Donald Frederick Perry (March 16, 1930 – April 15, 2019) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman and coach.

Biography

Perry, born in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, began his playing career with Edmonton area junior league teams. He broke into professional hockey in 1950 with the Boston Olympics, and in 1954, he started a long tenure as player-coach with the New Haven Blades of the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart ...

. Perry's teams were skilled, in 1956 winning the only professional sports championship the city has had. However, they gained a reputation for their physical play that often included fisticuffs. Perry retired from the ice in 1969 with over 600 points in excess of 1000 games at the blue line. He continued to coach the Blades until 1972. From 1972 until 1981, Perry coached the Saginaw Gears of the International Hockey League. His teams won two Turner Cup championships (1977 & 1981). In 1981, he was hired to coach the

New Haven Nighthawks The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the New York Islanders (1972–1973), Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Rangers (19 ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

, but he held this position for only half a season before he replaced Parker MacDonald behind the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

' bench. Just weeks into his tenure with the Kings, Perry was suspended for six games for ordering enforcer Paul Mulvey to leave the bench to join a fight. Perry would guide the Kings to the playoffs in 1982, a postseason that included the famous Miracle on Manchester comeback against the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. However, he failed to make the playoffs in 1983 and was fired midway through the 1984 campaign. He continued his career as a Professional Scout for the Los Angeles Kings for more than 10 years before retiring to his long-time home in Hague-on-Lake-George, NY and, subsequently in Green Valley, AZ where he died at a nursing home on April 15, 2019, at the age of 89.

NHL coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Don 1930 births 2019 deaths Boston Olympics players Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey players Los Angeles Kings coaches New Haven Blades players Ice hockey people from Edmonton