Pascal Morency was waiting to skate onto the ice for a preseason workout Wednesday morning in Montreal when he stopped to introduce himself to Bruce Richardson and Daniel Goneau. Thursday afternoon, Morency signed with the Komets, meaning he's a new teammate for Richardson and Goneau, who are also coming to Fort Wayne for the first time.
"The funny thing is I had this coach in juniors who used to compare me to Richardson," Morency said. "I didn't know who he was at the time, but the coach said I was kind of small but also tough like Bruce."
Both players played for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, though at different times. Richardson weighs in at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds and Morency goes 5-10, 190, meaning both are smaller than the usual suspects who scrap and earn 200-plus penalty minutes for a season, but both are known as ferocious competitors.
Morency, 24, is known to be tough-as-nails winger with 574 penalty minutes in 123 pro games, and once had 596 penalty minutes during a 64-game junior season. He played for Bingham previously with Wheeling of the East Coast Hockey League in 2004-05, earning 252 minutes and scoring 17 points. His teammates named him "The Players' Player," after the season.
"That fact that his teammates had that much respect for him tells me a lot," Bingham said. "He's a bundle of energy. He really grew as a player throughout the course of that year and was a real sparkplug. He skates very well, plays on emotion and when channeled correctly, that emotion really helps the team win."
"I didn't have to have any surgery, and that's the good part," Morency said. "By the time the season ended, I was working out slowly and then I've been going hard all summer. My knee feels 100 percent, and I've been boxing and the hands feel fine. I can't wait to get going."
Defenseman A.J. Bozoian will be back for his second season in Fort Wayne, while rookies goaltender Dan McWhinney, center Martin Gascon and defensemen Adam Blanchette will try to make their first pro lineup.
"We'll just continue to build," Bingham said. "In fairness to our club, we'll continue to look for the best players available. We'll continue to go after guys and do our research, but there are now a few pieces of the puzzle in place."
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