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Corey Perry jerks around Jets to set playoff tone

Corey Perry jerks around Jets to set playoff tone

ANAHEIM – The Anaheim Ducks players know that teammate Corey Perry is a jerk on the ice. When other team’s fans boo Perry and player chirp him, it’s clear Perry is doing something to bother everyone in an the building that has some association with his opponent.

“I think he’s always been a guy who has played on the edge a bit and done a few stupid things,” Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano said. “But he has been a guy who plays hard, and he’s earned space out there, and he goes to the dirty areas, and when you go to the dirty areas, you’re usually not making friends out there.”

Perry, who scored 33 goals in 67 games this year, is not a bad jerk type guy. He’s physical, aggressive, chippy and he scores a ton of goals. And he needs this to be a postseason of redemption after two straight so-so-to-poor playoffs.

He got off to a strong start with two goals and four points in Game 1 against Winnipeg. It was the best possible beginning for Perry, who wanted it as much for himself as for his team. Last playoff, Perry had just four points in Anaheim’s second round seven-game series with Los Angeles. He had two points the previous playoffs in seven games against Detroit.

“When he’s a player playing with confidence, like when any player has four points in one game is feeling pretty good, he wants to continue that,” Cogliano said.

The playoffs are littered with strong, talented offensive players who are gifted scorers. But in order to win, you need someone with a Claude Lemieux-like edge. One that leads to fights, questionable plays and goals. Enter Perry who has that sort of feistiness about him.

Four years ago, at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena in Anaheim’s first round series, country music star Vince Gill led the crowd in a “Perry is a sissy” chant. As someone who was there, I can say first hand, it was really lame -- sorry Vince, it was.

But it was also telling that of all players on that specific Ducks team that Gill chose Perry.

When asked if he is a pain to play against, Perry smiled and said, “I try to be sometimes, I guess.”

Even he’s in on the joke. And at the age of 29, maybe he has finally mastered the art of on-ice annoyance tempered with patience.

“I think when (Perry) is doing that he’s a really difficult guy to handle,” Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler said. “He’s the type of player who thrives off some of that stuff and he doesn’t mind people getting in his face, and challenging him. It seems to only make him better.”

Part of this is maturity, but also some of it is out of necessity. The Ducks started a leadership transition to Perry and captain Ryan Getzlaf in 2010 when former captain Scott Niedermayer retired. But it was a long, slow movement to the younger Ducks – mostly due to Teemu Selanne’s unending indecision on retirement. We still love you Teemu, but it took a while to finally say goodbye.

When Selanne called it quits after last season, there were no more old guard Ducks in the dressing room. Perry and Getzlaf were the guys. Which meant all success and failure rested squarely on them.

Perry is the lightning rod for the Ducks on so many levels. He scores, he gets criticism, he deals with disciplinary issues. And if the Ducks fail, it falls heavily on Perry. Maybe it’s because Perry’s 2010-11 Hart Trophy season has always left us wanting the same every year. He was so good that season – unstoppable down the stretch.

Maybe it’s because his on-ice demeanor is evened out by an understated nature off the ice. We always wonder if there’s more in his game and as a person.

This is why these playoffs are important for him. Look at this Game 1 face from Thursday (s/t @mikecolligan).

Corey Perry
Corey Perry

And hockey-crazed Winnipeg provides an interesting dynamic. He will go into the MTS Centre for Monday’s Game 3 as Lex Luthor, Thanos and Darth Vader all rolled into one. The boos will be extraordinary. But it’s no different for Perry than any game really. He’s made his rep, and he sticks to it.

“At least since I’ve been here, some of the buildings we’ve gone into, he seems to be public enemy No. 1, and it never seems to faze him,” Fowler said. “I think he’s the type of player who accepts that role and seems to make him that much more engaged in the game it.”

Now, he just needs to do what he did Thursday oh ... 15 more times. Easy, right?

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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