As a coach, there’s not much that beats seeing a young athlete you’ve worked with for years succeed.
For goalie coach Tim Morison, the windup of the hockey season over the past few months has been one highlight after another, as no less than four of the young men he’s helped mentor have either hoisted championships trophies over their heads or come close.
It started back in April, when the Winkler Royals swept the Senior A Provincial championship in two games against the Killarney Shamrocks. Between the posts for the Royals were Travis Klassen and Matthew Thiessen, who both went through Morison’s goalie training program years ago.
Then, last month, Morison was with the Niverville Nighthawks as they won the national junior A championship in Prince Edward Island, bringing home the Centennial Cup. He served as the team’s goaltending coach for this year’s campaign and got to experience the big win alongside Carman netminder Ben Chornomydz, who Morison has worked with for over a decade.
And just a few weeks ago, Morden native Raiden LeGall, another of Morison’s athletes, was with the Everett Silvertips as they won their first Western Hockey League title and then took a crack at the Memorial Cup. They were runners-up for the national title after being defeated by the Kitchener Rangers in the final.
“I’ve been running my goalie company for 17 years and have been working with Pembina Valley goalies and teams throughout this [time],” said Morison. “To have two goalies that I’ve trained since they were eight years old and now 19 competing and winning national Canadian championships is a pretty cool thing to see.”
Walking alongside athletes from such a young age is an amazing experience, Morison shared.
“It’s cool just to see them grow up. And, honestly, hockey is just one side of it,” he said. “Watching them grow up into good human beings and positive members of our communities is really what I strive for.
“Some of the first guys that I ever started training … they’ve gone from students to best friends to people who have stood up at my wedding,” Morison added. “There’s a real bond there. We’re like family now.”
Both Chornomydz and LeGall are frequently giving back, working with younger players at Morison’s goalie camps to inspire them to reach for new heights. LeGall also spearheaded a fundraising campaign this season that raised $14,000 for grief support and mental health programming in Winkler and Washington, where he plays with the Silvertips.
“All the kids that I grew up training are coming back from playing the WHL, coming back from playing junior hockey, college hockey, to work for me [at summer camp] and it’s so cool to see,” Morison reflected. “Last year was probably my best year of just being able to sit back and go, wow, what have I done here? It’s just this community of goalies where everybody appreciates everyone else.
“I get send texts, pictures all the time of these eight, nine-year-old kids staying up late to watch Everett play on TV, or they’re cheering on Raiden … they’re superstars to the younger generation, and it’s awesome.”
A whirlwind of experiences
The season was quite a rush for Chornomydz, who got to hoist both the MJHL’s Turnbull Cup and the Centennial Cup with the Nighthawks.
While as backup goalie he saw little ice time, Chornomydz made sure he was contributing to the team’s morale however he could.
“You want to be a good teammate,” he said. “Telling the boys ‘good shift’ and ‘keep working hard.’ Really just being a positive guy on the bench.”
Chornomydz feels his second year of junior hockey was a fruitful one. He was between the posts for 20 out of 58 games in the regular season.
“I think this year was the year that I grew the most,” he said, noting he hopes to step up more with the Nighthawks next season.
Reflecting on his work with Morison, Chornomydz noted Morison was there when he first realized goalie was the role he wanted to pursue in hockey.
“That was my first ever skate and camp, and it was at Tim’s camp in Morden,” he recalled. “He’s been incredible, right from the start until now. I think it’s pretty cool that I can say he’s been my guy the whole way through, and not just on the ice but off the ice too. Driving to Carman, to Winkler, whatever, and just talking about hockey, talking about life. It’s so important to have a guy like that who, he’s your goalie coach, but he’s also someone you can just talk to whenever you need anything.”
LeGall feels the same way.
“He’s definitely been more than just a coach to me. He’s become family over the years,” he shared.
“I fell in love with hockey during those camps, and it was the highlight of my year every year,” LeGall said, noting he hopes to take a page out of Morison’s playbook and continue to be involved in mentoring the next generation. “It’s pretty cool to be on the other side of it and to turn around and give back and be to the kids today what the older guys were to me when I was that age.”
This season was LeGall’s last in junior hockey. He’s heading down south to play for Minnesota State while he majors in sports management.
Reflecting on the past few months, LeGall said it’s been a whirlwind.
“It was really cool. I don’t think two years ago I would have ever guessed that I’d be winning the WHL and getting to go to the Memorial Cup, so it was a really cool experience altogether. We had a great group of guys and it was a blast.”
Like Chornomydz, he also didn’t see too much ice time in the post-season, but he was pleased with his regular season contributions.
“I played 38 games this season and I had a great season,” LeGall said. “I got a lot of experience this year and I’m looking forward to moving on to the next thing.”
