Joey Payeur
There wasn’t much time to get settled, so the realizations about his newest hockey adventure took a while to sink in for Morgan McNeill.
“About halfway through the game, it really sunk in that I’m playing hockey in Australia,” chuckled the former Fort Frances Lakers’ defenceman about his first game, a 4-3 win for the Adelaide Adrenaline of the Australian Ice Hockey League on April 22 against the two-time defending champion Newcastle Northstars–just one day after he arrived “Down Under.”
“The crowd and the fans were just crazy,” recalled the 27-year-old native of Days Corner, P.E.I., who now calls Wellington, P.E.I. home.
“It was a sold-out barn and our home-opener, so it was an amazing atmosphere.
“I said to one of my teammates from Canada, ‘Did you ever think you’d be playing pro hockey in Australia?’ He just kind of shook his head and laughed.
“We’re pretty lucky to be able to be down here and it’s been a surreal experience so far,” added McNeill.
“The hockey community is still pretty small over here but they love the sport and embrace us, for sure.”
McNeill’s hockey career has seen him criss-cross this continent before crossing the Pacific.
He played the 2008-09 season with the now-defunct Schreiber Diesels of the SIJHL before joining the Lakers for two seasons–amassing 42 points in 93 regular-season games while adding 12 more in 23 playoff contests.
He then took the post-secondary route and competed in three games for the Ryerson University Rams in 2011-12 before heading to Caronport, Sask. to suit up for the Briercrest College Wolves for two years.
A brief stint with the Watertown Wolves of the Federal Hockey League lasted only three games before he headed back to his Maritime roots and joined the Tracadie (N.B.) Alpines of the North East Senior Hockey League (NESHL).
Tracadie captured the NESHL title that season but then abruptly folded, with its players divided throughout the league via a dispersal draft.
McNeill wound up staying in the province by getting on board with the Bouctouche Dodge Ram JCs–whom the Alpines beat in the final–and just finished his second season with the team.
“It’s a little closer to my home, and they have a great group of guys running the team and a great group of players,” McNeill said about the JCs.
It proved to be a memorable campaign as Bouctouche hosted the Allan Cup Canadian men’s senior ‘AAA’ hockey championship last month.
“It was a pretty big thrill to be able to play with and against that group of talented players, with so many former NHL players being there,” McNeill enthused.
“We were the underdogs of the tournament,” he noted. “They predicted we wouldn’t win a game and we might get blown out the water.”
With 15-year NHL veteran Arron Asham in its lineup, Bouctouche lost its two Division Two games 2-1 to the Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts (McNeill did not play) and 5-4 to the Lacombe Generals, with McNeill assisting on the JCs’ third goal.
In the quarter-finals, Bouctouche had to deal with another army of Generals–this time from Stoney Creek, Ont.
The two teams played 60 minutes of scoreless hockey before Bruce Graham put the home crowd into a frenzy by netting the game-winner for the JCs at 2:51 of overtime.
“That was probably one of the most tense games I’ve been a part of in a while,” said McNeill.
“Neither team wanted to make a mistake,” he noted. “The crowd would hold their breath with each play.
“We both had questionable goals called back in regulation [time] but we knew we wanted to end it early if we could,” McNeill continued.
“When Bruce scored, I thought the building was coming down–definitely one of the better games I’ve ever been a part of.
“Stoney Creek had been the favourites according to a lot of people, so it was amazing to knock them off the way we did and the fans were awesome,” he remarked.
Up next was a semi-final rematch April 14 against the Cataracts, a squad playing in its third-straight Allan Cup tournament.
Grand Falls-Windsor only led 2-1 after two periods before scoring three times in the third to claim a 5-2 victory.
Then they went on to dump Lacombe 7-4 in the final for their first Allan Cup crown in eight appearances.
“I just think we ran in to a team with a lot of Allan Cup experience and a really strong defensive game, led by their goalie [Bryan Gillis],” said McNeill.
“It was a close game, back and forth, and we had chances,” he recalled. “We just didn’t capitalize.
“Watching them outplay the Lacombe Generals the way they did, yeah, it wasn’t so bad knowing that we were that close,” McNeill noted.
“It would have made for a great final had it been us and Grand Falls-Windsor.”
McNeill was satisfied with how he performed in the most prestigious tournament of his career to date.
“I feel like I played well throughout the tournament,” he remarked.
“The first period of the first game I had some pretty nervous shifts, just knowing these guys played where they played,” he conceded.
“But once I got my feet under me, I kept it simple and stuck to my game. . . .
“It was a honour to be a part of it.”
McNeill had been recruited by Adelaide last year but said things fell through.
With the Adrenaline under new management this season, the blueliner remained on their radar and continued to draw interest to the point where he decided to take the long-distance plunge.
“It also helps out that I have a sister who lives down here and plays in a senior hockey league in the city,” he noted.
“She told me a lot about it and the travel bug kind of got the best of me, and I fell in love with the idea of playing hockey in Australia and seeing different parts of this country,” he explained.
McNeill added there’s no danger of homesickness considering who else is on the Adrenaline this season.
“It’s unique because we have five imports and of those five imports, four of us have a connection to Prince Edward Island, with three of us were born there and the other guy played university hockey at UPEI,” McNeill remarked.
“So it’s nice having that East Coast connection.”
McNeill said the roster composition for teams throughout the AIHL is a mixture of home-grown talent and intercontinental additions.
“Most of the imports have played major junior, CIS, or some form of minor professional hockey and the local players hold their own against these guys, for sure, so that says something for the overall talent,” he noted.
“A lot of these guys also play inline hockey so in terms of individual skill, it is quite high.”
McNeill, meanwhile, remembers his time in Fort Frances with complete fondness.
“Wayne [Strachan], Grant [Perreault], Bobby [Mainville], Jon [Cooper], and Dale [Cooper] all treated me great and allowed me to grow as a hockey player, and helped me grow as a person,” he lauded.
“I was very thankful that the Lakers picked me up and gave me a place to spend my final junior years, and gave me a chance to help lay the foundation for that club.
“I was lucky enough to live with Jon Cooper, ‘Coops,’ and he treated me great and we became more like brothers than billet father-and-son,” he noted.
McNeill still follows the team online and is amazed by their recently-ended three-year championship run.
“I made some great friendships over the course of those two years and I still talk about those days frequently,” he remarked, also noting his sadness upon hearing the news of Perreault’s death from cancer on April 1.
“Grant gave me a chance to come in there and play my game,” McNeill recalled.
“He gave me a chance to meet the coaching staff and just grow and really love the game of hockey.
“I’ll always remember my two years spent in the Fort.”
As for the rest of his playing career, McNeill is uncertain what will happen past this summer in Australia.
“I will see what the options are for next year, but I know I have a few years left to give,” he noted.
I still have a passion for going to the rink so I know I still love the game.
“When I’m done, I want to be a personal trainer and eventually have my own facility or be involved with a hockey team, and try and work my way up,” McNeill added.
“I have one year left of my kinesiology program and I should finish that next year, and then we’ll see where the road takes me.”
