Just five years ago, Morgan Geekie played 44 games with the Yellowhead Chiefs of the Manitoba AAA U18 Hockey League. He had 63 points during that time (27G). In the prior season (2013-2014), Geekie also made his Western Hockey League debut with the Tri-City Americans and what a debut it was as he scored one goal.
In the following season, on top of the 44 games with Yellowhead, Geekie had two points in two games with Neepawa (MJHL) and he added another two assists in 11 games with Tri-City.
Full-time WHL days:
Starting in the 2015-2016 season, the Strathclair native started his full-time days as a Western Hockey League player and his career took off. In that season, he scored 12 goals and had 25 points in 66 games. Geekie returned to Tri-City the next season where he accounted for 90 points (35G) as he became a star not only on the team but across the entire WHL. The 90 points were tied for the ninth-most with Sam Steel leading the way with his 131 points. Geekie also scored one goal in four playoff games that season.
So Geekie built up a name for himself with that 90 point campaign and he proved that it wasn't a fluke the next season.
In his final junior hockey campaign, Geekie had another 84 points in the regular season. Impressive, yes, but it's what he did in the playoffs which were most impressive. He helped the Americans make the Western Conference final where they fell short in six games against Everett. In just 14 playoff games, Geekie scored 17 goals and he added 10 assists to finish sixth in playoff scoring. He also had four game-winning playoff goals, tied for the most with Glenn Gawdin and Giorgio Estephan.
"We had a really good group of guys and everyone was on the same page," said Geekie. "We put in a good run and I think we could have done something special if we had one or two bounces go our way."
When it comes to his production, it was no doubt Geekie's most successful season to date and it also helps that the Americans made a playoff run with the help of the Strathclair native.
"I love playing for things. Playoffs are a different kind of game like you can play well all season long but if you don't in the playoffs, it's all for not," said Geekie. "It's about raising your level and playing to the expectations of playoff hockey and I think I did that."
"Up until that season, I never really had any playoff success so I think I used that as some fuel, I wanted to show what I could do in big moments," he added.
Turn the page:
Morgan played his final junior hockey game when Tri-City lost to Everett, 6-5, in game six of their series. Geekie had one goal in the game. After 236 WHL games, the Strathclair native had no championships under his belt. However, that immediately changed as Geekie made the jump up to professional hockey.
He joined the American Hockey League's Charlotte Checkers, a team that was defeated in the Atlantic Division finals by the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the 2018 playoffs.
In his first year as a professional, Morgan scored 19 times and he added 27 assists for a 46 point total in the regular season for a Checkers team that was dominant. The team topped the Atlantic Division by 15 points with a record of 51-17-7-1. They were the only 50 win team in the American Hockey League.
"That was definitely one of the most special years of my career so far and I'll never forget it," said Geekie. "We had such a great group of guys that played so well together. Our coaching staff was also unbelievable, they believed in us that we could win a championship and we wanted to reward them for believing in us."
Charlotte would end up rolling right through the entire league in the playoffs. After opening up the playoffs with a four-game series win over Providence, they swept Hershey which followed a six-game series victory over Toronto.
In the finals, the team came up against the Chicago Wolves. On Saturday, June 8, Geekie had one goal and one assist as the Checkers downed Chicago, 5-3, to win the Calder Cup. Geekie was also named the first star in the game and he scored eight goals and added 10 assists in 19 playoff games.
After coming so close in the year prior with Tri-City, Geekie was finally able to call himself a champion.
"I'll forever be grateful that I won this title with that group of guys, it was truly an honour to be a part of something like that," added Geekie. "It's almost unbelievable when something like that happens, I'll never forget that day and season in general."
Another fun fact about the Checkers winning that title is the team included Myles Fee. From Dauphin, Myles was one of the assistant coaches of the title-winning organization.
Geekie was back with Charlotte this year where he added up another 42 points (22G) in 55 games.
Big break:
Sunday, March 8. That's the day when Geekie officially completed his journey to the National Hockey League. One day after playing the Utica Comets with Charlotte, the Strathclair native received a promotion as he joined the Carolina Hurricanes, a team that drafted him in the 2017 NHL Draft, 67th overall.
His first game in the NHL was against none other than Mr. Gold Medal, Sidney Crosby as the 'Canes played in Pittsburgh. Down 1-0 after Patrick Marleau's 11th goal of the season, it was time for the AHL champion to strike for the first time at the NHL level. With 10:08 left in the first, Morgan scored his first-ever National Hockey League goal and he wasn't done there.
With just a few minutes left in the third frame, Geekie scored his second goal of the game as the Hurricanes topped Pittsburgh, 6-2. Geekie also had one assist for a three-point total in his NHL debut.
"If you would have told me I would have made my NHL debut this early, I wouldn't have believed you," said Geekie. "My coach in Charlotte called me into the room and I was just expecting it to be another video session, but he told me I was getting the call-up and what a feeling that was."
"You're always hoping for that success and you want to do your best, but I don't think anyone can expect to have a debut like that," he continued. "I was just trying to play my game and give it my best. I don't really remember anything after I scored that first goal, I sort of blacked out."
Family success:
Morgan's father, Craig Geekie played in the Western Hockey League where he enjoyed some success with the Brandon Wheat Kings. One of his brothers, Noah played AAA hockey with Yellowhead before he ultimately chose to take the baseball path.
Conor Geekie, the youngest of the Geekie brothers, was drafted second overall by the Winnipeg ICE last summer and he played in seven games with the Western Hockey League club this season.
"It's pretty crazy honestly. Our parents did a really good job of just letting us do our own thing when we were growing up. You can see that with Noah, he was really good at hockey; however, he decided that baseball was his best bet," said Geekie. "When it comes to Conor, he's a really good player, he has the size and he works really hard. I think he could do some damage for sure and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do."
Just like Conor and Noah, Morgan was also very good at baseball growing up and many thought he could have played at the next level, including himself. Ultimately, he had to decide.
Back in 2013, Morgan was set to take part in his first WHL camp; however, he was also selected to play with Team Manitoba at the national baseball championships and he chose to play in that tournament instead.
"I'll never regret making that decision, I had an amazing time playing at that tournament," Geekie added. "At the end of the day; however, hockey was my choice and I'm just looking to move forward with it and we'll see what happens."
Morgan is just 21-years-old and he's already an American Hockey League champion, he's scored three goals in the National Hockey League in just two games and this is all before his 22nd birthday. This year's season may be on pause, but you can expect to see a lot of Morgan Geekie moving forward.
