Latest / Backchecking the Bolts / Eric Perrin Interview From Undrafted to Stanley Cup Champion & Liiga Legend

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Eric Perrin Interview From Undrafted to Stanley Cup Champion & Liiga Legend · Backchecking the Bolts

• Jason Linkes: Coming up, I'm back checking the bolts. At what point during the playoffs were you thinking we really got a shot at this? I think it's when we swept Montreal. When we swept Montreal and the way we did it with ⁓ the comeback win on the in game three, I just felt like we're just so strong mentally. You know, we were such a strong team. I just felt like we we just another level. It was just another level. And ⁓ we didn't think it was gonna be that easy, obviously with playing Philly next. That was a that was a war, but just felt like there was a true sense that it was the whole package. The way Habby was Saboon was playing, the defensive core, how tough they were, the details they were doing, and then obviously the top guys were being the top guys. And then you had Anderchuk and Tim Taylor and guys just grinding it out and just I just felt like we had everything. It was built to be a Stanley Cup winning team. And ⁓ just could see it the more it was advancing. Welcome to Back Checking the Bolts. Back Checking the Bolts is your cup of coffee to get you the latest on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Join hosts Jason Lincoln and the managing editor of Raw Charge, Justin Godfrey, as they break down the Lightning's most recent games and go beyond the highlights, telling you what the box scores didn't. It's time to drop the puck. Hi everybody and welcome to Back Checking the Bolts. I'm your host, Jason Lincas, and you're probably wondering why I'm flying solo today. Well, my co host Justin Godfrey is somewhere in North Carolina right now, probably enjoying a spa, so he's gonna take a little well deserved time off. But today's a different episode. It's not gonna be talk about the lightning right now. We had a chance to talk to former member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Member of the two thousand and four Stanley Cup team Eric Perrin. Now when I used to do interviews back on the radio over twenty years ago, by the time I introduced someone, I was lucky if I had ten minutes to talk to them. By the time they answered their first question, I was looking at the clock, my producer was telling me how much time I had left. It was hard to really dig deep into interviews. Well, podcasting has changed that, and Eric. was gracious enough to join us yesterday on the podcast, and he gave us over an hour of his time. For those of you who don't know Eric, as I mentioned, he was on the 2004 Stanley Cup team. He led the University of Vermont along with teammate Martin St. Louis to the frozen four in nineteen ninety seven, but he also had some lows. He was undrafted. After his breakthrough NHL season, You had the lockout where the NHL was shut down for an entire season. We're going to talk about all that and his commitment to going to the Liga League over in Finland, where he is the highest scoring foreign born player in league history. We wanted to thank Eric for taking the time to join us. We hope you enjoyed the interview, and here's our conversation with Eric Perrin. Yeah. Here on Back Checking the Bolts, we are pleased to bring you an interview with former member of the Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup winner Eric Perrin. Eric, how you doing today, bud? I'm doing great, thank you. Happy to be here. I'm assuming you are a Canadiens fan, correct? He's got the halves cup. So I do have to ask you this. That was one of my youth parents, you know, they knew I had a little bit of a thing with the Canadians and ⁓ very thoughtful. But ⁓ yes, I ⁓ I can't hide it, of course. You know, we grew up with Marty and just that was our team, and ⁓ so now I got Marty coaching and I'm just like, hey, you know, gotta support. When you were growing up Who was a bigger rival for you as a kid? Was it the the Nordiques or was it Boston? It was definitely the Nordiques. The Nordiques was the the big rivalry at two hours up the road to Quebec City. ⁓ I mean we we lived for those moments ⁓ as kids, watching those games always Saturday night, and ⁓ you know, the it was always intense. Yeah, well, it was always ⁓ a war between the you know, and and you see it still on YouTube today. There's video of those ⁓ those big brawls they had back in the day. So I mean ⁓ no, it was fun. It was ⁓ it was definitely something we missed when when the Nordiques left, you know. That was you mentioned the YouTube channels that you could see vr the Good Friday Massacre. is the one that always comes to mind. The big brawls that I just remember them jumping into Sports Center, stopping Sports Center and saying, Hey, you gotta see this. This is crazy. The Hunters, ⁓ I it was that was great hockey back in the day. And growing up in Montreal, I always wondered as big of a rivalry as Boston was, how much hatred there was for the Nordiques. Yeah. I I just Tad a tad more. I mean ⁓ the Bruins were obviously the Bruins. You know, they were they were not liked, they were hated, obviously by us in Montreal. ⁓ but when the Nordiques were there, obviously, ⁓ I mean Boston, you know, they they were around longer. They were the original six, you know, so there was that going on. ⁓ you know, and when the Nordiques came, I think it took a bit of time, but it didn't take that much time to create a big rivalry and and ⁓ so no it was Like you said, that was, man, that was exciting times. ⁓ you know, hockey was was just different and ⁓ it was ⁓ different feel, you know. Yeah, the old Adams Division rivalries. I mean that the Adams Division, you had to literally fight your way out of there in order to get to the conference finals against the Patrick Division. Definitely Eric, I do have to ask you this question. You s you had your youth career in Montreal. What led you to the University of Vermont? Well that started ⁓ it's funny how it started. We I lived in ⁓ Regina, Saskatchewan, ⁓ when I was seven to ten years old. And ⁓ at the time ⁓ the midget triple A team, Lac St. Louis came for the Air Canada Cup. They won the Quebec ⁓ third you know, midget triple A championship and then every all the best from every province met up in ⁓ Regina and played ⁓ for the Air Canada Cup. And on that team was Ian Boyce. ⁓ Ian Boyce was a kid from Montreal and stayed at our house during the tournament. And so my dad got, you know, real friendly with the dad. My dad was with taking care of the team because we're from Montreal originally and, you know, met up with all them and and ⁓ was talking to his dad about his plans of continuing his hockey to US College. And so that kind of like ⁓ got my dad's attention a bit. So we kind of like, you know, I was still young, but it was something that he just kept