Perry Discusses His Improving Recovery From Knee Injury

For a man who plays the game with a fearless, physical edge - usually avoiding serious injury despite a number of close calls - it was the height of irony that it was a move in warmups before a preseason game that took down Corey Perry.
That was way back on September 24 at Honda Center, when Perry took a seemingly innocuous stride out of the corner of the rink and "felt a pop" in his right knee, knowing almost immediately it wasn't good.

"I kind of had a feeling something bad happened," said Perry on Thursday afternoon in his first time speaking officially to reporters since the incident. "I came off the ice and I couldn't straighten my knee, so I knew something was wrong. The doc told me we needed an MRI right away."
Two days later, Perry had successful surgery to repair a torn meniscus and damaged MCL and his timetable to return was listed as four to five months. He hasn't yet been cleared to start skating again, though he says that's coming soon. Instead, his recovery efforts have been limited to arduous workouts in the gym and in the pool. "I'm here early, in the gym, doing my thing, doing different exercises, riding the bike and I started the slide board," Perry said. "All those things are good signs leading to the ice. It's pretty much how it works. Every day I'm ramping it up a little bit more and more intensely and we'll see how it feels."
These days the recovery efforts are much more manageable than they were soon after the surgery. "The beginning was tough because it's hard not being around the team and not playing, not being on the road, doing the everybody activities with the team," Perry said. "For about 10 or 12 weeks, I don't think you guys saw me here at all. I wasn't isolated, but I was doing things away from the rink that needed to be done for rehab.
"That's something you have to get over, and it's something that takes a little time. But at the same time I'm working hard and getting back in shape, trying to get the knee back to where it needs to be to be effective, and I think it's come a long way."
In the past several weeks, Perry has been able to be around the team more and watches every Ducks home game intently from a seat in the press box, lamenting the struggles his teammates are having recently and not being able to contribute. "That's hard because you want to help your team," he said. "You want to be with them. It's not fun when you're going through something like this. We've all been a part of it. It happens, but at the same time you've got to find a way out of it."

If it was up to Perry, he'd probably be on the ice already, but cooler heads have prevailed. "It was probably about six weeks ago, where I kept saying 'It feels good, it feels good.' But they said we've got to hold off and let it heal. It's science, and it's doctor's orders. The meniscus doesn't get a lot of blood, and it takes a long time for it to heal. It might feel good, but at the end of the day you've got to take your time."
While it's hard to come to terms with missing more than half a season, there are a number of silver linings. Perry's knee had been a lingering issue since his junior days, and indeed his production had fallen off the last couple of seasons. The former Hart Trophy winner and 50-goal scorer in 2011 went from 34 goals in 2015-16 to just 19 two years ago and 17 last season.
He said this process has him harkening back to the career of a former teammate and another Ducks household name, Teemu Selanne. The Hall-of-Famer struggled with knee issues for a long time before having surgery during the 2004-05 lockout just before signing with the Ducks in the summer of '05. He was 34 at the time (the same age Perry is now) and went on to flourish in Anaheim for almost a decade more.
"I always keep thinking how Teemu came back and played another 10 years on a new knee," Perry said. "He kept saying he was going to retire or whatever. He came back and he was still the Finnish Flash. He was still skating and he was still doing his thing. That's what's in the back of my mind."
Being away from the game has also allowed Perry more time to spend at home with wife Blakeny and one-year-old son Griffin. "It's been great seeing the little guy grow up and different stages in his life," Perry said. "He's walking and starting to talk. Those are things you don't think about when you're playing, but to see him grow up and being around him every single day has been great fun."
Meanwhile, Perry finds solace in the fact the injury happened when it did and not later in the season. "I said to my wife, 'It's probably better happening in September than January," Perry said. "Knowing I have four or five months to get ready, come back and be ready for a playoff push hopefully stronger than ever.
"That's kind of the way we've approached it, to come back and be stronger and not worry about if there is a next time it might happen. Just let it heal and get strong and get ready to play again."