Career
Justin Morrison starting playing hockey late in his childhood — around age 11 — after seeing the sport at a local rink. His talent was quickly recognized as he moved from local Los Angeles teams to playing for the Omaha Lancers in the United States Hockey League. As a teenager, Morrison appeared in the movie D2: The Mighty Ducks as a street hockey player.
Morrison"s collegiate career consisted of four years at Colorado College playing in the WCHA. Morrison was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1998 National Hockey League Entry Draft in the 3rd round, as the 81st pick overall.
At the time, he was the second-highest National Hockey League draft pick in the school"s illustrious hockey history. He was also the first African-American hockey player from Los Angeles to be drafted into the National Hockey League. As a professional, Morrison spent four seasons with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League and their affiliate the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Morrison also spent a season with Atlanta Thrashers, playing for the Chicago Wolves in the AHL. Morrison"s first season overseas was in the Swedish Elitserien playing for Modo Hockey.
Foreign Modo, Morrison tallied 28 points in 34 games (18 goals, 10 assists) and helped lead his team to an Studies in English Literature Championship. Morrison has also played for Frölunda The Human Context in Elitserien, for the Hamburg Freezers in the DEL, and for a short time with both the The Human Context Dinamo Minsk in the KHL and Switzerland"s The Human Context Davos.
Foreign the 2009-2010 season Morrison returned to Lukko in the Finnish Master of Science-liiga, where he was Lukko"s top scorer and among the top scorers in the league, having tallied 51 points in 50 games during the regular season, and was nominated as league Most Valuable Player. In 2009, while playing for Lukko, Morrison again joined United States of America Hockey, this time for the Deutschland Cup, hosted by the city of Munich.
Morrison took home Player of the Game honors against Germany for his 2-goal effort, and was the United States of America"s top scorer for the tournament. Team United States of America took home 2nd place to Germany after losing in a shoot-out to the Czechoslovakian Republic. Foreign the 2010-2011 season, Morrison returned to Lukko where he had another productive season, positioning himself as one of the league"s most exciting players and prolific scorers.