Wenatchee Alum Morton Scores First NHL Goal in Flames Debut Thursday
LOS ANGELES – The Wenatchee Wild alumni list in the National Hockey League got a little longer Thursday evening – the Wild are excited to announce that forward Sam Morton has made his NHL debut and scored his first NHL goal, playing 12 minutes and 25 seconds for the Calgary Flames in their 5-1 win Thursday at the Los Angeles Kings. Morton’s goal was the Flames’ second goal and the team’s game-winner, on his first shot on goal with 13:55 remaining in the third period. Morton was officially recalled by the Flames Wednesday, ahead of Calgary’s 2024-25 season finale Thursday.
He is the fourth player from Wenatchee’s Junior “A” era, and its third in the last four years, to advance to the NHL. Jasper Weatherby opened the 2021-22 season with the San Jose Sharks, while goaltender and current Calgary Wranglers teammate Devin Cooley earned a call-up of his own to the Sharks late last season. Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd was the first Wenatchee alumnus to reach the NHL after playing for the club in its inaugural 2008-09 season, and is finishing his ninth full NHL season.
The Lafayette, Colorado native completed a rapid rise to the major-league level after signing with the Flames late last season out of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minnesota. This season, he has cranked out 20 goals and 25 assists, with his 45 points ranking fourth on the Wranglers roster in the American Hockey League (AHL). He wasted no time getting settled in north of the border last season, notching points in five of his first eight professional games, including an assist on Calgary’s game-winning goal March 19 against the Bakersfield Condors.
Morton played two-and-a-half seasons for Wenatchee, notching 110 points with the Wild and helping the team win both the BCHL’s 2017 regular-season title and the league’s Fred Page Cup as 2018 playoff champions. This season, he also reunited with Cooley, after the two played together in Wenatchee during the 2016-17 season. Morton closed a memorable NCAA Division I career last season with an inclusion among the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college hockey’s top player, and a nod as the Central Collegiate Hockey Association’s Player of the Year with a conference-best 34 points in 37 games for Minnesota State. He played in 144 career NCAA games for the Mavericks and Union College, totaling 47 goals and 42 assists.
Calgary’s playoff hopes were extinguished Tuesday, but Morton has a chance to make an impact for the Wranglers in the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs, with the first round of the Western Conference postseason set to begin next week.
The Wenatchee Wild congratulate Sam Morton on his National Hockey League call-up and debut, and wish him all further success as the 2024-25 season continues.
