NHL Star Says Corey Perry Purposely Injures Players & More

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S. Harper
July 30, 2022 (0:18)

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There's not too many players in the NHL that play that hard noised old school hockey as hard as Tampa Bay Lightning's Corey Perry. Say what you want about his style he's hated by the opposition, yet everyone would love Perry as a teammate.

However with that rough no holds barred style Perry plays there has been times he's injured players. Perry was a big part of the Tampa Bay Lightning's run this year losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley cup final. One of the Avalanche forwards had some accusations against Perry and his style of play, accusing Perry of intentionally trying to to injure players.

This comes from Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin, Perry comes by his nickname "the worm" for doing whatever it takes to get under the skin of opposing teams. Nichushkin is currently home in Russia where he is conducting interviews would talk about the Stanley Cup final were the Avalanche knocked off the Tampa Bay Lightning.

During one of them, he was asked if any fellow Russians tried to get under his skin during the playoffs:

"Mikhail Sergachev tried to poke me and knock me off balance, and I answered him. That's normal when the Cup was just around the corner," said Nichushkin. "We clung to him, even if we are [both Russians]. I'll say more. In the NHL playoffs, there's a mental game with dirty elements. Everybody tries to get under each other's skin."

Nichushkin was then asked about Corey Perry and what it was playing against him in the Final?

"No, I don't like his behavior. You can yell at each other, even punch each other in the face if you want to. But when a person purposely falls on people's feet, on their knees to injure and incapacitate them, it's not nice," said Nichushkin. "What good can come from people trying to take away your health by acting out of line?"

Nichushkin was hinting at the incident that occurred during game two of their series where the Avalanche had a commanding 5-0 lead, Perry put all his weight on J.T. Compher's ankle while the two were on the ice around the net. Nichushkin believes Perry intended to injure Compher.

Despite having a bad reputation, the 37 year old Corey Perry will be a first ballot hall of famer when he decides to hang up the skates Perry has played in 1,176 NHL games scoring 405 goals and 453 assists for a total of 858 career points. Perry part of the Anaheim Ducks Stanley Cup in 2007 as well as represented Canada every time he's been invited.

Credit:MARKERZONE.COM