following. it was funny because we had Claude LePointe, too, that was living at our house. Then they both took the different routes. Claude played Major Junior for Laval, where I'm from. And ⁓ Ian took off to ⁓ University of Vermont. And so that kind of but my dad was ⁓ always stress school, you know, like he says you can't rely on hockey. You know, it's it's especially at the time. I was a small player and ⁓ and you know, we I was developing something with Marty, you know, like ⁓ more of a package deal. We were playing together every year and and ⁓ both our dads together and kinda like ⁓ shared the same philosophy, right? That ⁓ school school was definitely gonna be important for us, you know, not knowing what hockey was gonna hold. It was tougher for younger players to You know, to get in there and ⁓ so that's the route we took. I mean it all started stemmed from there and ⁓ just following those footsteps and we went ⁓ when it came time, we played our major triple A and time to get drafted major junior and make that decision. It was tough. We were we got a lot of ⁓ we got approached by a lot of major junior teams, good offers, but you know, with that heavy eighty game schedule it was tough to go to school. ⁓ so ⁓ we ⁓ yeah, we went to visit ⁓ University of Maine. We went to visit University of Vermont and it was back and forth and ⁓ and we just felt ⁓ Vermont was a place for us to we could kinda change the culture and and make a big di bigger difference. So yeah. Well change the culture you guys did. You won your first ECAC championship at in school history. But you also made the frozen four, and I've played at the UVM golf outing a number of times up at Vermont Country Club. There isn't an outing that goes by where the quote unquote hand pass isn't mentioned at least one time. I know it didn't end the way you wanted to against Colorado College, but tell us what that experience was like playing in the Frozen Four. Yeah, I was it was a bit surreal. You know, we never did we Marty and I d we didn't expect like maybe one day that's when we'd w wind up with the school and and get that far. You know, we knew it was a lot of schools and a lot of talent. ⁓ you know, but once once we had Tim Thomas, you know, and we kind of just felt like, you know, we w we had a chance. We had such a great ⁓ class. Like our class of ninety seven was just so strong. We were seven of us and ⁓ and all like like minded, you know, very very focused and so we knew we you know, we we had a chance. But going through that moment was was surreal getting there. I mean, you know, with the regionals and and winning the way we did against Lake Superior State and ⁓ and then getting to the final four is you know interesting experience how it started with you remember they drilled a hole in the ice right through the pipe and kinda destroyed the ice. And we had to ⁓ deal with that. It delayed the game I think a couple hours. And so ⁓ yeah, I flooded the whole ice and so we and during our game the ice wasn't that great and we wound up going to double overtime, almost triple. You know, we were I think less than a minute from going to triple overtime. So ⁓ ice was getting worse and worse and ⁓ but you know, it was just I don't know. It was it just made it even more special. We were dealing with all kinds of stuff and just like to stay mentally focused and ⁓ we just ⁓ we had great coaches with Gilligan and Grillo and Gervais and just like keeping young kids as calm as possible that you know, young kids that weren't supposed to be there, really. You know, so ⁓ no that was special for us. I mean we and you know, Vermont's not a big state and ⁓ they were showing like from north to south to how much the whole state was was watching and rooting. So that was special. Yeah. After you left UVM, tell us about your path. You ended up in the IHL. You went undrafted. I gotta ask you this first. The game has changed so much from the late nineties till today. Really you can point to the lockout as where the game turned to more of a speed game. Do you think scouts would look at you differently today than they did back in the late nineties? Yeah, I truly believe that for sure. And I think I think that would have helped the start of my career. I if I speak for me individually alone, you know, I think ⁓ Marty's and I story is a bit different once we hit pro. but ⁓ yeah Coming out of college with no interest, no real interests, was really hard for both of us. You know, we we went undrafted. ⁓ we relied on ⁓ camp invites. Marty went to Ottawa, I went to Montreal. ⁓ but we could see like we weren't in the plans. You know, you could see right away. Like they they had their guys and it was gonna tough to crack the lineup and even in the American League and so we had deals in the ⁓ old IHL And ⁓ we went there and I felt like that that was probably the worst thing for me as a player. That my personality, you know? 'Cause I was ⁓ I wouldn't say I was unfocused, but easily distracted, you know. So I it was a league of older players that were on their way out of the NHL, you know, ⁓ very seasoned players, ⁓ n versus the AHL. Which was all prospects, all young kids trying to make their way to the NHL. So we're we're we were dealing with two totally different leagues and I felt like there was different goals ⁓ you know, from us to them and kinda got sucked into stuff a little bit, you know, and I felt like ⁓ that that's my story, you know, I know for me, like I felt like, you know, I I owned that I owned up to that a long time ago, you know, and ⁓ kind of like lost my way a little bit as to ⁓ what it took to really take the next step, especially being undersized at that time. Right. So you ha you always had to like show extra and like and ⁓ be ⁓ a little bit more ready than others. And I thought that's where Marty did a great, great job with his personality. It was e a lot easier for him to do those things, but he did it, you know, religiously. He was good. He got his opportunity and he took it. So I felt like but definitely I felt like I feel like if the game was different, I might have been in a different situation at the start of my career, which would have helped me probably grow younger, you know. It took me a little bit longer for me to mature and ⁓ and get back on the right track. Well, after you left the IHL, you went overseas. You went over into the Lega League and Do you think that's where you really found your game before you came back to play with the h the ⁓ Hershey Bears? Yeah, definitely. I I left there after I did a I I tore my ACL, my last year in the IHL. So I really that was kind of like rock bottom for me as far as like w what am I doing now? You know, like I'm now it's a huge injury. ⁓ and it happened early in the season, so what's next? You know, I Where's the interest gonna be? I did have bad season years before what it's not that I was playing bad, but ⁓ you know, it gets