INSIDER: Hear from Corey Perry after his LA Kings Debut

Since Corey Perry entered the NHL in 2005, only one player in the league has both scored 25 goals against the Kings and also racked up 100 penalty minutes.

Give you one guess who that is.

As he took the ice for his first shift in a Kings jersey, though, the focus wasn't about where Perry used to play or what he had done against the Kings. It was drawn to how Perry was moving, how his hands looked, how he was engaged in the game physically. As would usually be the case with a player coming back from an injury. Because that's how it should have felt.

Leading up to the game, it might have felt weird, strange, unique, different……insert your favorite synonym here to think about Perry playing his first game with the organization. The offseason injury which delayed that debut only added to the feelings because Perry's first game became spotlighted away from the other signings. In the moment, though, as he played his first shift, his first period, his first game, this just felt like an offseason acquisition who was making his season debut, following an injury that cost him all of training camp and the first six games of the regular season. And that's how it was supposed to feel.

For Perry, it was longer than he would have liked, but he felt good when he finally got to get into a game last night in St. Louis. You never know, coming off an injury like the one Perry had, exactly what the first game has in store. But all went well, a long time coming, as Corey Perry finally became an LA King.

“You're a little nervous, coming off a pretty serious injury, you don't know how it's going to feel,” Perry said this morning. “Yeah, you can do everything you can in practice, but they know how you're feeling, so it's not the same as when the other team's trying to win, trying to take the puck off you, trying to knock you down. It was a little nerve wracking, first couple of shifts, but you get that out of the way and you just play hockey.”

The thing is, this should’ve come earlier, if not for some really unfortunate luck.

Perry’s injury came during one of the final captain’s skates of the summer. At that point in September, it was basically a full-team practice, minus the coaches. In talking about his injury for the first time, it was a freak play. Perry was on the blueline, went to make a one-touch pass and felt it immediately. Torn meniscus. His knee wouldn’t straighten and he knew immediately what was wrong.

The evaluation he felt came formally shortly thereafter and he quickly underwent surgery to make the repair.

With that came an estimated 6-8 week timeline. Six weeks on the nose would have been Friday. Perry beat it by three days. For a player who is 40-years-old, you might expect the slower side of that timeline. That just isn’t Corey Perry though, is it? Perry progressed ahead of schedule and was ultimately ready to go for yesterday’s game in St. Louis.

“It was nice [to get back],” he said. “When you're out, you’re not around the team a whole lot and going through training camp, you miss a lot of things. Being around the team a little bit the last few days and finally getting in there, it definitely helps and it's definitely nice that we got to win at the same time and now we keep moving forward.”

It was nice to get back in part because it wasn't easy. Not by any stretch.

Perry was in the gym working relentlessly in September and October, gearing up for this moment. The challenges of rehabbing that injury were difficult on two fronts. The physical side of things, sure, but this is also a player who was joining a new team and wanted to get involved right away. To not be able to was challenging.

When you think about it, Perry missed the entirety of training camp. Every single day. As his teammates and every other team in the league was building in terms of conditioning, systems and team chemistry, Perry was on the sidelines, watching practice from above, trying to pick up new team concepts without being on the ice. He was also focusing on rehabbing not getting up to speed, which set him behind the eight ball as everyone else was progressing.

Perhaps it was easier for him than most. Perry has certainly played for his share of teams, coaches and systems in his career and he’s always found a way to be successful. But still. For a player coming into a new situation for the first time, the injury didn’t do him any favors and he’s still fully working his way up to where he wants to be.

“That's the hardest thing is you need your reps, you need to be out there to do it and to really feel comfortable,” Perry said. “I was in some meetings but I wasn't around a lot because I was doing my own thing, just tried to [stay involved]. The guys have been great, coaches been great, when I have questions, they have the answers for me, so it's been an easy transition.”

As it became clear in the morning that Perry would play, there seemed to be an added jolt of energy in the team, awaiting his first game as an LA King. Playing just shy of 15 minutes, Perry showcased some of the things that have made him such a special player over the years.

His hands in tight spaces. His ability to make plays for scoring chances, both for himself and his teammates. That silky deke and dish to Andrei Kuzmenko on the first Kings power play was nearly a perfect start. His comfort playing in front of the net and along the boards. His craftiness, even in the defensive zone, in getting pucks out of dangerous areas.

Perry wound up playing 14:41 in total in his first game with the organization. He might not have been the fastest player on the ice but you wouldn’t have said that even during his Hart Trophy winning 2008-09 season. Perry still has the guile in his game that’s made him such an effective complementary player over the last several seasons in Dallas, Montreal, Tampa Bay and Edmonton and he showcased an ability to mesh in multiple places.

We saw Perry skate mostly on a line with Alex Turcotte and Jeff Malott, as well as on the first power-play unit. In his 12:15 played at 5-on-5, Perry was with Turcotte for more than 50 percent of that time. He moved around though, as he did when he was in Edmonton.

When the game eventually came to a close, Perry was on the ice for 15 shot attempts for, compared to seven against in 5-on-5 situations. That’s 68.2 percent in favor, the second-best clip on the team. Not a bad debut.

Ultimately, the Kings acquired a player like Perry for what he brings in the postseason. The start as a team this year means that perhaps they could use him a little bit sooner than that, with Perry rejoining a team that had won just once from six games played to get things going. While the win last night wasn’t just because Perry returned, he did make a difference.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper used the word “presence” to describe what Perry brings. A presence on the ice and a presence in the locker room. So many others have used similar expressions. Defenseman Drew Doughty, who knows Perry well, called him a “gamer” and one of those players who you hate playing against but always want on your side, someone who will do anything to help his team win games.

Forward Alex Laferriere is looking at Perry as someone to learn from in his own game, someone who excels in areas Laferriere is trying to grow.

“He’s such a leader and such a veteran that even though it was his first game on our team, he’s still leading us out there,” Laferriere said of Perry. “He’s a guy that I want to learn a lot from in my game and it’s just awesome to have him out here with us.”

For Perry, he had those players when he was younger. When he was a rookie in Anaheim, he pointed to veterans like Teemu Selanne, Chris Pronger and Scott Neidermayer as guys who helped show them the ropes.

He learned a lot about playing in front of the net from going up against Pronger every day in practice. Even as teammates, there aren't too many better guys to learn from than Pronger.

“You learn quick in this league that goals are scored around the net, and you’ve got to go there,” he said. “In practice, going up against Chris Pronger, it's not fun, even when he's on your team. You learn early you’ve got to be fearless and just go there and park yourself. Yeah, you’re going to take a shot here and there but that’s part of the game.”

Now, it’s Perry who is the guy with the experience. The guy with those pieces of wisdom to pass along. The guy who others are coming up to for advice and wisdom.

Perry is more reserved in nature, but more than willing to help be that guy for some of the younger players with the Kings. He got that when he was breaking in and now he's here to help pass it along.

“That’s the biggest thing, I had it when I was young, I had some pretty good leaders and pretty good players to go up to in Selanne, Niedermayer, Pronger. They were big names, but. if you have something, you just go ask and I'm sure they'll have the answer in this game. I'm just trying to be that person around here. Whatever they might need, a little tip on the ice, whatever it is, I’m always here.”

Paying it forward is part of the code. Perry is certainly closer to the end of his career than the start and just as those three Hall of Famers did for him, he's eager to do for younger players cutting their teeth with the Kings. As he continues to integrate with the group, that presence, as Kuemper put it, should only continue to grow.

After nearly 1,400 games of seeing that presence on the other end of the ice, the Kings are enjoying having it on their side. Because now he's just another part of the team. Just as he should be.