Habs a good fit for NHL veteran Perry
Peterborough product was a big Montreal fan as a child and believes club is a solid contender for the Stanley Cup
As a kid, Corey Perry wore a Montreal Canadiens white home jersey everywhere.
Growing up in New Liskeard in northern Ontario, near the Quebec border, the nearest CBC affiliate carried Canadiens games not the Toronto Maple Leafs.
His father, Geoff, a Peterborough native stationed there as an OPP officer, was a Habs fan, so like father, like son.
Perry will soon don the rouge, blanc et bleu for real after signing a one-year, $750,000 freeagent contract with the Canadiens on Monday.
It’s the third stop in his National Hockey League career after 14 seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, where he won a Stanley Cup in 2007, and one with the Dallas Stars, who lost in the cup final last season to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It’s funny how things work out in life,” said Perry, 35.
“Now I’m a Montreal Canadien so I’m excited. They have a great team with a lot of young players and they’ve added a lot of names to it and it looks like a great fit.”
The first time Perry had his picture taken with the Stanley Cup, he was wearing that white Habs jersey.
He was eight when he wore it to a hockey camp in Rouyn-Noranda, a 90-minute drive from his home, when Eric Desjardins brought the Stanley Cup to the rink in 1993.
“I have a fond memory of that. Growing up in northern Ontario, you were either a Habs fan or a Leafs fan. We were close to the Quebec border so it was Habs for us,” said Perry, who moved to Peterborough when he was 10.
He would love for his next picture with the cup to again be in a Canadiens jersey this season. The pursuit of another title is his only objective now in hockey and a major factor in deciding which of the suitors for his services to sign with.
“Montreal was just a great fit for me. They have great goaltending, good defence and some solid forwards. (Montreal GM) Marc Bergevin has added some solid pieces to that team to make it a contending team. That’s what I want to do. I want to go to a winner and try to win again.”
When he signed with Dallas last season, he felt the Stars were a promising team ready to compete for a championship. He views Montreal in a similar manner.
“I’m not getting any younger and winning a Stanley Cup is a dream come true. I do have one when I was younger but being so close this year fuels that fire even more. You lose in Game 6 of a cup final and it stings. You want to go out and win another Stanley Cup. There is nothing like winning in sports. That’s what I’m looking for,” he said.
Perry learned last year when the Ducks bought out his contract that hockey is a business. It softened the blow when it became apparent Dallas wasn’t going to re-sign him.
“It’s the nature of the business right now,” he said.
“There are cap situations everywhere along the way and it just wasn’t going to work in Dallas right now. Then Montreal came along and I’m very excited to be in Montreal.”
He’s played with Canadiens goalie Carey Price and captain Shea Weber on Olympic and World Cup teams and skated this off-season with Nick Suzuki so he already has some relationships with current Habs.
“They have a lot of pieces and added pieces with guys like (Josh) Anderson and (Tyler) Toffoli,” he said.
He trained hard in the short off-season, never doubting he would play another season.
“I know I can still play. I think I proved that in the playoffs,” he said.
An offensive star most of his career, Perry won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most outstanding player and Rocket Richard Trophy as top goal scorer in 2011.
He’s adapted in his later years. Now a grizzled veteran, Perry has become a role player and expects to provide for Montreal what he did for Dallas. “It’s up to them how they want to use me. I’m just going to go on the ice and play the way I always do. I can’t change anything. That’s not who I am,” he said.
“It’s a matter of me going out and doing my thing and letting the pieces fall where they fall.”
It’s not only his first time playing in a Canadian NHL city, it will be in an all-Canadian division due to the pandemic and travel restrictions.
“Hopefully, the Canadian teams can play in their home arenas and not have to do a bubble or a hybrid bubble.
“The division is strong and anybody can come out of this division. We’re looking at putting together a good run in Montreal and making our own statement.”