MANCHESTER, NH – Mark Morris, the head coach of the Manchester Monarchs, is set to makes history as he is just two wins away from becoming the first coach to have both 300 professional wins and 300 college career wins, Monarchs President Darren Abbott announced today.

Morris is the most winningest coach in Monarchs history with 298 regular season wins under his belt since he joined the Los Angeles Kings organization in July of 2006.  Morris has led his Monarchs to a record of 8-1-1-2 in 12 games this season.  In his eighth season as the bench boss of the Monarchs, he has coached the team to an overall record of 298 wins, 206 losses, four overtime losses, and six shootout losses in 564 games.  After winning the first playoff round in franchise history during the 2006-07 season, Morris has guided the team to the Calder Cup’s Eastern Conference Final twice, 2007 and 2010.  Morris has also assisted in advancing many NHL careers and turning Monarchs players into Stanley Cup Champions with the Kings.

Morris was integral in developing the skills of Jonathan Bernier, Kyle Clifford, Davis Drewiske, Dwight King, Trevor Lewis, Andre Loktionov, Alec Martinez, Willie Mitchell, Jordan Nolan, Scott Parse, Jonathan Quick, Brad Richardson, Slava Voynov, and Kevin Westgarth.  Over half of the Kings 2012 Stanley Cup Champion team was coached by Morris at one point in their career.

Morris currently ranks 17th in the American Hockey League with 298 wins.

Morris also coached the Clarkson University Golden Knights to 10 consecutive 20-plus win seasons during his 14-year reign.  He finished his college coaching career with 306 career wins and an overall record of 306-156-42.  Morris will be in a league of his own as the only coaches who have come close to the achievement of 300 professional wins and 300 college wins are Red Berenson with 100 professional and 744 college wins, Herb Brooks with 219 professional and 157 college wins, and Bob Johnson with 234 professional and 406 college wins.

Hired by Clarkson in 1988, he is the winningest coach in the history of Clarkson University as the team won eight ECAC titles in his 14 seasons as head coach.  Morris received the ECAC Coach of the Year Award in 1991 and 2001.  His team won the Humanitarian Award in 1999.

Following his time at Clarkson University, Morris served as the Special Assistant Coach/Interim Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Vancouver Canucks from February 2003 to April 2003 under former Kings Head Coach Marc Crawford.  Morris moved on to be the Interim Assistant Coach for the Saginaw Spirit Hockey Club of the Ontario Hockey League from November 2003 to March 2004.

From 2004-06, Morris was the Director of Boy’s Hockey, the Boy’s Junior Hockey Coach and an Administrator (Admissions and Advancement) for Northwood School.  The team set a new school record for most wins in a season with a record of 40-8-0 under Morris’ supervision during the 2005-06 season.

Morris is a 1977 graduate of Northwood School and a 1981 graduate of Colgate University.  After graduation, Morris signed with the Kings where he played three years of professional hockey with the Central Hockey League’s Dallas Black Hawks (1981-82) and the AHL’s New Haven Nighthawks (1982-84).  He began his coaching ranks with Union College as the Men’s Varsity Hockey Assistant Coach and Junior Varsity Coach for the 1984-85 season.  Morris also served as the Men’s Varsity Hockey Assistant Coach for the St. Lawrence University Saints from 1985-88.

The Monarchs are in Newfoundland playing the St. John’s IceCaps at Mile One Centre with 6:00 p.m. contests on Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9.  Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs’ hockey with Ken Cail on Monarchs Radio Network WGIRAM.com and at www.manchestermonarchs.com, presented by Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.