On Nov. 22nd, after practicing with his team—the Chicago Blackhawks—only a day earlier as if nothing was wrong, Corey Perry was scratched from the lineup in that night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
While mystifying reporters, the situation also confused many of Perry’s teammates who had not been made privy to the decision.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys, so it’s kind of a shock at first,” Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno.
Connor Bedard, the Blackhawks franchise talent, added “Obviously it sucks he’s not here but we don’t really have too much information on it or anything yet.”
Two days later, still without any additional information, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson told reporters that the team had made the decision that Perry would be absent from the team for the foreseeable future. Three days after that, the Blackhawks placed Perry on waivers for the purpose of contract termination, and, just like that, without a shred of public information, Corey Perry was gone.
Though he played well this season—on pace for 20 goals and 46 points—at age 38, this is probably the last we’ll see of Perry in an NHL uniform. It’s an unceremonious end to the career of one of the best players of the 2010’s. Perry won the 2005 Memorial Cup, the 2007 Stanley Cup, 2005 World Junior Gold, 2016 World Cup Gold, and Olympic Gold Medals in 2010 and 2014. Individually, Perry was a four-time all-star (twice all-NHL first-team), the 2011 “Rocket” Richard and the 2011 Hart Trophy to go along with 421 goals and 892 points in 1,273 games.
With this situation occurring with such a high-profile player with so little clarity, rumours were bound to fly, and that’s exactly what occurred.
In the course of all this mystery, a particularly disgusting rumour began floating around that Perry had engaged in a sexual relationship with Connor Bedard’s mother on the Blackhawk’s “Mother’s trip” where all the player’s mothers travelled with the team for a short period.
Later on Bedard, Bedard was forced by a reporter to qualify these ridiculous claims, though Bedard called the rumours, “…just a bunch of internet BS.”
When Davidson held a press conference later on the 28th, he also had to confront this baseless rumour, opening his statement by saying, “This does not involve any players or their families, and anything that suggests otherwise, or anyone that suggests otherwise, is wildly inaccurate, and frankly, it’s disgusting.” Davidson continue that, “This has been a tough situation and I understand you wanted answers. It was important that we took all the necessary steps before sharing more.”
Ultimately, Davidson’s press conference revealed little except that this was a “workplace matter” and nothing criminal was involved.
On Nov. 30th Perry released his own statement on the matter, though it added some more details, it was still lacking in clarity as to what occurred. Perry’s statement, once again, emphasized that this situation in no way involved any team members or their families, but that instead it had to do with struggles with alcohol abuse.
It was later reported by Frank Seravalli that the incident was “alcohol-fueled” and had occurred at a Blackhawks corporate event with sponsors and team employees in attendance.
The Blackhawks players still don’t seem to have a great idea of what’s going on, and its not apparent that we will ever get any more clarification on what happened. Then again, maybe we don’t need to.
As tough as it is with such a public situation as this, its important to remember that professional athletes are people too, people who would prefer their struggles with mental health issues and substance abuse broadcast far and wide.
The same goes for Connor Bedard, who only turned 18 this past July. The rumour that was concocted around Bedard was vile on its own, but it’s a particularly bad look when it’s directed at someone who’s too young to even buy a beer in the city he plays in.
Maybe this past week can be a lesson to hockey fans everywhere: mind your own business.