Stephane Morin

Stephane Morin (born Joseph Normand Stéphane Morin on March 27, 1969) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1989 & 1994 with the Quebec Nordiques and the Vancouver Canucks.

Playing Career
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Stephane played his junior hockey for the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. He was passed over in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, but following a monster season in 1988–89 in which he led the QMJHL in scoring with 186 points and won the Michel Brière Memorial Trophy for Most Valuable Player in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

He was selected 43rd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft.

Stephane turned pro for the 1989–90 season and spent most of the season with the Halifax Citadels, where he performed well, earning a six-game callup to Quebec in which he picked up two assists.

In the 1990–91 season, he was called up mid-season and performed exceptionally well, notching 40 points in 48 games on a weak Quebec club to finish 4th in team scoring.

However, this would represent the high-water mark of Morin's career, as he slid down the depth chart the following year and registered just 10 points in 30 games for the Nordiques, and found himself back in the minors for much of the season.

Released by Quebec, Stephane signed with the Vancouver Canucks in 1992. He spent two seasons in Vancouver's system during which he dominated the American Hockey League with the Hamilton Canucks, but appeared in only 6 games for the NHL Canucks over that span, recording three points.

After leaving the Vancouver organization, Stephane signed on with the Minnesota Moose of the International Hockey League.

While his skating ability was considered questionable & cited as the reason he failed to stick in the NHL, he was a gifted minor-league scorer with tremendous offensive skills and led the IHL in scoring with 114 points in the 1994–95 season.

Stephane would spend four seasons in the IHL with the Moose and later the Long Beach Ice Dogs.

Death
For the 1998–99 season, Stephane signed in Germany with the Berlin Capitals.

On October 6, 1998, in his 7th game with his new team, he was complaining of feeling unwell during the first period.

Early in the second period, Stephane collapsed at the bench as a result of heart failure, and medical staff were unable to revive him. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital, leaving behind a wife and newborn son, Frederick.

An autopsy was performed and it was discovered that Stephane had undiagnosed chronic bronchitis & an enlarged heart. It also revealed that he had suffered from an undetected heart attack in the past several years.

During his career, Stephane appeared in 90 NHL games, recording 16 goals and 39 assists for 55 points, along with 52 penalty minutes.