Huskies defender under appreciated in her
playing career
 |
| Morgan Willoughby skates out for a game on Feb. 8. |
Morgan
Willoughby might have been one of the most popular players on the University of
Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team who never got her full due.
Last
Saturday, the fifth-year defender played the final game of her U Sports career
when her Huskies fell 1-0 in double overtime in Game 2 of a Canada West
quarter-final series to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Having
lost Game 1 of the set 3-2 in overtime one night earlier, the Thunderbirds
swept the best-of-three series 2-0 in two epic clashes between archrivals.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby (#9) in action for the Huskies last Saturday. |
The loss on
Saturday by the Huskies brought an end to the careers of eight fifth-year
players who gave their heart and soul to the program in Willoughby, Leah
Bohlken, Courtney Cormack, Shyan Elias, captain Brooklyn Haubrich, Rachel
Lundberg, Emma Nutter and Elizabeth Salyn. Fourth-year defender Kayla Kirwan,
who emptied the tank during her time with the team, is finishing her
agricultural and bioresources studies and has elected at the moment to not
return for her fifth year.
Willoughby
always puts others before herself and would hate to be put above any teammates
she ever played with. I believe in this case an exception can be made, because
she always seemed to do the right thing, and I feel we all took advantage of
that characteristic.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby in action for the Huskies in October of 2015. |
You got so used
to her be reliable you would never ask how she was doing on any particular day.
It was like you never questioned Willoughby was going to come to the rink every
day and be an effective physical defensive defender.
When the
opposing team’s top line hits the ice, you put Willoughby and Nutter, who is
her long time defensive partner, on the ice, and you just expect them to handle
it.
If there
are misunderstandings with the players in the dressing room or between coaches
and players, it was like Willoughby will handle it and nothing will be a
problem.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby (#28) enjoys a Huskies win in October of 2015. |
When the
players from the Huskies go out to community events where they wear their jerseys,
Willoughby is the first to return the jersey or any team items that were
brought out to be used as the event. Other players often would do the young
person thing and forget their jerseys in laundry piles at home for a couple of
days.
Willoughby
was fiercely competitive, but she was always under control to never let that
competitive streak make her go over the line on the ice or off the ice. That
said, if there was something that had to be taken care of on the ice due to an
underhanded play and a figurative bell needed to be answered, Willoughby would
take care of that.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby pictured with teammates at 2016 Huskie Salute. |
With all
that said, Willoughby only had 28 penalty minutes in her U Sports regular
season career, and her presence alone lessened the motivation for anyone to
start trouble.
All these
intangibles allowed Willoughby to be named an assistant captain for her final
two seasons for the Huskies. While in that role, you never worried about what
she was thinking or feeling. She would make the team go and that was never
questioned.
Physically,
Willoughby, who stands five-foot-eight, had all the tools to be a solid
defensive defender. Few could skate as well as she could.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby works the point in October of 2016. |
Of course
with being a defensive defender, her statistics won’t blow anyone away. In 117
career U Sports regular season games, Willoughby had six goals, eight assists
and a minus-four rating in the plus-minus department. The minus rating was due
to the fact she consistently played against the opposition’s top forward units.
This
season, Willoughby appeared in 26 regular season games collecting one goal, two
assists and a plus-five rating.
If she had
the scoring touch of former Huskies great offensive defender Julia Flinton to
go with her current skill set and personality make up, Willoughby would have
been on Hockey Canada’s radar to be brought into camps for Canada’s national
women’s team system.
Actually,
it always seemed Willoughby would be destined to be underappreciated in some form,
because the 22-year-old came up through the sport in the shadow of sister
Kaitlin, who is two years Morgan’s senior.
Kaitlin was
the talented high scoring forward who could play with grit, and everyone
marvelled at what she could do.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby in action in October of 2016. |
Morgan was
often greeted with, “Oh, you’re Kaitlin’s sister, how sweet.”
