Former Canuck Gus Morschauser died!

[Babarnikov]

Oh my God!  Why wasn't this in the Vancouver Sun or Province!

 

Former Vancouver Canucks netminder Morschauser dies at 47

Tue., Apr 12, 2016 | By Record staff

 

Gus Morschauser didn't look back when retired from professional hockey in 1998.

He simply went from stopping shots to building homes.

"I sold everything," he told Record reporter Jeff Hicks in 2002. "The only thing I own now is skates so I can go skating in the winter with the kids. The last time (I played goal) was the last game I played in Austria. After that, I gave my equipment away and kept my skates and that was it."

Morschauser, who suffered a heart attack and died Saturday at the age of 47, spent parts of three seasons with the Kitchener Rangers between 1987 and 1990. The Kitchener native was traded to the Hamilton Dukes near the start of the 1989-90 campaign, a move that was supposed to guarantee the overage player a spot in the Memorial Cup championship.

The Dukes were so bad; however, they gave up the right to play in the Canadian Hockey League championship as host team and were eventually replaced by the Rangers, who reached the Ontario Hockey League final. The Rangers went on to suffer a memorable double-overtime defeat to the Oshawa Generals in the Memorial Cup final.

A moment of silence was observed in Morschauser's honour prior to Tuesday's night's OHL playoff game at the Aud between the Rangers and London Knights.

Morschauser, who was known as "Speedy" in the hockey community, posted a 6-27-3 record in his one season with Hamilton before moving on to a professional career that included stops with the Vancouver Canucks' primary IHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals, Winston-Salem, Roanoke Valley and Villach, Austria. With the Rangers, he played in 83 regular-season and seven playoff games.

Former Rangers coach and general manager Joe McDonnell, who is currently a scout with the Dallas Stars, said trading Morschauser to Hamilton was one of the "hardest things" he did during his tenure. He had a talented goaltender in Mike Torchia who was ready for prime time, he recalled, and decided to keep Rick Allain and Rob Sangster as his overage players.

"That was a tough trade because he was such a good goalie," said McDonnell on Tuesday. "We tried to put him in the Memorial Cup, but they were just so bad even Gus couldn't save them."

[-AJ-]

1 hour ago, Babarnikov said:

Oh my God!  Why wasn't this in the Vancouver Sun or Province!

 

 

Because very few people have ever heard of him. I live and breathe hockey history and his name doesn't ring a bell.

 

 

...or is this sarcasm? I'm tired today.

[Ghostsof1915]

I'm tired too, and I never heard of him either. It's sad in an era where you had 12 rounds that someone didn't get a regular AHL gig at least. 

[Babarnikov]

With all due respect, ajhockey, any true Canucks fan would know the name Gus Morschauser.  He was one of the Canucks' prized picks of the 1989 Entry Draft, the same crop that yielded Pavel Bure.  He started his professional career with Milwaukee, albeit behind Troy Gamble and Frank Caprice.  You will likely recall the date November 10, 1989, when Paul Broten scored three goals for the Flint Spirits in Flint's 8-0 victory over the Admirals - Gus played the third period, stopping 13 shots.  U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame legend Mike Richter was in goal for Flint.

[Salmonberries]

RIP Gus

[ShakyWalton]

35 minutes ago, Babarnikov said:

With all due respect, ajhockey, any true Canucks fan would know the name Gus Morschauser.  He was one of the Canucks' prized picks of the 1989 Entry Draft, the same crop that yielded Pavel Bure.  He started his professional career with Milwaukee, albeit behind Troy Gamble and Frank Caprice.  You will likely recall the date November 10, 1989, when Paul Broten scored three goals for the Flint Spirits in Flint's 8-0 victory over the Admirals - Gus played the third period, stopping 13 shots.  U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame legend Mike Richter was in goal for Flint.

well...Im a true hockey fan and I didnt know his name..but never the less...RIP.

 

I wonder if Vintage has him in the  "Name the Canuck" thread?

[-Vintage Canuck-]

34 minutes ago, ShakyWalton said:

I wonder if Vintage has him in the  "Name the Canuck" thread?

I searched the thread, and it was never posted. To be honest, I've never heard of him before, either.

[-AJ-]

1 hour ago, Babarnikov said:

With all due respect, ajhockey, any true Canucks fan would know the name Gus Morschauser.  He was one of the Canucks' prized picks of the 1989 Entry Draft, the same crop that yielded Pavel Bure.  He started his professional career with Milwaukee, albeit behind Troy Gamble and Frank Caprice.  You will likely recall the date November 10, 1989, when Paul Broten scored three goals for the Flint Spirits in Flint's 8-0 victory over the Admirals - Gus played the third period, stopping 13 shots.  U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame legend Mike Richter was in goal for Flint.

To be fair, a 10th round pick doesn't seem "prized", though maybe there's something I'm missing. All that said, this man was drafted before I was even born, so I wouldn't remember that moment :P.

 

Regardless of all that, condolences to his friends and family.

