Gus Morschauser

Gus Morschauser
Date of birth	March 26, 1969
place of birth	Kitchener , Ontario , Canada
date of death	April 9, 2016
Place of death	Canada
Nickname	Speedy
size	175 cm
Weight	86 kg
position	goalkeeper
number	# 25
Catch hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1989 , 10th lap, 197th position Vancouver Canucks
Career stations
1987-1989	Kitchener Rangers
1989-1990	Dukes of Hamilton Milwaukee Admirals
1990-1991	Roanoke Valley Rebels Winston-Salem Thunderbirds
1991-1998	EC VSV

Gus Morschauser (born March 26, 1969 in Kitchener , Ontario , Canada ; † April 9, 2016 in Canada) was a Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper with Austrian roots.

Career

Gus Morschauser guarded the goal of the Kitchener Rangers from his hometown in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for two seasons from 1987 to 1989 . The Rangers reached the play-off quarter- finals and were awarded the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as the team with the most points in the regular rounds in the 1988/89 season , and Morschauser was also voted OHL Goaltender of the Year . For the national team, he also played in the 1989 Junior Ice Hockey World Championship , where the Canadians came fourth. In the 1989 NHL Entry Draft he was picked by the Vancouver Canucks in the tenth round in 197th position.

1989/90 he played again in the OHL for the Rangers and also for the Dukes of Hamilton , as well as three games for the Milwaukee Admirals from the US state of Wisconsin . With the Admirals, he also started the following season in the International Hockey League (IHL) and was used for the Roanoke Valley Rebels from Virginia and the Winston-Salem IceHawks from North Carolina in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL).

For the 1991/92 season he signed with the Carinthian club EC VSV from the Austrian league and was part of a squad restructuring of Villach after the VSV had failed in the league finals in each of the last three seasons. Morschauser was of Styrian descent and had a grandmother in Graz .

In his first season in Villach, Morschauser developed into a cult player as well as a crowd favorite and was nicknamed "Speedy" because of his reflexes. Thanks to his backing, the Villachers remained unbeaten in 21 of 24 games and won the main round with a 13 point lead over EC Graz . Arch-rivals EC KAC were beaten in the semifinals , before a victory against Graz in the final and Villach celebrated its second championship title after 1981. In a derby against KAC, he also scored the first goalkeeper goal in club history when he scored an empty net goal in the empty Klagenfurt goal. Such an achievement was only repeated by Thomas Höneckl more than 20 years later . In addition, he managed a home shutout in another derby , which Jean-Philippe Lamoureux succeeded again almost 18 years later . In 1992/93 the VSV defended the championship title with Morschauser in goal, winning the main round again and again prevailing against Graz in the final.

In 1993/94 the second place followed in the main round and a close semi-final against VEU Feldkirch . In 1994/95 Villach won the main round again and became runner-up after losing to Feldkirch in the final. In the following three seasons Villach lost in the semi-finals against the KAC. After the 1997/98 season Morschauser was deleted from the squad and replaced by Mike O'Neill. With seven seasons he was the longest committed legionnaire in the Villach team.

Gus Morschauser then didn't play for any other team, but founded two construction companies for urban development and house construction with almost 100 employees in Baden , Ontario.

On April 9, 2016, he died of a heart attack at the age of 47.

Achievements and Awards

• 1989 OHL Goaltender of the Year
• 1992 Austrian champion with the EC VSV
• 1993 Austrian champion with the EC VSV
• 1995 Austrian runner-up with the EC VSV

Web links

• Gus Morschauser at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Derbystars - a portrait from yesterday to today - # 25 Gus Morschauser
• Gus Morschauser: A goalie legend resigned much too early , April 10, 2016, Kleine Zeitung