Kaitlin, of
course, played five seasons for the Huskies from 2013 to 2018 and finished as
the program’s second all-time leading scorer piling up 50 goals and 61 assists
for 111 points in 132 career regular season games. Kaitlin was a plus-30 during
her regular season career too.
Kaitlin and
Morgan played together on the Huskies for three seasons from 2015 to 2018.
Good luck
to anyone trying to find one time where Morgan ever got upset or jealous about
Kaitlin being in the spotlight at any time. I am pretty sure it never happened
with the Huskies or at any time in the respective lives of both young ladies.
Morgan was
always super proud of Kaitlin and tried her best to be viewed as her older
sister’s biggest supporter.
Believe it
or not, I had been planning to write a column about Morgan Willoughby after her
career ended for about the last four months.
In my view,
our interactions have had their bumps over the years, and it was never her
fault.
I never saw
our interactions being in an outstanding, straight line fashion with no
adversity like my interactions have been with a number of female players from
Saskatoon, Prince Albert and surrounding areas who have been popular and have
had a sizable impact in the local game.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby controls the puck in February of 2017. |
Some of those players include Jordan
Ashe, Kianna Dietz, Ashley Messier, Mackenna Parker, Sophie Shirley, Willow
Slobodzian, Abby Soyko and Cami Wooster.
From my
side, the bumps started and quickly peaked in the 2016-17 campaign, which was
Morgan’s second season with the Huskies. At the moment, 2016-17 campaign still
goes down as my least favourite covering the Huskies program as a whole, and
that came about due to a number of things that happened that season.
First from
my view, I ended up getting on bad terms with Kaitlin. As usual, Morgan ended
up being the go-between that helped navigate the rough waters. That navigation
went partially into the 2017-18 campaign as well.
Morgan
didn’t have to play that role, but I am thankful on my side that she did. As
time went on, I felt really bad on my side that Morgan was placed in that spot
at all.
That
situation had the unfortunate timing of developing at around the same time when
the awkward separation occurred where legendary Huskies football head coach
Brian Towriss retired from the team and working at the U of S.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby, right, moves in on a check in February of 2017. |
That whole situation
when it developed in December of 2016 wasn’t handled well by the U of S and
Huskie Athletics, and it was largely viewed in the public the Huskies had
heartlessly cut Towriss adrift.
There was a
time the story on Towriss’s departure was the number two trending national
story in Canada.
That
situation even consumed my life for the two-week period around the Christmas
season that year when it went down. I have always respected Towriss a tonne
having known him for a long time, and I was feeling a lot of pressure to do
something to hold the Huskie Athletics accountable.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby (#9) salutes a home crowd with sister Kaitlin (#17). |
I was
overwhelmed by messages that said anyone associated with Huskie Athletics was
basically dirt and scum. I had alums from various Huskies programs including
women’s hockey message me saying they were embarrassed to have ever been part
of the overall Huskie Athletics program.
With all
that negative messaging happening and negative emotions swirling around Huskie
Athletics at an all-time high, I ended up by chance attending the same public
New Year’s Eve social function as both the Huskies women’s and men’s hockey
teams. I didn’t know the two Huskies hockey teams were going to be at that
function, which I was given an invite to.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby (#9) celebrates a goal in November of 2017. |
I don’t
think they realized I was there, but I thought the two Huskies hockey teams got
a little too rambunctious on that night out. Looking back now, I believe the
teams acted in a more normal young person rambunctious manner that night, but
with all that was going on at that time, I didn’t take it that way.
I remember
seeing Morgan out that night, and she was as always being the responsible one.
I remember
her looking absolutely stressed trying to ensure no one got really out of hand.
The Huskies hockey teams left that social function a short time after I
discovered them there.
At that
time, I hadn’t learned the lesson to let things sit for a day and then proceed
to reflect on them.
That night
I sent Morgan a bad email saying she had no honour and the Huskies hockey teams
she deeply cared about had no honour. I knew saying that would be the worst
thing you could ever say to Morgan to hurt her.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby (#9) in action for the Prince Albert Northern Bears. |
Morgan is
an alumna of the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA team and was a
captain of that team for two seasons.
