It was June 30, 2013. We were at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. for the NHL draft. My job, as a member of the Flyers organization, was to conduct the first interview with their first round draft pick, and then, along with our in-house camera man, follow him around for the rest of the day for all his press availability and photo shoots.

When the Flyers selected Sam Morin, the hulking 18-year-old was all smiles. This was his childhood dream coming true – to be drafted by an NHL team.

Morin’s English wasn’t as good then as it is now. But he was able to communicate well enough to understand what he was saying – and the Flyers felt they were getting a player who would be an anchor on their blue line for years to come:

(The dude over my shoulder, as funny as his photo bomb is, was a pain in the ass the entire day. God, was he annoying. Forgot about him.)

Anyway, as we were walking around in the bowels of the Prudential Center, Morin was so excited. He was always looking around, taking everything in and at one point turned to me and said, “The NHL. I can’t believe it. I can’t wait to get there and play strong all the time for the Flyers.”

Of course, neither of us could imagine what his next seven years and 270 days would be like, as it would take that long before he finally made his mark in an NHL game.

Yet, there he was Saturday, with his team reeling badly, and his own NHL career still in the balance. After all, there was some consideration after his last knee surgery – his second ACL repair – of it not being worth it to try and come all the way back to be an NHL player.

And to be fair, the shot was long. He also had a bad core muscle injury that slowed his progression. It wasn’t just that he wasn’t playing in the NHL, he wasn’t playing hockey at all. All together he has played just 41 games between the AHL and the NHL in the last four seasons.

Entering this season, the final year of his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent, the Flyers decided that it was highly unlikely Morin would return to the NHL as a defenseman, and that his last ditch chance – basically being offered because the organization really like him as a person and his perseverance and dedication to try and make it back to the best league in the world – would come by learning a new position: left wing.

Needless to say, it was a struggle. He got a shot in four games for the Flyers, but never could grasp the position and even admitted he felt lost playing it. While down in the AHL, he played four games at the position too, but coach Phantoms coach Scott Gordon would throw him on defense on the penalty kill periodically, just because of his size and reach.

After the Flyers lost Mark Friedman on waivers and Robert Hagg to a shoulder injury, the much-maligned defensive corps needed some replacements. Nate Prosser was recalled. Meanwhile, the Phantoms had some injuries themselves on the blue line. The organization had no choice but to put Morin back at his natural position.

After just a few games with the Phantoms, the Flyers’ defense needed an absolute overhaul. Prosser had to be sent back to the taxi squad. Erik Gustafsson continued to prove to be a bust.

After getting torched game-in and game-out, the Flyers had nothing to lose – so they recalled Morin.

His first game wasn’t great. The team got blown out again. Morin tried to start a fight, took a penalty that gave the Rangers a power play, and led to what was ultimately the game-winning goal. At the end of the game, Morin pummeled Rangers agitator Brandon Lemieux and was fined by the NHL for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Then came Saturday.

The Flyers needed to play better defensively. They needed good goaltending. But more than anything, they needed a win in the worst way.

And while they played a very good, controlled game overall against the Rangers, the same team who scored nine and eight goals respectively in each of the last two games against the Flyers, the score was tied late in the third period. The outcome was in the balance – and, much like Morin’s NHL career – so was the season.

Then suddenly, the unexpected happened:

All those years later. All those trials and tribulations. It finally happened. Morin’s statement on his draft day finally came to fruition after a crazy path to get here.

It also wasn’t just his first NHL goal. It was his first point in the NHL. That took 15 games… spread out over five seasons.

It was the game-winning goal in a 2-1 Flyers victory that snapped a four-game losing streak. And, for Morin, it was special.

“It was absolutely crazy. I just saw Raf (Michael Raffl) put his hand in the air and screaming,” Morin said. “Ghost was flying on me. I’m really happy. It’s the best moment in my life. I don’t score a lot of goals. It was a big one. A big W for us. It was a big moment for me.”

It was a huge goal. It temporarily saved the season for the Flyers (16-13-4, 36 points) who moved back ahead of the Rangers and stayed within striking distance (three points) of fourth seed Boston.

But considering when Morin suffered his second injury, the thought of quitting the sport he love entered his mind for a minute, this is an even greater personal victory.

“Obviously at the time (of the second knee injury), I was really not depressed, but I was really down,” he said. “It was probably a couple of hours after that, I was like, ‘I got to get back to this.’ I really like hockey a lot. I love the game. I didn’t really care where I was, AHL, East Coast, anywhere in Europe. I was just ready for anything. Obviously I thought about it (calling it quits), but I got a lot of support here with the Flyers. Good teammates, good family. I worked hard and now I’m there, trying to stay in the lineup.”

And whether or not he can make anything of this latest, and potentially last chance to make it in the NHL, (after all, he went unclaimed through waivers earlier this season – and he only makes $700,000) remains to be seen.

What the future holds, no one knows. But for one moment – the best moment – it was about as storybook as they come:

This stuff also happened but got lost behind the feel-good story:

  • Nolan Patrick scored the other Flyers goal. It came on the power play. Patrick has been a regular on the power play all season. He’s played in more than 72 minutes of power play time since the opening game of the season. This goal – a redirection of a Shayne Gostisbehere shot – was his first power play point since then. And while that’s hard to fathom considering how much PP time he gets, the positive is, Patrick has been… wait for it… trending in the right direction with his play of late. “He’s like Sam, like Oskar,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “It’s hard for those guys. They’ve missed a lot of time. They’re stepping in pressure moments. Every time a player is on the ice right now, he can decide the outcome of the game. I liked the way Nolan is trending. Hopefully for him and hopefully for our team, he keeps trending the right way.”
  • Brian Elliott came up with a strong game. He made 24 saves, and several key stops, especially on the last three New York power plays. It’s going to be interesting to see which way the Flyers go in goal next week. Buffalo is an absolute train wreck. They have lost 17 straight (0-15-2) and don’t have a player who has scored more than five goals all season. On one hand, that’s just the kind of team to play Carter Hart against to help regain his confidence. On the other, the Flyers need to win both games, so maybe risking Hart – especially since he was pulled after a dreadful period against Buffalo the last time the two teams played, isn’t the best course of action. After those two games, the Flyers have to play the next five against the Islanders and Bruins and then one more with Buffalo before the trade deadline.
  • The Flyers did a really nice job of closing the gaps between their defense and their forward in the neutral zone, slowing down the skilled Rangers and not giving up odd man rushes. It’s a style they’ll have to play from here on out if they want to make the playoffs. It could create more lower-scoring, tight games, but it might be the Flyers only chance.
  • Mika Zibanejad scored another goal for the Rangers. He has 15 points against the Flyers in six games this season. The two teams will meet for the final time this season Apr. 22-23 at Madison Square Garden.

[the_ad id=”103880″]