Perron returns home to Montreal
Blues rookie David Perron is being treated like a Beatle here in Montreal. The native of nearby Sherbrooke, Quebec, was on every television screen in town last night and today he must have done 15 interviews at the Bell Centre, bouncing back and forth between French and English.
Two years ago, Perron was playing Tier 2 Junior hockey and tonight he?ll be skating on the ice of the team he watched growing up, the Montreal Canadiens. Perron will be facing his favorite player in the NHL, Alexei Kovalev. Asked if this was a dream today, Perron said: ?That?s exactly what it is.?
Perron got his hands on about 20 tickets for tonight?s game but there will be many more family and friends in attendance. How much is the bill for the tickets? ?Uh, I didn?t even look,? Perron said.
He better look at his credit card statement before he buys the tickets. The story has already circulated that on Sunday night, the Blues spent $39,000 at the team?s annual rookie dinner, in which the rookies pick up the tab. Perron apparently was on the hook for $13,000 of that bill.
He doesn?t seem to be worried about that stuff right now. Perron has had March 18 marked on his calendar since the summer, even before he made the roster in training camp.
?The schedule got out the same week as the (development camp) and I saw Montreal in March,? Perron said. ?I said, ?I hope that I can play in this game if I make the team.? It?s just great to be here.?
Perron admits that his adrenaline will be free-flowing. Andy Murray had a talk with him after the morning skate and you can bet the conversation was about keeping his emotions in check.
?I think that?s why he wants to start me on the fourth line tonight,? Perron said. ?Just take some pressure off me. He said, ?Just play your game. You know how to play with these guys. Put the puck in their zone, be physical and be good defensively and we?ll see what?s going to happen.?
It appears that Perron will be playing on a line with D.J. King and Yan Stastny tonight.
Ryan Johnson has returned to the team after returning home to Thunder Bay, Ontario, for family reasons. He?ll be back at center, moving Jay McClement to left wing on a line with Jamal Mayers. McClement said that except for spot duty he never played wing growing up. But when Murray asked him to play there last week, McClement said he embraced it.
?It?s different, but I like it,? McClement said. ?I felt like I got in on the forecheck a little more. Playing center, most of the time you?re down low in your own end and when you get the puck out, you?re behind the play. It felt like I got in on the fore-check more. It?s an adjustment, but Jammer and RJ are guys that talk a lot on the ice, so it helps me. I need them to talk me through a lot of stuff because it?s not a familiar place to be when you?re getting a rim on the wall in your own end. I like it, though.?
Brad Boyes could be back at center tonight. Boyes played center when he scored five goals in three games recently.
?We liked Brad?s game at center,? Murray said. ?He seemed to have his feet moving in those games when he was in the middle.?
Jay McKee will be back in the lineup tonight after missing three games with a bone bruise in his left foot.
?It?s really not going to change a whole lot,? McKee said. ?Andy asked if I?d be able to get through the game. I mean, there?s no guarantees. If I take a shot in the same spot, it?s going to be awful tough to take another shift. Bone bruises are something where it?s not a ligament or a strain, where you can kind of take a look at it and put a time frame on it. They take their time. It?s something I?m sure for the rest of the season I will feel, but if I don?t try it tonight, then when? I should be fine getting through the game unless I get kicked there or take a shot.?
McKee?s availability means that Roman Polak will be returned to Peoria. He was called up under emergency conditions.
Manny Legace will be in goal tonight.
Murray?s main message to the Blues this morning was staying out of the penalty box. Montreal has the No. 1-ranked power play in the league with 82 goals on 334 opportunities. For comparison, the Blues have 41 PP goals on 299 chances.
?We?ve talked about that, being smart and staying out of the box,? Murray said. ?I thought we did a pretty good job of it in Anaheim.?
Finally, a Blues? contingent visited former GM Ron Caron yesterday in Montreal. Caron lives here, and according to one player, he still has his fastball despite deteriorating health.
?It was good to see him,? said Blues forward Yan Stastny, whose dad Peter was brought to St. Louis by Caron in 1994. ?He was pretty excited to see all of us. We shared a few stories. Rick Wamsley was there and he asked (Caron) what his best trade was. He said the Brett Hull trade, and Wamsley was on the other end of that trade with Calgary. If you know Mr. Caron, he has a very sharp mind and that is still there.
?He goes back really far. He was giving us stories about the 1970s Stanley Cup run. He doesn?t leave out details. He throws out years, he throws out places, he describes players. It was fun.?