PHPA

Crowd chanting Pay The Players

The NHL Alumni Association is heartbroken to share that Jim Morrison has passed away at the age of 94. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Jim made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins on November 25, 1951, and would play 14 games with Boston before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs the following February. Jim went on to play parts of the next seven seasons with Toronto, appearing in three straight NHL All-Star Games from 1955-57. Jim later returned to Boston before playing with the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively, concluding his NHL career with 704 NHL regular-season games played from 1951 to 1971. In addition to his 704 NHL games, Jim also played 721 games across 12 seasons in the American Hockey League, earning the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s top defenseman for the 1965-66 season. Jim was named the first president of the AHL’s players’ association in 1967 and was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame in 2013. Jim spent his last two professional seasons from 1971-73 as a player-coach with AHL Baltimore before becoming the full-time head coach ahead of the 1973-74 season. After his time with Baltimore, Jim moved to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL), coaching for the next eight seasons. For the next 18 years, Jim served as a scout for the Boston Bruins, the very same NHL club he debuted with in 1951. Jim’s son, Dave, proudly followed in his father's footsteps, playing in the NHL before becoming a long-tenured hockey operations executive. We send our deepest condolences to Jim’s family, friends, and former teammates during this incredibly difficult time.

The Professional Hockey Players’ Association announced today that its American Hockey League membership has ratified a new collective bargaining agreement.  The five-year agreement will be in effect through the conclusion of the 2029-30 season.