tougher to find a job and so I felt like I had to do a whole reset. I got a new agent and ⁓ Bill Zito was ca stepped up for me and ⁓ and told me to trust him. And ⁓ so he sent me to Finland. And ⁓ he was doing that with a couple players, ⁓ just like Tim Thomas and ⁓ Brian Rafolski. ⁓ you know, that's what ⁓ he had a strong connection in Finland and knew what they were doing. They were developing players and ⁓ helping them ⁓ you know, find their way. And that's what happened to me. And he he told me straight up, he says, You're gonna have to do this for three years. And then I'm telling you, you'll be a different player and we'll get you something. So I was tough to trust that, you know, and but I did and and he was right, right on the money. I I r that's where I really matured and ⁓ luckily I I met my wife before that, you know, that she's obviously been the rock for me, like to to kind of transform my ways, you know, to to get focused and and stuff like that. So but ⁓ yeah, definitely Finland was was what you know, and Bill doing what he did. You said your game changed over in Finland. How did it change? Did you become more of a two way player? Were you more disciplined? How did your game change? I was always a good two way player. That was my game. I was always a a reliable center, both both sides of the ice. always took pride in that. You know, being good at at both ends. So that wasn't the issue for me. ⁓ I think it was more the discipline of being ready, the discipline of working out. I got so much stronger. ⁓ I got more powerful. ⁓ and then I I was just mentally just more focused. You know, I was I was there for a reason. I wasn't in Finland just to have fun. I was there for a reason. ⁓ I was on a mission. And ⁓ and then during those three years, ⁓ that's when Marty started taking steps too. So we were in contact and talking and I was seeing what he's doing. So obviously there was some tough moments. ⁓ I won't lie, it it didn't start up. Start off really great in Finland. I had a pretty crazy coach to start off with. but ⁓ it got better. But ⁓ there there was some times, you know, on the worst team in the league and you're like, What am I doing? You know, what am I doing? Is you know, is this so you have your your your tough moments mentally, like any athlete, where you start doubting yourself, you start, you know, is this worth it? You know, it's like, ⁓ so but you know, you rely on on your your your girlfriend at the time, became my wife, and then you rely on your family, your parents, just say, Hey, you gotta you know, keep believing in yourself. This so no it was good. I mean in the end it that's what ⁓ and then the you know, Bill said it would and he got me a a contract with the lightning coming out of Finland. So tell us about how you got that contract. ⁓ you mentioned it was after your third year in Fidland, was that correct? Yeah, yeah. I had a really strong year. a year of ⁓ not just pr producing but leadership. Brought a team that wasn't supposed to make the playoffs and we almost beat the the top team, went to game seven and so got a lot of ⁓ I don't know, felt felt really good about it. I was a top leading scorer after that series. Just you know, everything was going right. And ⁓ and and ⁓ Billy said I had two options. I had the Devils and the Lightning interested and so I had two contracts available and so that was kind of surreal for me. That was my first NHL deal. I was by the time that was after six years pro. And ⁓ so Yeah, I was I was excited. I obviously, you know, the on top of that, the idea of like joining Marty in Tampa, you know, I thought that, you know, obviously they don't mind the size factor. You know, and I said, you know, if they if they believe in Marty, I think ⁓ you know, I know I can bring ⁓ a lot of similar things that he did, you know. And ⁓ so that's that that's what made my decision to to pick Tampa. You know, when ⁓ after after Finland. Well, in two thousand four you got called up to the lightning. I'm sure you'll remember this till the day you die. Where were you when you got the call and what was that emotion like? Yeah, I I have to tell you, man, I was I've I've talked ⁓ I've went and talked to a lot of people, like motivational stuff, you know, and ⁓ and basically that season is is my whole motivational speech. You know, I yeah, I signed with Tampa, but I had a great camp, but Tampa didn't have a team, ⁓ farm team. So they were sharing with Colorado and Hershey, and then they were shar no. No, they didn't. So they were s they sent six of us to Hershey, and that was mainly Colorado, right? It was all Colorado. And then they sent a couple to Hamilton, who was sharing with Montreal. And then after that they sent a couple to Utah and I can't remember who was ⁓ with with the Grizzlies then. ⁓ so yeah, they sent me to Hershey and it was a Colorado guy, an old video coach for Colorado coaching and stuff. So and you go there and they have no clue who I am. I'm coming from Finland and they couldn't care less about Tampa, what they're saying. Right. ⁓ and then ⁓ for us we had Shane Willis, Sheldon Keith, guys that had played already with the Lightning and so I mean I I took a back seat. I took a back seat to everybody and I started the year in the stands. ⁓ I was eating popcorn the first year, you know, I did the warm up and they told me no you're not playing and so it was a rough start. I didn't know what the heck. I'm like, man, again, what's what's going on? And ⁓ and then you had the veteran rule at the time. You couldn't play more than a certain amount of vets who had over three hundred games pro and so I fell under that. So yeah, it was ⁓ it was a tough start. Coach didn't believe in me. And ⁓ so one vet got called up and I got into the lineup, fourth line. And obviously, you know, I got the the the line of you're not better than this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy, you know. So I said, okay, you know, but I'm gonna come to practice and just show, show this guy, you know. That's probably ⁓ I had harsher words, but you know. I did. That's ⁓ and ⁓ you know, I just I just climbed my way up and I just kept doing better and b I mean I I was producing on the fourth line. A couple a go here, assist here, a go here, and then I got moved up to the third line. And then ⁓ it just picked up from there. I mean, I was playing with Brad Larson and Steve Moore who got called up at Colorado. And that was the year he got, you know, punched by Bertuzzi and the whole thing. ⁓ but we were killing it before he got called up. Then I got moved up to the second line. I was playing with ⁓ Shane Willis and and ⁓ obviously I was just I just was on a mission. And ⁓ by I would say by Christmas break I was I think I was second third scoring ⁓ score in the league. So wow. I got chosen. Yeah, I got chosen for ⁓ starter for the All Star game. And ⁓ you know, so I caught in the ladder, man. I