In Prince
Albert, those that play hockey in that centre try to live up to the romantic
vision of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in being the team of Mike Modano and
Dave Mansion – the franchise where honour still matters.
To think
that Morgan had a point at any time in her life where she didn’t have honour is
totally ridiculous. She has so many characteristics and traits in common with
Manson it is actually crazy to think about.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby jets up ice in January of 2018. |
She always
had honour and always lived up to that romantic vision – Kaitlin too, who
happens to be another former Bears captain.
I apologize
to both thinking otherwise even for the shortest span of time that anyone can
imagine.
Thinking
the Huskies hockey teams don’t have honour is dumb too, and I apologize for
thinking that as well.
Even with
being that mean, Morgan still worked to be the one to bring everyone together,
and as usual, she succeeded.
My dealings
with Kaitlin improved and approximately all four times we’ve crossed paths
since her Huskies career ended have been outstanding.
(*Side note
– big props to current Huskies football head coach Scott Flory for bringing the
family back together there and growing the family over the years since that
rough time on the football side.*)
 |
| Morgan Willoughby, middle, walks to the ice in February of 2018. |
Still, it
kept crossing my mind, “Don’t be mean to Morgan.”
There are
times I still feel like I slipped up on that front, and I feel ashamed of
myself every time it happens even in the smallest instance.
I believe I
unintentionally made life hard on her during what turned out to be her final
weekend with the Huskies.
Leading up
to the Huskies series with the Thunderbirds, I wrote a rivalry column about the
two teams and inserted some old school Western Hockey League showmanship used
to sell tickets by taking some jabs at the Thunderbirds.
The Huskies
had a strong regular season finishing third in the Canada West Conference with
a 17-7-2-2 record, and they looked to have the potential to win the conference
and possibly U Sports nationals.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby in action in January of 2019. |
The
Thunderbirds underachieved during the regular season with a stellar and skilled
roster finishing sixth in Canada West with a 10-13-4-1. They were 2-11-3 in
their last 16 regular season games.
In the
emotional aftermath of the series, it is only human nature to think that there
were players on the Huskies roster that felt that rivalry column cost the
Huskies the series and post-season glory. There has been a big surge in page
views for that rivalry column after the Thunderbirds claimed that Canada West
quarter-final.
The jabs in
that column towards the Thunderbirds and Saskatoon product, Thunderbirds
defender and former Bears captain Hannah Koroll, who has the potential to be
one of the best players the Thunderbirds have ever had, was poking the bear,
and that was very clear to see in that series.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby celebrates her final U Sports goal on Feb. 8. |
While the
two games of that set were phenomenal, that was likely little consolation to
the Huskies. Knowing how competitive Morgan is, I suspect those sort of
thoughts have to cross her mind over the past few days as she has reflected on
things.
As usual,
Morgan played like a warrior despite the outside noise. She did everything in
her power to help her team.
After the
shock of the double overtime heartbreaking loss in Game 2, Morgan’s only focus was
caring for and coming to the emotional aid of her teammates despite her career
being over. That was clearly visible on the ice.
Once again
what she was feeling was secondary to helping her teammates.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby (#9) hugs Emma Nutter after last Saturday’s game. |
I apologize
for every moment I made life slightly hard for Morgan and for taking her for
granted.
More
importantly, I want to thank Morgan Willoughby for everything she did for me
during her hockey career and especially during her time with the Huskies.
I
also want to thank her for her leadership over the years and for being the
perfect example of being a leader.
I deeply
appreciate everything she has done for me.
She deserved to get a national championship ring throughout her hockey playing career, and it is one of the unfair aspects of sport that will never happen. Still, she will always be a champion in the game of life.
With saying
that, I suspect there are others out there that have taken Morgan Willoughby
for granted too.
 |
| Morgan Willoughby will always be an all-time champ in life. |
I hope you
all will correct that oversight and thank her and tell how much she truly is
appreciated.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
------
If you like what you
see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like
this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the
DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for
stopping in.
