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Morris Attends to Visiting Teams in Columbus
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
By Jason Simmonds
The Summerside Journal-Pioneer

"Usually the days when I'm not at the firehouse I'm at the Chillers, the ice facilities," said Morris, a life-time resident of the Columbus area. "On game days my day starts at three or four o'clock in the afternoon to get my room ready for a seven o'clock game." The interaction with the visiting players is one of the highlights for Morris. "Some teams come in and they'll ask about my family and you know some better than others," said Morris.

SUMMERSIDE, Prince Edward Island (PEI) -- SJ-P
Phil Morris is not scared of work. The 40-year-old Columbus native holds down three separate jobs in three totally different fields, including one in which he is faced with split-second decisions in real life and death situations. A full-time firefighter in Dublin, Ohio, Morris is maintenance director for an ice facility in Columbus. He also works with the National Hockey League's Blue Jackets as the visiting team's locker room attendant at Nationwide Arena.

"I'm a liaison between the home team (Blue Jackets) and the visiting team for whatever they need," explained Morris, who is working the Blue Jackets' training camp in Summerside this week.

"This is just kind of a little gift they gave me to come down (to P.E.I.) and I appreciate it," said Morris, down-playing his role with the equipment staff "as very limited."

In Columbus, Morris works closely with assistant equipment manager Andre Szucko, who coordinates the transfer of the visiting teams' equipment between the airport and Nationwide Arena.
(More: NHL.com Network & The Columbus Blue Jackets News Source)
2002 © The Summerside Journal-Pioneer.

What’s this got to do with anything?!

Nuthin’. Phil just happens to be one of my many, many cousins

Dan