I did it and I didn't stop. And ⁓ so that's my kind of like tell I tell people like you just don't know how put your head down and put some work in and, you know, ⁓ And then I became a leader. I was an assistant captain before the end of the year. And ⁓ but I could see. So we go back, I'm like a lot of my buddies are getting called up and down, but ⁓ lightning, I think the the lightning that year broke the record for the least amount of ⁓ games lost for injuries. Not exactly something a guy in the miters wants to hear. Right. Everybody in the market was somebody's gonna get hurt here. No, I mean it was crazy. Everybody stayed healthy and so it was tougher to get the call up and I I think Shane got it, Sheldon got it, and ⁓ and I was just kinda like, Man, ⁓ wouldn't it be nice, you know, just to get one game, just a like a game, you know, and I I knew I was playing well enough anyways, which was good and I some it's all you can do and just trying to control what I could control. But now we were down to the last ten games of the year in Hershey. And we were in a battle for the last playoff spot. I think we were one or one one point off. And I said, There's no way I'm getting called up now. You know, they're not gonna like let me leave. And but ⁓ yeah, Tampa had four games left of the season and they called me up. That was ⁓ we were in ⁓ Wilkesbury and ⁓ that was pretty cool. It was after the game in Wilkesbury. We're on the way back ⁓ on the bus and I took a pretty bad hit and I was feeling it in my shoulder a little bit. Nothing crazy. And the trainer ⁓ said I think ⁓ he's like, No, no, no, you're good, homie. You're good. You know, that's what the trainer would say, You're good, homie. I'm like, What the heck you talking about, man? I'm like, ⁓ I need some ice. He's like, Listen to me. You're good. You're good. Let's go on the bus. You know, and I'm like, I just don't what what's his problem? And ⁓ I obviously he knew, you know. But ⁓ as we got close to ⁓ Hershey, coach just made the made the announcement in front of everybody. It was like ⁓ it was kinda like ⁓ you know an example for everybody, you know. So I was twenty-seven, twenty-eight years old at the time and ⁓ think he wanted to You know, especially the Colorado kids, you know, the young guys and say take example of what can happen and so it was pretty cool how we announced it on the bus before we got to the rink and so it was ⁓ special phone call to dad for sure, you know. But yeah, ⁓ the next night I was playing in Tampa against Washington. And ⁓ The very next night. Yeah, very next night. That's why the the trainer was like, You ain't gonna feel anything tonight. You know? So you got a chance to play the last four games of the year with the Lightning. Yeah. And then you went into the playoffs. You played, I think, twelve playoff games that year. When you first met Coach Tortorella, what did he tell you? Did it give you confidence? Did it give you fear? What did he say to you? He gave it he gave me all of it. He gave me all of it. It was ⁓ I came I came in the afternoon, like a little bit right after everybody had had their lunch, morning practice, lunch, everybody was gone and I I got to the rink, dropped off my equipment, and ⁓ they said Torts wants to see you in his office and so I went I went over to Torts and he was happy to see me and I never really got to talk to Torts that much, you know, from training camp and stuff, but ⁓ super happy to see me. He's like ⁓ He's like the first thing he said was, ⁓ I want you to know that ⁓ you're not here as a reward for your good play down there. You're here because there's a legit chance for you to stay in this roster. And ⁓ I was like, Holy crap and I I I truly thought in my mind, I truly thought it was gonna be one or two games, thank you, or like a reward, like every like he said. And cause Hershey needed me and ⁓ Tampa was the ⁓ was battling the Red Wings for a president's trophy. It was that good of a season. I said, these guys don't need me. Why would he want to make a change at this time of year ⁓ with the team? But he said ⁓ I need more speed on my fourth line. It's not a role that you're used to, but I want to see what you can do. He says, I'm gonna give you two games to show me what you can do. So he's like, but I then he goes, But I want you to have fun. Have fun with it. And I'm like, ⁓ Yeah. So no, that was that was good. It was great. I mean, he, you know, he gave me a little bit of pressure, but at the same time, kind of like, hey, but you need to enjoy it. Enjoy it. Enjoy the moment and all that. So and then I had obviously Marty in my ear, you know, helping out with the mental part of it, you know, that ⁓ what I can expect and how it's gonna go. And he was right on, you know, like he was, you know, the game's gonna be fast in the first period, and then you'll see everything's gonna keep slowing down. Keep slowing down for you, you know. So I mean that's exactly how it went. But y anyways I played my two games. After the second game I can't remember the order of of s of of the games. They were all four home games. And after the second game, nobody came to see me after, nobody said anything. ⁓ I asked Marty, what do I do? He's like, just go to the hotel. You know, just go do your business, come back tomorrow. And that's what I did. I came back the next day. I was on the lineup for the third game. And then same thing after the third, I was on the lineup for the fourth game. But still nothing. Not a word. And now the season's over. And ⁓ still now that we have two days off. And nobody said anything. So I was like, interesting. And my wife isn't hers. She like, so? And I said, I I have nothing to tell you. I have nothing to tell you. Nobody said anything. And I said, I am certainly not going into the coach's office and ask what's going on. So I said, No news is good news. And ⁓ But I showed up after the two days off, and Torts had the lineup to start the playoffs, and I was fourth line center. And I I just couldn't believe what was going on. I got it was just all surreal for me. Like ⁓ the way the season started, eating popcorn and Syracuse, you know, and ⁓ to now I'm starting the playoffs for the Tampa Bay Lightning, one of the top teams in the NHL. So Yeah, it was ⁓ my life changed a lot in a whole year coming from Finland to the where I was and ⁓ it was tough to take it all in because it was happening so fast. It was just happening so so so fast. First NHL game, now I'm gonna start the first playoff game and so yeah. It was crazy. When did you realize the Lightning had a chance to really win the cup? At what point during the playoffs Were you thinking we really got a shot at this? I think it's when we swept Montreal. When we swept Montreal and the way we did it with ⁓ the comeback win on the in game three, I just felt like, man, these we're just s so strong mentally. You know, we were such a strong team. I