[Cramarossa]

Yes, I am not familiar with him either, but 47 is far too young to go. May he rest in peace.

[Dr.Strangelove]

2 hours ago, Babarnikov said:

With all due respect, ajhockey, any true Canucks fan would know the name Gus Morschauser.  He was one of the Canucks' prized picks of the 1989 Entry Draft, the same crop that yielded Pavel Bure.  He started his professional career with Milwaukee, albeit behind Troy Gamble and Frank Caprice.  You will likely recall the date November 10, 1989, when Paul Broten scored three goals for the Flint Spirits in Flint's 8-0 victory over the Admirals - Gus played the third period, stopping 13 shots.  U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame legend Mike Richter was in goal for Flint.

Why he never played a game  in the NHL and his only connection to the Cancucks was his being drafted 197th overall in 1989.

 

 if VC doesn't know who a former Canuck prospect was it's safe to say only a handful of people would have any idea who he was.

 

R.I.P Mr Morschauser your last name is truly epic

[Jack Fig]

The most noteworthy part of this story is that 9 kids are without a father today. 

[Baggins]

4 hours ago, -Vintage Canuck- said:

I searched the thread, and it was never posted. To be honest, I've never heard of him before, either.

Likely because he was a 10 round draft pick that never played a single game for the Canucks.

[BI3KSA-]

Never heard of this "prized" 1989 10th round pick, I guess I'm not a true Canucks fan after all. 


RIP, my condolence to his family, especially his children, that are now left without a father. 47 is much too young. 

[Babarnikov]

Back in the late '80's and early '90's, neither the Canucks nor the local media could stop talking about this kid.  Many considered him and Bure to be the steals of the '89 draft (although admittedly, Bure went on to have a more productive professional hockey career than Morschauser).

 

If the Canucks were a classy organization (and I believe they still are), they would hold a tribute of some sort to Gus prior to the home opener this fall.

[nucklehead]

Never heard of him either. But then I never heard of Gord Downie before yesterday.

[Baggins]

22 minutes ago, Babarnikov said:

Back in the late '80's and early '90's, neither the Canucks nor the local media could stop talking about this kid.  Many considered him and Bure to be the steals of the '89 draft (although admittedly, Bure went on to have a more productive professional hockey career than Morschauser).

 

If the Canucks were a classy organization (and I believe they still are), they would hold a tribute of some sort to Gus prior to the home opener this fall.  Maybe a video montage of him getting drafted, training camp, and some of his best saves while in Milwaukee.  Maybe bring back Brian Burke, who was the Canucks' Director of Hockey Operations during Morschauser's time with the organization.  Something at least.

Honestly, I don't see why they would do a tribute considering the guy never played an NHL game let alone in a Canucks uniform. I'm curious where that article is from as the headline is rather deceiving. He's not a former Canuck as he never played for the team. And I don't know how "talked about" he was as I've never heard of him and I've followed the team from day one.

 

The team could be busy in a few years if they have to pay tribute to every player they drafted that never played for them. I mean seriously, although every death is sad, we need to pay tribute to draft busts now???

[jhansenvoice09]

The op is just trolling now. RIP to Gus, but op is trying to make this a joke.

[smithers joe]

10 hours ago, Babarnikov said:

With all due respect, ajhockey, any true Canucks fan would know the name Gus Morschauser.  He was one of the Canucks' prized picks of the 1989 Entry Draft, the same crop that yielded Pavel Bure.  He started his professional career with Milwaukee, albeit behind Troy Gamble and Frank Caprice.  You will likely recall the date November 10, 1989, when Paul Broten scored three goals for the Flint Spirits in Flint's 8-0 victory over the Admirals - Gus played the third period, stopping 13 shots.  U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame legend Mike Richter was in goal for Flint.

not a true fan then, i don't remember him either...i remember turk broda but not him...

[Ghostsof1915]

To give some context of what the sports world was like in Hockey in 1989. We relied on the Sun and Province for Sports news. NW for hockey news. We got what? 20-24 games a year on TV? We didn't even get every Seahawks game on TV. There was so internet. So no instant access to stats, news etc. If a player was drafted and didn't ever get a call up, we didn't see stats online on how he was doing in the CHL or AHL. Oh yes, we had Sports Page but that was 30 minutes of highlights. If you were lucky you had TSN as an option as well. Or a subscription to the Hockey News.

Was Dan Russell even broadcasting SportsTalk then?

[Tre Mac]

11 hours ago, Babarnikov said:

With all due respect, ajhockey, any true Canucks fan would know the name Gus Morschauser.  He was one of the Canucks' prized picks of the 1989 Entry Draft, the same crop that yielded Pavel Bure.  He started his professional career with Milwaukee, albeit behind Troy Gamble and Frank Caprice.  You will likely recall the date November 10, 1989, when Paul Broten scored three goals for the Flint Spirits in Flint's 8-0 victory over the Admirals - Gus played the third period, stopping 13 shots.  U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame legend Mike Richter was in goal for Flint.

You gave me no choice but to laugh here.