Princeton University Athletics
Benoit Morin: Playing Two Ways, His Way
August 01, 2000 | General
He regrets the fact that he never played football. Before his tenure at Old Nassau, before his No. 16 became synonymous with big hits and bigger goals, he was an all-sport athlete.
Benoit Morin took up rugby and lacrosse. He grew up playing hockey and baseball (naturally, he was a catcher), but he never took up football.
"I wish I tried to play it," the senior from Montreal says. "I would liked to have played running back, or maybe somewhere on defense. I don't really know the positions, but somewhere on defense."
Football would have suited him well. Then again, soccer and tennis and badminton and water polo would probably serve this gifted athlete well. He loves to play, he loves to compete aggressively, and he loves to win.
In the end, he chose hockey. It suited Princeton well. Very well.
The year was 1994, and Benoit Morin was still a couple of years away from seriously considering college. Princeton wasn't on the list because he'd quite frankly never heard of the school. It wasn't until Francois Magnant, a former player for Yale, informed him of the southern Ivy schools before Morin seriously considered Princeton. He went from knowing nothing to creating a list of only two options: Princeton or Yale.
"Yale actually recruited me before Princeton did," Morin remembers. "I loved my trip here, though, and that made my decision. Plus, I knew Syl [Apps '99], so that helped. We played on a line together for one year in high school."
Like many collegiate hockey players, Morin didn't come straight from high school. He played a year of junior hockey with the Montreal East Rangers, which forced him to sit out a year of college hockey. His freshman year at Princeton was limited to drills. And more drills. And, well, you get the picture.
That's where his desire to be the best came in to play. Morin may be known first and foremost for his aggressive checks and dangerous slap shot, but his dedication in practice and in the weight room have helped him become the player he is today.
"It wasn't easy, but I think my freshman year was when I improved most," Morin says. "I wasn't used to going all out for every practice, every drill. Coach Cahoon expects that of us."
He made some good friends during those freshman practices. Many were his classmates, a group of guys that would often get overshadowed by deeper, more talented classes. The Class of 2000 may not have a player in the NHL like Jeff Halpern '99. But then again, Halpern and his fellow Class of 1999 mates only won 63 games in their illustrious careers.
The Class of 2000 won 66, more than any other class in University history. Not bad for a group that, as seniors, was picked to end up 11th in the ECAC but finished sixth.
Then there was that other record. Morin laughs at its mention because he knows it's only a matter of time. The slap shot, the fluid passing, the shorthanded mastery ... in the end, the interview always comes back to it.
Penalty minutes.
When Morin and Alex Todd of Union were sent to the penalty boxes at 19:20 of the first period in a February game, history was made. Morin had accumulated his 298th penalty minute, at least one more than any other Tiger in history since penalty minutes were kept as a statistic. Lewis and Clark explored fewer territories than Morin has penalty boxes. It comes with his style of play.
Make no mistake, though. His style is aggressive.
There is a line between the reputation and the reality, but it is clear if you watch his game instead of listen to his critics.
"I won't hesitate in hitting someone," Morin says. "I'm just doing my job, trying to separate that guy from the puck. I consider a dirty player somebody that takes cheap shots. That's not what I do."
His aggression has not been tempered over the years, but experience has taught him the difference between a good penalty and a bad penalty.
There were a lot of bad penalties his sophomore campaign. "I had to get adjusted to this type of league," he says. "The stuff you can get away with in the junior leagues is unbelievable."
But this is collegiate hockey, ECAC hockey, and Morin was doing his teammates no favors by constantly going to the box during the 1997-98 season. Sure, he still goes this season, but he's been taking company with him. For instance, the record-breaking penalty against Union was a minor roughing call against Morin and a double minor against Todd. That's a power-play opportunity for Princeton.
It seems like a little thing, but one penalty can lead to one goal.
Sometimes one goal has no effect on a game.
Sometimes it wins a league title.
As a sophomore, Morin expected to be crowned ECAC champions at Lake Placid. When you put on that jersey and work that hard, you can't possibly expect anything less. So when the double-overtime wrister by Apps gave Princeton a 5-4 win over Clarkson for the tournament championship, Morin was rewarded for his faith.
His stats as a sophomore were impressive, but his best stretch of games likely came late in his junior year. Starting with a pair of goals in the Ivy-clinching win at Dartmouth, Morin put together a group of games that showcased his often-overlooked offensive credentials, which have impressed the local ECHL affiliate Trenton Titans so much that they signed Morin to a contract on March 23 and played him that night.
His most important goals came during the thrilling 6-5 win over Cornell to clinch a spot at Lake Placid and the 3-2 win over Colgate to reach the ECAC semifinals.
Trailing the Big Red 4-2 early in the third period, the Tigers were forced to kill a penalty to Chris Corrinet. Cahoon used two of his best shorthanded forwards, Apps and Morin, in hopes of keeping the deficit at two.
It would soon be one goal. Apps won a faceoff in the offensive zone back to Morin, who fired the puck so quickly that nobody, including Cornell goalie Matt Underhill, had any clue what happened until they heard the siren go off. It propelled the Tigers to a four-goal period and another trip to Lake Placid.
Colgate awaited Princeton in the Final Five game. At that point the Red Raiders were the hottest team in the league, having swept Clarkson and St. Lawrence during the final weekend.
Morin scored the game's first goal at 5:24 of the second period, but Colgate ended the period with a 2-1 lead. Morin assisted on a power-play goal by Scott Bertoli '99 (now Morin's teammate with the Trenton Titans) at 4:11 of the final period, setting up a tense final 15 minutes.
Both teams took it to each other in a game that certainly belonged in Lake Placid. The Tigers finally caught a break when Morin and Kirk Lamb started a two-on-one rush. Lamb, a close friend of Morin's, made a perfect feed to his open linemate.
Morin wasn't about to miss.
"Kirk was struggling offensively, so I was really happy for him," Morin says. "I know how much that meant to him."
That's the other reason he loves to play sports. Besides his desire to stay in shape and his competitive spirit, he appreciates the friendships and camaraderie he has with his teammates.
The camaraderie with the referees is just an added bonus.