In 2007, David Perron broke into the league on a St. Louis Blues team where he counted Keith Tkachuk as a teammate.
18 years later, Perron is set to play his 1200th with Tkachuk’s son Brady — though that number would be much higher if you count the games of mini sticks that Perron and the younger Tkachuk played all those years ago.
Making tonight’s milestone even more special for the winger is that he will play it in Montreal, just under two hours from where he grew up in Sherbrooke.
“You know, you just don’t think. You keep playing and playing, trying to stay alive, and next thing you know you get to a milestone and once you hit one, you start looking at the next one,” said Perron on Tuesday morning.
“So, I think especially the way the year went last year, with the injuries and all that, I was looking forward to this one a little bit more now, and it’s nice.”
Drafted 26th overall in 2006, Perron overcame long odds to start playing in the NHL immediately. Now on his seventh team, he’s still a very useful veteran player at 37.
“I mean, I don’t know if there’s one thing you can just put your finger on,” said Travis Green.
“But obviously being a veteran guy, [he’s] seen a lot, won [a Stanley Cup with St. Louis in 2019], he’s a good voice in the room, he’s a good player, always nice to see a player hit a milestone like that, that’s a lot of games. It says a lot about him.”
Perron’s versatility makes him an effective scorer (he’s scored 20 goals in a season seven times) and passer (he’s also racked up 30 assists seven times).
His most memorable assist this season may have come earlier this month, with the Sens and Mammoth tied at one in the second period of a game at Canadian Tire Centre.
