Robert "Bob" F. Perani (August 7, 1942 – April 15, 2012) was a professional ice hockey

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

for the

Flint Generals The Flint Generals were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. They were a member of the International Hockey League and played their home games at Perani Arena and Event Center. The Generals won two league championship ...

in the International Hockey League. He was also the founder of Perani's Hockey World sports retail chain in 1976, and owned the naming rights for the

Perani Arena and Event Center The Dort Financial Center (originally IMA Sports Arena and formerly Perani Arena and Event Center) is a sports, entertainment and convention venue located in Flint, Michigan, United States. It opened in 1969 and is the home of the Flint Firebird ...

. Perani died on April 15, 2012 while traveling on an international flight from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. Perani was born in Italy in 1942 and moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

with his family in 1953, settling near

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. He attended St. Lawrence University where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity. He played for a number of leagues in

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He and his wife Kris moved to Flint in the late 1960s and never left. Kris died from cancer in 2006.The following year, as part of the 'Perani Group', he bought the Flint Generals. He retired as a player after the 1974 season and went into the pizza business and in 1976 started "Bob Perani's Sports Shop". Perani retired to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and died on a flight from Detroit to Tokyo en route to Thailand.

Career

OHA *

Hamilton Tiger Cubs The Hamilton Tiger Cubs were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1953 to 1960. The team was based in Hamilton, Ontario. History The Hamilton juniors which they were called initially in the early part of 1 ...

1959-1960 - 1 game *

Toronto Marlboros The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...

1960-1961 - 3 games *

Whitby Mohawks The Whitby Dunlops are a Canadian senior ice hockey team in the team in the Allan Cup Hockey league. The team began play in 2004, and is on a leave of absence as of the 2020-21 season. Two previous teams have also played as the Whitby Dunlops ...

1961-1962 - 30 games

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...

Division I (NCAA) NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

* St. Lawrence University Saints 1963-1966 - 63 games IHL *

Muskegon Mohawks The Muskegon Mohawks were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League from 1965 to 1984. Muskegon were Turner Cup champions in 1968. This team was originally named the Muskegon Zephyrs. After the completion of ...

1967-1968; 1968-1969 76 games *

1969-1970; 1970-1974 142 games AHL *

Springfield Kings The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existen ...

1967-1968, 1968-1969 7 games OHA Sr *

1967-1968 - 0 games *

Barrie Flyers The Barrie Flyers were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1945 to 1960, from Barrie, Ontario. The Flyers played home games at the Barrie Arena from 1945 to 1960. History The Barrie Flyers junior team was founded ...

1969-1970 10 games Source:

Awards and honors

James Norris Memorial Trophy The James Norris Memorial Trophy, or simply the Norris Trophy, is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's top " defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position". It is named after Ja ...

- 1968/1969 with teammate Tim Tabor with the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perani, Bob 1942 births 2012 deaths American men's ice hockey goaltenders American sportspeople of Canadian descent American people of Italian descent Canadian people of Italian descent Flint Generals players Ice hockey players from Michigan Ice hockey people from Ontario Sportspeople from Flint, Michigan AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans