CHICAGO — The Blackhawks’ locker room was abuzz with chatter, chirping and laughter Tuesday morning as players filed in after the morning skate. Seth Jones and Connor Murphy were excitedly chatting about their old friend Patrick Kane’s registration in, of all places, Detroit, the reporters mingled amiably and the mood was good everywhere.
About 12 hours later, Ice Cube’s “Check Yo Self” – the team’s winning song this season – blared from the locker room and the Blackhawks were all smiles again after a tough 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken in which they scored three goals of the final six, killing 63 seconds of a five-on-three game late in the third period.
However, the Blackhawks experienced an emotional crisis in between when general manager Kyle Davidson informed them that Corey Perry was no longer their teammate after an incident “at work.” As he did to reporters later that afternoon, Davidson withheld most details about what actually happened that warranted Perry’s firing.
“It’s breathtaking, to be honest,” Nick Foligno said. “We all care about Corey. But we understand that there is a standard that we will adhere to. …So it’s a really hard day for all of us and it’s hard when you can’t fully comment on all the details. But you care about the person and we care about this organization and they’re going to do what’s best for all of us and we need to know that and understand that, that there’s a standard that we need to achieve.”
Seth Jones called Perry “a brother” and thought it was “a difficult situation.”
“We don’t have details about what happened, but I know the organization wants to maintain a certain level of behavior here and make it a place where we hold each other to standards,” Jones said. “I guess that was broken.”
The Blackhawks effectively fired Perry on Tuesday, six days after exiling him. He was less than two months into his only season in Chicago, but the impact of the Perry saga — on the ice, in the locker room, in the front office, in the minds of hockey fans across the league — will be felt for some time. Perry will be a blip in the Blackhawks’ 16-game annals, but his presence was significant, and his absence is more significant.
You could see the toll the last few days have taken in Davidson’s reddened eyes as he answered questions from reporters looking for answers he said he wasn’t allowed to give. You could feel the weight of what was unfolding in the fangs of Davidson’s voice. The inability to hear the facts of the situation beyond the generalities was undeniably frustrating and a valid criticism of a franchise that still has miles to go before it ever gets the benefit of the doubt in sensitive and devastating situations. It will take years for the Blackhawks to do the right thing to regain lost credibility, but Davidson insisted the Blackhawks did so by the book – the new book written by himself and owner Danny Wirtz, as well as president Jaime Faulkner and head coach was written by Luke Richardson.
“I think, more than anything, it reinforces the resolve that we have to change the culture and make sure we’re doing the right things,” Davidson said when asked if this undermines the work the organization claims to have done. to improve workplace culture the revelations of the Jenner & Block report in 2021, which shed light on the Kyle Beach sexual assault allegation and subsequent cover-up in 2010. “We are upholding our values and ensuring we continue to build a culture of accountability. These are my thoughts.”
These are the facts presented by Davidson: The team was made aware of an incident involving Perry last week in Columbus. It was reported. The Blackhawks immediately removed Perry from the team and launched an internal investigation. The investigation was conducted expeditiously and the results showed that Perry had “engaged in conduct that is unacceptable and violates both the term of his (contract) and the Blackhawks’ internal policies, which are designed to be professional and safe.” to promote work environments,” read a team statement released earlier in the day. Perry was immediately granted a waiver to terminate his contract.
It all happened in less than a week. Considering how low the bar has been set for the franchise in recent years, this can certainly be seen as encouraging. There was a problem. Someone felt empowered enough to report it. The team took care of it quickly and without tolerance.
Of course, questions still remain unanswered. The Blackhawks certainly may have good reason to withhold key details of the incident, as it is a workplace incident and an internal personnel matter. Identities may need to be protected. But the cover-up is fueling speculation and social media has been uglier than usual as Perry’s mysterious absence continued over the weekend. At least 24 hours before Davidson’s press conference, such speculation was rife, with one particularly salacious and absurd rumor circulating involving the family of 18-year-old Connor Bedard. Call it either media illiteracy or willful ignorance or just plain mean “fun”, but a small Twitter/X account with no credibility managed to convince countless people that this rumor was true. Davidson was visibly upset by the rumor. But perhaps a clearer statement about why Perry wasn’t on the team could have resolved the issue much sooner.
Davidson seemed to acknowledge this.
“What happened in the last 24 hours was very disturbing,” he said, fighting back tears. “And I feel like I’m wearing it. I wear that. It’s just hard to see. Yes, it’s hard to see.”
For Blackhawks management, this was another test, a chance to prove that their newly stated values are more than just PR. They failed in 2010, failed again in 2021 when the Jenner & Block report came out, and failed again in last spring’s Pride night fiasco. Maybe they got that right. Maybe one day we’ll find out. For now, they’ll have to continue to fend off the extremely skeptical hockey world and hope that one day they’ll be okay in hindsight.
For Perry, his storied career — a Stanley Cup, a Hart Trophy, 18-plus seasons stretching back to the days of the old Mighty Ducks of Anaheim — is now in question. He wanted to play until his 40s. He was the Blackhawks’ third-leading scorer and clearly still had a few years left in him with a real chance to burnish his borderline Hall of Fame credentials. All of this is up in the air now, his reputation may be changed forever, his career may be over.
For the Blackhawks players, the hit is more emotional. Davidson moved quickly to replace his scoring punch, sending a fifth-round pick to Vancouver for the former first-round pick in the hours between his press conference and the puck drop against Seattle on what seemed like a day and 21-goal scorer Anthony Beauvillier would never end. But Perry should be more than just a scorer with great depth and a strong net presence on the power play. He was hired as a team father, leader and mentor to Bedard, who is the most valuable person in the entire Blackhawks organization. Perry was supposed to show Bedard how to be a professional. And as hated as “The Worm” is by fans across the league, his teammates in Chicago adored him, as they did in Anaheim, in Dallas, in Montreal and in Tampa. He talked to the newbies, he led by example, he spoke up at team meetings and preached “brotherhood” and “responsibility.”
Then he threw it all away and abandoned his brothers, with no responsibility for his own actions.
This will hurt. That will remain. This will leave a mark on Chicago – and hardly the kind Davidson had hoped.
(Top photo of Corey Perry and Connor Bedard: Melissa Tamez / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)