Salmon Arm Silverbacks forward Conor Morrison knows his final games with Germany at the World Junior Hockey Championships are fast approaching. His team's goal now, however, is to ensure that others follow in their footsteps a year from now.
After a 1-3 record in the round-robin portion of the tournament, Morrison and Co. will face Finland and Latvia in the relegation draw. Those three teams, along with Kazakhstan, are fighting for just two spots in Group One — the ten-team pool that competes at the World Juniors each December — at the 2010 Championships.
Germany does enter the relegation round with an advantage, however. Their 9-0 triumph over the Kazakhs on December 27th counts towards their placing, meaning that a single win over one of their remaining two opponents should be enough to keep them amongst junior hockey's elite nations.
Morrison, who is the only player from a Canadian Junior A league suiting up in Ottawa, was in the starting lineup when his team faced off against Canada on December 29th. It's the second time in less than two months that the 19-year old has represented Germany in an international event after suiting up at the World Junior A Challenge in Camrose in November.
With 57 points in 33 games, Morrison sits second in Silverbacks scoring and fifth amongst league leaders despite missing a number of games due to his international commitments.