just felt like we we just another level. It was just another level. And ⁓ we didn't think it was gonna be that easy, obviously, with ⁓ playing Philly next. That was a that was a war, but just felt like there was a true sense that it was the whole package. The way Haby was Habie Bulloon was playing, the defensive core, how tough they were, the details they were doing, and then obviously the top guys were being the top guys. And then you had Anderchuk and Tim Taylor and guys just grinding it out and just I just felt like we had everything. You know, we were we it was built to be a Stanley Cup winning team. And ⁓ just could see it the more it was advancing. Yeah. The Lightning win the Stanley Cup. What did you do with your day with the cup? Yeah, I had a I had a short day. I had a I had a ⁓ kind of a half day, you know. ⁓ it was ⁓ you know, being a late edition and all that, but ⁓ we we didn't waste time. I I had the the guys with the cup meet me at a studio, photo studio, just want to make sure I had some good pictures with family. And ⁓ and so we did that and then you know the the best thing I could think of doing was ⁓ was rewarding my dad and putting it in my backyard where I grew up. You know? That's I didn't have much time, but that I had to like just have it there and just have everybody that was kind of like an influence in my hockey career come and just just be there. And we did that. We had like all my youth coaches and and people that Just, you know, we're part of our lives, close friends that played with us. And it was a lot of phone calls, but ⁓ it wasn't anything crazy, you know. I just it was just having the people with me that mattered the most throughout the journey. And ⁓ and I could see, you know, to have my parents, like, what is, you know, having the cup in my backyard, I would have never dreamed this in my life, you know. And they, you know, my dad grew up next to ⁓ living next to Henri Richard. You know? Really? He grew up that close to him. Yeah. Yeah, he lived right next door. He's got pictures with him in his living room when he was a kid. And ⁓ you know, so obviously my dad was ⁓ yeah, and he played. My dad played till high juniors and stuff like that. So he was a hockey guy and so no, it was It was like that was ⁓ that was a special moment, you know. I think that was that's what mattered most to me, you know. It was it was awesome. It was awesome. So you win the Stanley Cup and then comes the NHL lockout. It had to have been a little bit surreal, you make it, and now you don't know what to do. And the one question I've always wanted to ask to players like yourself, were you in scramble mode trying to find a place to play because for those of us following it, we kept on hearing, ⁓ he might go overseas, he might try to go to another league close by, the AHL. What was going through your mind and how quickly did you have to make a decision so you could continue getting paid? Right. ⁓ yeah, what was heartbreaking for me is my contract was two years. And the second year ⁓ it was the team decision on it was an option for the team. And if they picked up the option, it was a one way contract. NHL, right? And ⁓ and they picked it up during the summer. They picked up my option. So I was like, ⁓ wow, this is you know, one way, you know, contract. That was a big deal and ⁓ Then the lockout came and squashed all that. So for me, a kid that was just breaking through at 28, that year really, really crushed me. It crushed me because I felt like the wind in my sails, and I was just, you know, now I knew I was ready to take an even bigger step. Right, you know, like be an even bigger factor for this team. I was ready. And ⁓ so yeah, that was tough. And but I knew when it happened, I knew I had a fallback. I didn't want to go overseas. I just came from there. Three years in Finland. I didn't want to go back. I wanted to I was just, you know, I was in ⁓ North American type hockey mode. And I wanted to keep it. I didn't want to lose it. And ⁓ so I contacted Hershey right away. I said, Hey, I I wanna play. I wanna play in Hershey. I said, I don't care how much if if you could give me this I'll be happy. And they say, Yep, we're doing it. And ⁓ so I did it before Tampa could find out. And then ⁓ because they they that year they started their own ⁓ with ⁓ Springfield. Gotcha. That year. The lockout year. They went with Springfield and that was good that was their team. And I I told Jay at the time, I said, Listen, Jay, Hershey did amazing things for me and and helped me set this up and I want to go back there. You know? It's it's done and he's like, ⁓ yeah, that's fine. So I said I could easily go have gone to Europe or whatever, you know, I just wanna stay and be ready and I know I'll play there and whatever but Yeah, no, it was so I I was good there, you know, but disappointed obviously of the lockout thing. So but my story is ⁓ all over the place 'cause after the lockout I, you know, got some frustrations a little bit. It would be only natural to have those. I couldn't imagine being at that the high of all highs as an athlete winning a championship and then The league doesn't exist for a year. That had to have been crushing, but you came back, you went to Hershey, then you played another year at the Lightning, you played two with Atlanta. Now with Atlanta, you played two full seasons. ⁓ Well, so funny thing, it's like there's a little ⁓ after the lockout year, Tampa came back and offered me a two way contract. So now I I lost my one way. And then they offered me two way again. And in the new CBA, they had a rule that if you have if you sign a two way contract in the miners, you couldn't make more than 75,000 if you were gonna like ⁓ not go through waivers being called up and down. If you made over 75, you'd have to go through waivers. And Tampa wasn't gonna budge from that seventy five. And I said to them that I'm almost thirty years old now. I got a mortgage up north. I gotta pay for another apartment. ⁓ I gotta be ⁓ two kids, and I'm like, ⁓ I said, This isn't a good deal for me, you know. It was it was a bit and I was very disappointed in the two way contract, you know. I said, Well, what changed that you don't wanna give me a one way now? ⁓ you know. There'll be injuries, you know, after a lockout year. So and I said I can't I can't risk my year on injuries and then being called up. You know? And ⁓ so I I w that's why I went to Switzerland. So I don't know if you Yeah. I went to Switzerland. So that's instead of seeing Byrne. Okay. Yeah, and that's I made that decision. It was hard. It was hard. I I just felt I didn't feel betrayed, but I just felt like a lack of confidence in me again. That I wasn't able to do the job. And ⁓ and then I saw that they signed some other players too. And I was like, Well, I don't understand this, you know. Yeah, it was ⁓ it was a bit tricky situation, but I went to Switzerland and I hated