Athletes of All Time, log on to www.watertowndailytimes.com
