Perry tough opponent, even better teammate
MONTREAL — Canadiens coach Claude Julien still remembers watching Corey Perry play with the London Knights at the 2005 Memorial Cup.
The Knights won the OHL championship that season and faced the QMJHL champion Rimouski Océanic in the final, winning 4-0.
“I still remember — I’ve mentioned that to him — when I watched him play in the Memorial Cup his last year in London and he was playing against Rimouski and Sidney Crosby was with Rimouski,” Julien recalled Tuesday. “How in his mind he was going to be the best player out there in the finals and was going to dominate, even though there was so much talk about Sidney Crosby and everything else.”
Perry didn’t score in the final, but he played a big role in shutting down Crosby, who led the tournament in scoring with 6-5-11 totals in five games. Perry was named the tournament MVP after posting 4-3-7 totals in four games.
“He’s a competitive — and I’m going to use the word — he’s a competitive bugger and there’s not too many people that want to cross him when he’s in that kind of mood,” Julien said. “Having him in the Olympics and at the World Cup (when Julien was an assistant coach under Mike Babcock) there a few years back, he still has that in him. Not a fun guy to play against, but he’s a fun guy to have on your team.”
Julien now has Perry on his team after Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin signed the 35-year-old right-winger to a one-year, US$750,000 contract after he helped the Dallas Stars advance to the Stanley Cup final last season.
Perry missed the first day of practice at Canadiens’ training camp Monday in Brossard while completing the final day of his quarantine after arriving in Montreal and he skated on the fifth line Tuesday with Ryan Poehling and Michael Frolik. Perry also saw time on the second power-play unit and it’s hard to imagine him not being in the lineup when the Canadiens open the NHL season Jan. 13 in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.
“This guy has won the Stanley Cup (in 2007) and, as you know, was a really important player for the Anaheim Ducks for a long time,” Julien said about Perry, who also won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player and the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s leading goal-scorer in 201011 when he posted 50-48-98 totals. “He’s a big guy. He’s got an edge to his game and everything else. He’s not an easy and fun player to play against.”
While Perry doesn’t have the offensive abilities he used to, he remains a real pain in the hockey pants to play against and brings experience and leadership to the Canadiens. He’s a member of the Triple Gold Club, having won the Stanley Cup, two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada and an IIHF World Championship. Perry and Hall of Fame defenceman Scott Niedermayer are the only two players in the Triple Gold Club to have also won a world junior championship, a Memorial Cup and a World Cup of Hockey.
The Canadiens’ Brendan Gallagher has played both with and against Perry.
“Playing with him at worlds (in 2016), he was actually captain of our team when we won,” Gallagher said. “So that’s my favourite memory of him. I’ve got a lot of not-so-favourite memories (from playing against him). He just plays hard and competes. He’s a player that he’s going to be really good for a lot of guys, but me especially. You know, you watch how he is around the net. He’s just got so many tricks that he’s picked up and just watching those guys is always going to help. So personally, I’m looking forward to that and he’s going to play a big part of our team. So definitely a very good addition.
“Everyone knows who Corey Perry is,” Gallagher added. “They know the career he’s had, the impact he’s had on every single team he’s gone into. You know when you’re going into a big game he’s the guy when you look around the locker room before games that’s the guy who can make you feel comfortable because you know how confident he’s going to be in himself and his abilities. Just step up at the right time and contribute in an important way. It’s hard to find guys like that. Obviously, someone that just won as much as he has, he’s been around players that have that experience and he has it himself. Somebody that I think we can all learn from a bit and, when he steps in the room, he definitely comes with a presence.”
The Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki definitely knows who Perry is after growing up in London and watching him play for the Knights.
“I actually skated with Corey in the summer for probably the last three years, so it’s good to see him,” Suzuki said. “He’s definitely a fun player for me to watch. I remember him when he played for the Knights in London. I’ve always watched him, so I think he’s a great addition for us.”