my experience. Hockey was okay, but ⁓ just ⁓ I didn't like the culture. ⁓ I thought I was doomed with torts. I think he he was mad that I left. And ⁓ so I said, ⁓ they're not gonna take me back. And I signed two years in Germany and ⁓ when I came back in the summer they changed the rule to ninety five thousand ⁓ in the minors 'cause they saw they l they lost a bunch. I wasn't the only one. I mean there's a bunch of good players that left because it was ⁓ you know, kind of an unfair rule for you know, players that were trying to make their way up, but you're still it's still a business, unfortunately, and making a living and stuff. That summer I made the d the decision to well let's call Tampa and see what they say. And they said, Well, yeah, we'll sign you. They signed me to a one year two way. I said, I'll try it. And I made the team out of the training camp. So it was it was a weird at first with Torch, but he was great. He took me in, he says, Listen, clean slate. You know, I understood what you did. I wasn't happy about it, but let's move on. So and ⁓ now I had a really good training camp. I was ⁓ you know, I felt good and made the team and so that's when I played that full season and then yep. What led you to Atlanta? Man. It more ⁓ it was it was tough. We had ⁓ I know Jay was Jay ⁓ Feeser was sharing duties with Claude Lozel at the time with negotiating, but you know, not getting into too much detail, but ⁓ I did not get a good feel out of my I I had a really strong year with torts. I I averaged eighteen minutes of ice time per game. And make that's making the team on the fourth line, you know? And ⁓ I just felt like my his trust in me just grew throughout the year. I was playing big minutes for him. ⁓ I was like the the fill in guy for guys that weren't performing. I would I'll play with Vinny and Marty, then I'd wind up with Richie and Fedotenko, and he'd bench this guy, and I have to be ready to go left wing, right wing, center. I was PP, I was PK, I was I was like a you know, utility guy everywhere and ⁓ I was just always ready, you know, and I was dialed in and I just felt like, you know, ⁓ my value just went up and I was feeling good and and so when came negotiation time I said, Listen, I've never had longer than a one year contract. I would like security a little bit. Two or three years. I'm not asking for a huge bump, but something. And ⁓ so because I knew I wasn't in a position to be greedy, you know, I got my first year. And I what I thought I was asking for was far from greedy. It was just security for my family, for me, a little peace of mind. And ⁓ we weren't they weren't budging from one year. And I wanted more. And ⁓ so I s you know, I felt like with the season I had, somebody had to see my value of what I did. And ⁓ yeah, and then you know, Bob Bob was a friend. I was doing it helping his hockey camps. And ⁓ he he he was asking me, why isn't Tampa signing you? He says, Well, if they don't sign you, I'm pretty sure that we will. And ⁓ you know, and ⁓ Tampa didn't budge until the day before July first. And I just felt bit like loyalty was one way street. A bit. It was take this. And ⁓ I know they had signed other guys, and and it's not just the offer, it was the words that were being said. You know, it goes deeper. You just you start feeling devalued. And I I don't I didn't like that part of things. It really, as a human, if you would have just approached me with like the truth and like what you know, but to devalue somebody to try to make a d take a deal, I felt, you know, I it didn't feel right. So it is what it is, but that's the business of it. So how was the experience in Atlanta? You played two full seasons there and you were averaging almost eighty games a year. Yeah. I was ⁓ the first year especially I got a great opportunity I started third line and ⁓ unfortunately Bob got fired after six games, but Dalwadell took over and reassured me that I was gonna be a big part of the team and I wound up playing with ⁓ Hosan Kozlov most of the year and ⁓ limited time on power play, but five on five, you know, that was the guy supporting those guys and ⁓ that was a great opportunity. I had forty five points and Had a really good feel and then ⁓ the following year it was a tougher year with John Anderson, can't coming in. It was I just felt like I wasn't ⁓ I don't know why, his type of player, because he's had my type of player everywhere he went. So but I felt he was pushing some other guys and it kinda went down a bit. I could see the writing on the wall a little bit. So You went to the KHL for a year before you went back to the Liga League. What was the year like in the KHL? And I have to ask you about one game doing some research. Was there a game that you were involved in with s over seven hundred penalty minutes? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah. Even I fought. Even I fought. How many times? Just once. They kicked me out right away. I mean, so the whole game lasted three and a half minutes. Then they can't they stopped the game. Yeah. What what was the reaction from the from the league after having a game that was forced to be canceled because there weren't enough players to play? Yeah, they were there were huge fines, a lot of suspensions. ⁓ I don't know the exact details, but ⁓ I was not obviously I was not happy with that. You know, I'm like, what am I doing here again? There was one of those you know, I didn't this is not what I signed up for. But there was that team. That team ⁓ that it happened against VTaz, ⁓ had that reputation and there was like a bad blood between the the two teams and I just happened to show up in the middle of that and ⁓ but you know, they always got Remember Brandon Sugden was a he was new, it was his first game. They had Chris Simon, Darcy Verro, I can't remember, but they were just, you know, they just had guys that just and they told them, you what you gotta do is just grab people and start fighting. And ⁓ that's how they got paid. And so it was kind of like just off putting. But ⁓ you know, you get the kick in the back and says, Hey, go out there, fight somebody and it was just I think they just wanted the game over with. You know, everybody fight, everybody get off, and that's it. It was one shift after another. It was five on five, another four on four, three on three, a and then eventually everybody and it was like crazy because you got kicked out, but everybody in the penalty box came out and fought again. So that's it. That's when they called it. Yeah. Well, after one year in the KHL, you went back to Finland and you're the You are the highest scoring foreign born player in the Liga League. You had a great career in the Finnish League. For people who don't know much about the Finnish League, how what is it like over there? I mean, the from the fan experience to the playing experience, what's it like over there? For me, I l I loved it. I when