“If he doesn’t win the MVP, it’s a crime.” – Teemu Selanne on Corey Perry, 2010.
By the end of his tenure in Anaheim, Corey Perry was an aged winger that most of the younger fans were ready to see walk out of the Honda Center doors for one final time. However, Corey Perry will forever be remembered as one of the Ducks’ all-time greats by those who remembered watching him play from the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks all the way up to his final season in Anaheim. Let’s take a look back at the legacy left behind by a true Ducks legend.
The Beginning
Corey Perry was born May of 1985, and he spent a majority of his younger years playing hockey and learning his style. After years of practice, Corey Perry was drafted to the NHL, fulfilling a lifelong dream. He was drafted 28th overall in the 2003 NHL Draft, just nine picks after the other Mighty Ducks first-rounder, Ryan Getzlaf. He played one season in Peterborough, and then he jumped up to the London Knights for the 2001-2002 season. His statline for that year was 60 GP, 28 G, 31 A, 59 TP, 56 PIM. For a first year player, 59 points was an incredible feat, but the best was yet to come. He’d play in his first World Juniors as well, representing his home country on the U18 team. Perry went on to play two more years with the London Knights, and his best career season in any league came in 2004-2005. As fake as this statline might seem now, it shows at one point just how incredible Perry was at really every aspect of the game. 60 GP, 47 G, 83 A, 130 TP, 117 PIM was the last set of numbers he had in the OHL, and anyone would be hard pressed to find the talent to surpass 130 points at any rate, let alone in 2004-2005. Perry had also won a gold medal with the U20 Canadian team that year, banking a total of seven points in six games.
Anaheim Memories
Finally, in the 2005-2006 season, Corey Perry was promoted to the big club in Anaheim. 2005-2006 turned out to be a fantastic season, and the Mighty Ducks had placed 12th in the Western Conference, earning a playoff berth. His stats for the regular season were 56 GP, 13 G, 12 A, 25 TP, 50 PIM. And through three rounds of the playoffs, his numbers were 11 GP, 0 G, 3 A, 3 TP, 16 PIM. Unfortunately, the Mighty Ducks were eliminated by the Oilers and came up short of their second Stanley Cup Finals berth, but Corey Perry put up some magical numbers for an inexperienced rookie. The next year, the Samuelis dropped the “Mighty” spirit of the Ducks, and they were forever the Anaheim Ducks afterwards, which is where Perry would make the best of his career. In the 2006-2007 season, Perry would add onto his already prestigious championship list with the mother of all prizes, the Stanley Cup. Perry was a big piece of the puzzle in building a successful team, as he pitched into an incredibly talented team with big numbers. 82 GP, 17 G, 27 A, 44 TP, 55 PIM were his regular season stats, and 21 GP, 6 G, 9 A, 15 TP, 37 PIM were his playoff numbers. He capped off his dream season with 59 total points and hopes for a long, successful NHL career. The rest is history, at this point.
In the coming years, the Ducks would hang up six straight Pacific Division championship banners, and make the playoffs a total of nine times in eleven years. Perry’s best season with the Ducks came in 2010-2011, when he had a total of 98 points in the regular season. Just two points shy of the one-hundred point club, Perry also put up eight points in six playoff games. The Ducks lasted only six games against their now playoff rivals in the Predators, and the year was unfortunately done, but it didn’t hurt Perry’s pride knowing that he had helped carry a battered Ducks team to the playoffs. Perry’s best playoff performance in the NHL so far was the 2014-2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he’d terrorize the Flames, Jets, and Hawks with 18 points in 16 games. The Ducks would end up losing a heartbreaker in Game 7, just one win away from the promised land twice in one playoff run. Perry had three straight seasons of not dipping under 70 points, and every full NHL season after that had not seen him go below 55 points until 2017-2018. Unfortunately for Perry, these past two years have been injury-ridden, so he hasn’t had the chance to shine like he did in 2010-2011 and 2014-2015.
The Spoils Of War & The Bruises Left Behind
Perry’s trophy showcase is also something of mythical proportions. He has a Stanley Cup ring (2006-2007), a Hart Memorial Trophy and a Maurice Richard Trophy in the same season (2011), an OHL Robertson Trophy ring (2004-2005), a Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy (2005), five gold medals for Canada in four different tournaments (including the Olympics), and four NHL All-Stars appearances (2008, 2011, 2012, 2016). Most NHL athletes are hard-pressed to win anything at all, so it adds on to the otherwise stunning collection that Perry has built.
Perry was also known for his antics on the ice, making plenty of enemies in his time playing for Anaheim. He was very popular with the goalies, especially. Quite a few times, Corey Perry started massive brawls by shoving the goaltender or getting in their face, most of the time against Jonathan Quick or whoever was unlucky enough to be goaltending for the one of the Pacific teams that year. Perry is also accustomed to backshots, holding sticks, stealing sticks, filling up gloves with water, stealing gloves, and basically anything anyone can think of to get into the mind of an opponent. He was a great goal scorer, and a phenomenal assist man, but first and foremost, he was a tormentor. It was one of the main ways that Anaheim felt his presence, and why the Ducks are still to this day a very disliked team in the NHL. And with all of his antics and fights, it’s not a mystery as to why he has a career 1110 penalty minutes in the NHL.
Saying Goodbye
In closing, with Perry being the brunt of a lot of hate, a lot of people like to discredit his career achievements. But, in the NHL, there have always been villains, and no matter how unlikeable they are, it’s still important to recognize their statistics and the numbers in general. Perry has 372 goals, 404 assists, and 776 points in total during his stint in Anaheim. His aforementioned trophy case is filled with anything from MVP trophies to a Stanley Cup ring, and he’s certainly been one of the most dominant alternate captains for the Ducks in their short history. Whether people love him or hate him, the one fact that stands is that he’ll be missed dearly in Anaheim. Moving on in his career, one of his quotes really sticks out, and it’ll give Stars fans a great idea of who Perry really is.
“Every year, you try to be more consistent. It’s a long year and it’s tough to do. But those great players do find it. That’s something that I try to do.” – Corey Perry, 2010.
Thank you for your time here, and good luck in Dallas, Corey. We’ll miss you and your escapades on the ice here in Anaheim, no matter how dirty they might have been.
Quotes Courtesy: LA Times and the Orange County Register. Statistics Courtesy: eliteprospects.com Pictures Courtesy: Zimbio, Twitter, SB Nation (Habs), Bleacher Report, YouTube, Anaheim Calling, and the NHL.
