After rumours about the acquisition swirled around the hockey world this weekend, the Edmonton Oilers announced Monday morning that they had signed veteran forward Corey Perry.
At a news conference on Monday, Oilers general manager Ken Holland said the deal was finalized over the weekend and that he only planned to announce it Monday, but joked that “it’s getting harder and harder to keep things secret in the world that we live in.”
“(I’ve been) after Corey the last few years,” Holland said.
“I think he’s type of player that every team wants on their team.”
Shortly after the signing was announced, Perry was seen practising with his new Oilers teammates at Rogers Place on Monday.
Shortly after the Oilers announced they had signed veteran forward Corey Perry, he was seen practising with his new teammates at Rogers Place on Monday.
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Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said that he wanted Perry to get practice time with his new teammates and that there was no definite timeline for when the team’s new forward would play a game, but that it could come as early as Saturday.
Holland and Perry told reporters that a number of teams had tried to sign Perry in recent weeks.
When asked why he chose the Oilers, Perry joked about his family’s influence.
“When you have a six-year-old kid and you have Connor McDavid on the team, you kind of follow the Edmonton Oilers a little bit,” he said with a laugh, adding that he spoke to McDavid who told him great things about the Oilers players. “This team’s going in the right direction… The vision they have.
“They want to win a Stanley Cup here… There’s a team in here that wants to win … There’s nothing better than winning … That’s why you play this game.”
Perry became a free agent after the Chicago Blackhawks, the club he had signed a one-year contract with in the offseason, terminated his contract in the fall.
In a statement issued by the Blackhawks in late November, the club said it planned to terminate his contract following an internal investigation which it said “determined that Corey Perry has engaged in conduct that is unacceptable, and in violation of both the terms of his contract and the Blackhawks’ internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments.”
The Blackhawks never provided details about what Perry allegedly did, but told reporters that the situation involved an “individual personnel matter” and could not disclose further details.
But Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson did say “this does not involve any player or their families, and anyone that suggests otherwise is wildly inaccurate and it’s frankly disgusting.”
FILE – Chicago Blackhawks right wing Corey Perry (94) plays during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators, Nov. 18, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.
(AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
In late November, Perry issued a statement about the Blackhawks’ investigation in which he said he wanted to “sincerely apologize to the entire Chicago Blackhawks organization, including ownership, management, coaches, trainers, employees, and my teammates.
“I would also like to apologize to my fans, and my family,” his statement read in part. “I am embarrassed and I have let you all down.
“As a result of my actions, there has been speculation and rumours. I am sickened by the impact this has had on others, and I want to make it clear that in no way did this situation involve any of my teammates or their families. Most importantly, I want to directly apologize to those who have been negatively affected and I am sorry for the additional impact to others it has created. My behaviour was inappropriate and wrong.”
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Perry, who said at the time he was seeking help related to alcohol use, also never provided details about what alleged actions led to the investigation.
When asked Monday for more details about what led to the contract termination, Perry declined to answer. He also declined to answer when asked if he was considering filing an appeal over the contract’s termination.
“Over the last two months, I really had a chance to reflect and get the help and to take full responsibility for what happened in Chicago and try to better myself,” Perry said Monday. “Those are the things that I’ve been working on with people in the mental health field.
“I have to thank my family, my friends, all the support I’ve gotten — the support from my counsellors … From where I was two months ago to where I am today, it’s made a world of difference.”
Perry described the uncertainty he felt when his contract was terminated and just took things “day by day.”
“This whole situation is not easy, but if you do have a problem, get help,” he said. “When I get up in the morning, every day now … I can look myself in the mirror and be happy with myself and where I’m going.”
Holland said at some point after Perry’s contract was terminated, he reached out to the player’s agent “to find out what was going on.”
“And over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve done due diligence to get to this point,” he said, noting he has met with NHL officials, spoken with the Blackhawks general manager and others about Perry’s situation. He said he also spoke at length with Oilers personnel about signing the player.
“(He has taken steps) to make himself a better person,” Holland said, noting that Perry met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman recently to speak about what led to the contract termination. “We felt that this was an opportunity to add a player that can make us better on and off the ice. He’s a great leader.
“Come playoff time, you think about blue-paint goals and greasy goals, and that’s what Corey stands for. ”
The Oilers said Perry will wear number 90.
Perry, who hails from Ontario, has a reputation as a tough competitor. While the 38-year-old player is past his prime in terms of scoring goals, he scored more goals than any other NHL player in the 2010-11 regular season and captured the Hart Trophy that year, awarded annually to the player judged to be the most valuable member of his team.
Perry has played in a staggering 1,273 regular season NHL games in his career, scoring 421 goals while also being credited with 471 assists and 1,392 penalty minutes.
He won the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and in his career has played 196 playoff games, accumulating 53 goals and 71 assists for 124 points.
Perry has also played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars.
Anaheim Ducks players Dustin Penner (left), Ryan Getzlaf (centre), and Corey Perry (right) hold up the Stanley Cup after the Ducks won the finals with a 6-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators in Anaheim, Calif. Wednesday, June 6, 2007.
AP Photo/Mark Avery
News of Perry’s signing came as the Oilers continue a historic winning streak.
After winning 3-1 over the Flames in Calgary on Saturday night, the Oilers have now won 13 games in a row, a record among teams playing in Canadian cities.
The Oilers have been on a remarkable mission to turn their season around in recent weeks. In November, the club fired head coach Jay Woodcroft after an ugly start to the 2023-24 season and replaced him with Knoblauch.
The Oilers have won 23 of 29 games since the coaching change.
When asked about making lineup changes to the team when it is in the middle of a winning streak, Knoblauch noted that the team has already done that during its current run.
“We’re not blowing things up,” he told reporters. “We’re not trying to make sudden changes or big changes.
“I think with Corey he makes our team a little bit better. Unfortunately, we have guys playing well and somebody’s going to have to take a reduced role and somebody’s not going to be able to play. But throughout this streak, it’s not like it’s the first change we’ve made.”
Knoblauch was asked about Perry’s competitive and physical playing style and if that would make it hard to introduce him to the Oilers’ dressing room.
“I know there’s been plenty of players that I’ve coached against that I absolutely hated,” he said. “But I’ve also said, ‘Oh man, I wish he was on my team,’ and I think our players have a lot of respect for him because of the way he plays.”
Knoblauch said he trusts Holland’s judgment and does not believe Perry joining the Oilers after having his contract terminated by the Blackhawks will be a distraction.
“With our team being as strong as it is, the amount of leaders that we have … it’s not a distraction,” he said. “(He) feels that he can add something to our team … I think he’ll make our team better in the short term, but definitely in the long term in the playoffs, where it’s so hard to score goals.
“He adds that element of scoring goals and also the element of just being hard to play against — giving our team a little more personality … and then also the leadership.”
Perry said he is excited to be able to don an Oilers uniform.
“This is a passionate fanbase,” he said. “(It’s) an exciting time for the Oilers organization.
“You look around that room, you’ve got some pretty tremendous players … Thank you to the Oilers organization.”
–With files from Michelle Butterfield, Global News
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
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Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