I first went there, my my first ⁓ three years in Europe, ⁓ the last place I played, but everywhere I played, I just love the culture of people. It's kind of like quiet country, ⁓ you know, safe, secure, you know, great place to live. and I love the style of the hockey. That's what I loved when I was there. I just loved the style. It's like at the time it was the closest style for to North American hockey. A lot of the ⁓ teams were going to smaller ice rinks. There was still a couple Olympic size ones, but most everybody was shortening the ranks. They were pushing for more north south hockey, give and go and quick plays and just fit my style so great. And that's why I struggled in Russia. I like it was all individual. And I said, I don't play individual hockey. You know, I can't I don't have those kind of skills. And ⁓ but yeah, I loved it. I love the people and I had the kids and ⁓ you know, the the fact that they could take the walk to school alone, bu bike and take the city bus anywhere they wanted without a fear of anything. ⁓ kind of like when I grew up. So it was ⁓ it was it was awesome experience for everyone. But yeah, I I felt like when I went to Finland, that was my decision that ⁓ this is where I'm gonna finish playing. I just don't know when yet, but ⁓ I was thirty four, I think, thirty five when I I went and I said, Let's just see how it goes. And ⁓ so yeah, we I wounded up doing nine nine more years, which was crazy, you know, but ⁓ I was just having fun and kept playing well. What part of the game was hardest to keep up as you aged? I feel like around the year two two thousand sixteen to eighteen, I just felt like I felt that ⁓ like a a switch with the younger players. Like that evolution where we were all going with the game, right? The way we were practicing, the small area games, the quickness of of game the game, the plays, the ⁓ the decisions. ⁓ and then the skills too. You know, the the kids were getting more skilled as they were coming in, coming in, and I was obviously getting older. You know, I I realized I'm not I wasn't the player I used to be, but I wasn't comparing myself, but I was just watching all of them and I said, This is crazy. The skill level is another notch. I remember I was in ⁓ Turku and TPS and ⁓ Capo ⁓ Capocako. Came as a 16-year-old and played a game with me, and I was, I think, 41 at the time. He's 16 years old. And this kid is incredibly talented at 16, handling himself with grown men. And ⁓ I said, Yeah, the game has changed. It was the same with ⁓ Alexander Parkov came through, Patrick Line did it at 16 also, Sebastianaho. ⁓ you know, I got to see all those guys at a very young age just Progressing the way they were, I'm like, man, our game is changing. And ⁓ it was cool to see, you know, because a lot of Finns are behind that stuff. You know, incredible young players that came into the NHL just ready to play. So it's good. You wrapped up your career in two thousand nineteen. What's your favorite memory? I have ⁓ I have several, you know, little memories, you know. ⁓ the cup the cup year obviously that's like the the pinnacle of everybody. I felt like the way it happened for me was a bit different with everything happening so fast, with first NHL game, first playoff, and all of a sudden I'm lifting the cup and ⁓ that was that was a wild ride of two months. But winning ⁓ winning the championship in Finland was special. I've always wanted to do that with how many years I was there and ⁓ so that was that was a super cool moment. We had ⁓ I think that that team that I had there was the closest that I felt team wise to anything that I've ever gone through. The closest one to that would have been my our final four team. you know, when we went to the final four. I mean the Tampa team, maybe not because for me I I got there so late, you know, so I w never felt, you know, that I didn't go through the whole grind stuff of the whole season with with those guys. So it makes makes it a different little bit of feeling, you know. But ⁓ yeah, that that was that was special to me. Individual stuff, obviously, it's always special, you know, in Finland when I broke all those records and stuff, you know, just and it's not just breaking the records. I felt like it was ⁓ what I loved about it was ⁓ the feeling I got from away fans. I was getting cheered a lot by a away fans and that was like super special, you know. ⁓ when you get first time it happened was it a little surreal? Yeah. Yeah. There was ⁓ everybody was clapping and I'm like, ⁓ man, okay, you know, and I you're waving, thanking and that that was cool, you know. But I think ⁓ having my my parents at the last game in Finland, you know, they were able to come and see that. That was ⁓ that was cool too. That was fun. Good memory, you know. Just to like have them there. They were there from the first, now to the last. And ⁓ so that was that was a special moment. Yeah. Eric, right now you're involved with the Daytona Ice Arena. ⁓ you're the hockey director and the arena manager, but it's more than just you. It's a it's a family business. Your wife's involved, your son and daughter are involved. Tell everyone a little bit about what you're doing over there in Daytona. Yeah, it it's kind of a fluke because I wound up in Daytona just by vacationing here starting in two thousand sixteen ⁓ in between my seasons. And ⁓ I was coming here with my son was pretty young at the time. We were co going to skate there and training. I was training and whatever and and we're doing mostly beach stuff. We just wanted a nice relaxing summer ⁓ before before the tough ⁓ finished winters, you know, because those were insane. You wanted Yeah, that's what I mean. We had to like get all the vitamin D we could to to get through that. So no, that's that's mainly why we we came down to Florida and we had family friends that had a condo in Daytona, everything was set up that way. And we did that for three summers and so when I stopped playing, we went back. I didn't know what was next. I I I was thinking coaching. I had that in my mind for a little bit, but then I was like, man, I'm I'm pretty tired. I'm pretty tired of the grind. And I started thinking that coaching is a is is just another beast as well. And ⁓ so I didn't know. I was hesitant and I said, But what can I do? And but ⁓ I was going to the arena for my son and there the owners asked me, Hey man, what are you doing here? You know, like this is are you interested in maybe running this full time? And so I kinda You know, I said this would be something different where I could be with my son and help him out and spend time and and I said, Yeah, I think I think this is it. And I've always been a teacher. I was a phys ed ⁓ grad, you know, phys ed teacher. I did hockey camps my whole life. I've always been it's in my blood kind of thing. And ⁓ so I think that was my calling for a bit. And ⁓ so that's what ⁓ there's parts