Gritty veteran forward Corey Perry played only two seasons, but the Lightning and its fanbase have missed him. On Thursday night, Perry and his Chicago Blackhawks came to Florida and the former Bolts forward received a warm welcome from the crowd during the game, which included a tribute video.
Perry stood and saluted the crowd after the footage while cameras spotted his mother who was in attendance on the Blackhawks’ mothers trip. She was being comforted by other mothers of the team, clearly emotional at all the love her son was getting from his former team and fans.
Just beautiful.
While Perry did not achieve his goal of adding a second Stanley Cup to his likely Hall of Fame resume during his time with the Lightning, he proved to everyone how great of an impact he keeps having in the dressing room as a veteran leader and passionate teammate.
In Chicago, Perry has been mentoring first overall pick Connor Bedard on a young Blackhawks team, though it has not prevented him from getting in touch with many of his former teammates in Tampa Bay.
Before the game, Perry was spotted hanging with some of them at practice, catching up before puck drop and becoming rivals.
Fans have been well aware that Perry, who is nicknamed “The Worm,” Perry has reputation as someone players hate to play against, but they all love to have him as a teammate.
And his mother is so proud of that.
On top of that warm welcome, Perry recorded a goal in a win of 5-3 for his Blackhawks.
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