Corey Perry gets massive emotional standing ovation in Anaheim

It was a big night for veteran forward Corey Perry on Friday. He faced the Anaheim Ducks as a visiting player for the first time as his Tampa Bay Lightning were hosted in California.

The forward played against the Ducks for the Dallas Stars on Oct. 24, 2019 in Dallas. He returned to Anaheim with Dallas on Jan. 9, 2020, but was serving a five-game suspension for a hit on Jan. 1 (as a member of the Montreal Canadiens, Perry never faced the Ducks due to the conference realignment in the COVID pandemic shortened season). While the Ducks did honour him then, they were back at it again on Friday as Perry stood on the ice watching a tribute video in his honour and received a massive standing ovation from the crowd.

He skated around as some of his former teammates came over to greet him. However, it looked like he was skating around to prevent the emotions from being overwhelming.

This is very nice to watch because as much as Perry can be a jerk, you want him on your team over playing against him.

And that’s what the Ducks have to do tonight. Check it out:

Right after the tribute, Perry had an open backhand attempt at the net set up by Nikita Kucherov but couldn’t get the shot off in time and the chance went wide.

Perry played his first 14 NHL seasons for Ducks and scored 776 points (372 goals, 404 assists) in 988 games. Selected by Anaheim in the first round (No. 28) of the 2003 NHL Draft, Perry won the Stanley Cup in 2007. He had NHL career highs in goals (50) and points (98) in 2010-11, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the leading goal-scorer in the NHL and the Hart Trophy voted as the NHL most valuable player. 

What a great moment for everyone in Anaheim.