of the job that I could go away from. with ⁓ you know with travel sports but ⁓ it's been awesome it's been awesome working with the kids and growing a program ⁓ to what we've we've brought it to in Daytona Beach of all places. ⁓ my wife will tell you she has no idea how she got dragged into it. You know she's like I didn't ask for this I didn't ask for this but ⁓ she's She's like the rock because, you know, she's an incredibly smart woman and ⁓ she handles all the employees and scheduling and you know, all the the whatever you could think of. And she does a lot of my administrative stuff. And so then we convince our daughter to come and help us with birthday parties and groups because we've grown it so there's less time for my wife to handle some stuff. While my son, he's still playing. He played juniors ⁓ in and all and then he comes back in the summer and he runs all my goalie stuff. He does private lessons for goalies, helps out. So we got a like really kind of good reputation and building something here and so we ⁓ it's it's pretty cool. You know, I like I have the one thing I really like, I train like top end players that are playing college up north, ⁓ pro, ⁓ and then ⁓ prep school and juniors. I mean, so I got a big big skate every morning in the summer and so that's been nice. and then I do summer camps, you know, which I've grown like insane. You know, I do two camps for the kids and ⁓ It's it's ⁓ it's been going really well. Well, if you look in the description of the podcast, we're actually gonna put some links where you can look up and find out ways to work with Eric over in Daytona. So take a look at the description. But Eric, you've also helped coach the Embry Riddle hockey team and you're a volunteer assistant at UVM. Your alma mater. What is that like to go back to your alma mater and help coach that team? Well man. I wanna I I can't tell you that first time when I went back, ⁓ I was super, super nervous. I'm like I felt like a rookie again and going to pro hockey 'cause it's it'd been a lot of years since I've been there and ⁓ the games change a lot in college hockey and so when you're coming in the middle of the at first the gig was more coming to help out ⁓ one of the coaches was ⁓ coaching ⁓ Slovakia in the World Juniors. So they they were allowed to have an assistant come in and help out on the ice and stuff like that. Not behind the bench, but on the ice and do, you know, so I it was great. I got all in and started doing helping a lot of the players doing skills, video, ⁓ you know, in the coaches' meetings and ⁓ Maybe trying to give my two cents here and there about certain things. ⁓ but you know, it was about getting to know the coaches first too, and getting to know their philosophy and their vision and ⁓ and just trying not to step on toes and align yourself with the the same stuff. And it's been great. Those guys, man, welcome me and ⁓ it's been really awesome working with those guys. Last year I was able to go twice, beginning of the year and Christmas again. And ⁓ just you start building more relationships with the players and a little bit more trust when you go and with your conversations and talk about hockey and so that's been super, super awesome. And then I you get to see old faces that are still around from when I was there. And ⁓ which is incredible. We're we're coming up on almost thirty years, which is nuts. Think about it. Yeah. So now it's just tell me about it. Yeah. But you know, it all those experience, man, I I well can't lie, is giving me the itch, you know, about that level and just seeing those kid there's still kids that just the desire to to learn. To you know, they wanna they want it and they wanna learn more and they wanna be taught and they wanna be coached and ⁓ just ⁓ that That was special for me, but that gave me the itch of like, man, you know, I ⁓ it's something that I definitely want to kind of pursue, you know, as we go along here for me. Well, Eric, I hope you're able to get where you want to go coaching-wise, because I can tell you still have the passion for the game, the love of the game. I can't thank you enough for joining us today. I really hope that Everything goes well in Daytona and again tell everyone where they can find information on the Daytona Ice Arena and your junior programs. Yeah, they can ⁓ go to our website, Daytona Ice Arena dot com. ⁓ they got my information on there, email, phone number, reach out to me anytime. And ⁓ yeah, we we got stuff posted ⁓ you know, Facebook page, ⁓ Daytona Ice Arena hockey information Facebook page. ⁓ You know, all our stuff is on there. Daytona Ice Arena. I think we have an official Daytona Ice Arena page as well. ⁓ so yeah, we're you know, we're out there, not as much as we would want, but ⁓ yeah, like we that's what we do ⁓ well is we develop players from a to you know, learn to play, learn to skate to rec league to travel and it's been ⁓ it's been growing like crazy, especially with Florida NHL teams having success. Well, Eric, hey, nothing but the best. Thank you very much for joining us today, and best of luck to you. And I appreciate you, Jason. Thank you for having me, man. Anytime. Take care, Aaron. I hope you really enjoyed the interview. Eric was gracious enough to give us over an hour of his time, really went into detail throughout his career and what he's doing today at the Daytona Ice Arena. I am going to put in the description ways that you can contact the Daytona Ice Arena if you're interested in working with their youth program, if you're interested in having your son or daughter try out for it, or if you're looking for lessons. for your son or daughter to improve their hockey skills. It'll be in the show notes. I do have to say that one of the first interviews I really did with a major athlete, well I was at Fox Sports Radio in Southern Connecticut. It was Christopher Higgins. And Christopher Higgins went to Yale, which was right near the studio where I did my show. And he was drafted by the Montreal Canadians and he was projected to be A big time prospect. Now, Christopher Higgins ended up having a nice career in the NHL, but I just remember that interview that I only had really about eight or nine minutes, and I only had two or three questions to ask him. And having a format like podcasting where I can talk to someone like Eric Perrin, who's experienced what he has, and to allow him to go into detail and ask more clarifying questions. It was an absolute joy, so I really appreciate Eric's time. I hope you enjoyed the interview, and we hope to have more of those coming up in the future. As I always conclude every show, you can follow Justin on Raw Charge at www.rawcharge.com. I'm Jason Lincas. We appreciate your time. Please hit that like and subscribe button if you have any questions or comments. Feel free to send us an email at Back checking the bolts at yahoo.com. Have a great everyone and go bolts.