NHL partners with Matthew Perry Foundation to support addiction recovery

The NHL and the Matthew Perry Foundation have teamed up once again to make preseason games count beyond their final scores.

The League and the foundation established to honor the late “Friends” star and passionate hockey fan are partnering for “Goals for Recovery” for the second consecutive preseason.

In recognition of National Recovery Month, the NHL will donate $100 for every preseason goal scored to the Matthew Perry Foundation to help support addiction recovery, prevention and advocacy efforts across North America, doubling its $50-per-goal contribution from last preseason.

The League begins an eight-day, 65-game slate of preseason games played across 36 NHL and neutral-site venues Sept. 19 through Sept. 26.

“Few things bring people together quite like hockey, and that sense of community is at the heart of ‘Goals for Recovery,’” said Rob Wooley, executive director of the NHL Foundation. “Matthew Perry’s love for the game was authentic, and our fans continue to feel a real connection to him and the legacy he left behind. We’re grateful to the Matthew Perry Foundation for giving us the opportunity to turn that connection into something meaningful — opening conversations about addiction, creating greater understanding around recovery and helping ensure more people have access to the support they need.”

The Matthew Perry Foundation aims to eliminate the stigma surrounding addiction by providing financial assistance to organizations that offer hope in recovery. It was created in the wake of the actor's accidental death on Oct. 28, 2023.

“I think there is something really significant that the NHL did last year in partnering with us, and it wasn't just the money, and it wasn't just the awareness,” foundation special projects advisor Shauna Nep said. “Matthew's mission is really destigmatizing this. I would say the capital is amazing, but putting a stake in the ground to support this has been life changing for the foundation, but also for the communities we support.”

Half of last preseason’s contribution supported the inaugural Matthew Perry Foundation Fellowship in Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“We're helping to train the next generation of doctors to really sort of intentionally address addiction as the disease it is, and with that specific training and understanding, they're making magical results happen,” said Greg Fleisher, the foundation’s communications director.

The other half went toward supporting grassroots recovery programs like Mariposa Heritage House in California and its Sober Sluggers recovery softball program.

“That money goes directly to small grassroots organizations that are on the front lines, and where even the smallest of donations is really the difference between them keeping their doors open and having to close,” Fleisher said. “They're filling that critical role where they have people's back in small, marginalized communities across the state last year, and we're expanding that program this year nationally.”

Perry is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on "Friends," the NBC sitcom which ran from 1994-2004 and lives on in syndication. He starred in dozens of other television shows, and his numerous film credits include "Fools Rush In" opposite Salma Hayek and "The Whole Nine Yards" with Bruce Willis.

Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, but moved to Ottawa around his first birthday. It was there where his love for hockey was born. He became a very good player and a lifelong fan, supporting the Ottawa Senators and later the Los Angeles Kings after he moved to California.

As his acting career flourished, Perry played in several celebrity hockey games, including the 1994 NHL Celebrity All-Star Game. He hosted a party with the Stanley Cup at his home after the Kings won it in 2012, appeared in a 1995 NHL commercial, and presented the Norris Trophy to defenseman Erik Karlsson -- then a member of the Senators -- at the 2012 NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas.