John Richard Peverley (born July 8, 1982) is 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 ...

former professional

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 ...

player. He spent four years with the St. Lawrence University hockey team before turning professional, then playing three years for several teams in both the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

and

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 ...

(AHL). In 2007, he signed a contract with the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

of the NHL, playing for the team for parts of three seasons before the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

claimed him off waivers in 2009. Peverley first played internationally for Team Canada at the 2010 World Championships. He retired after the 2013–14 season because of a heart ailment.

Playing career

Peverley was born in

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Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

but moved to

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

at age eight, playing most of his minor hockey for the Guelph Reps (now Jr. Storm) of the OMHA South Central AAA League. In his Midget year, he played one season with the Toronto Young Nats of the MTHL before moving back to his home area to play for the Kitchener Dutchmen Jr.B. club of the OHA Midwestern league. After his Jr.B. season with the Dutchmen, Peverley was selected by Don Cherry and the Mississauga IceDogs in the sixth round, 124th overall, of the 1999 OHL Draft. Peverley chose to maintain his

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

eligibility, however, and instead signed for the 1999–2000 season with the Milton Merchants of the OHA's Provincial Jr.A. League. He later accepted an NCAA scholarship at the end of the season. Prior to beginning his professional career, Peverley played collegiate hockey for the St. Lawrence University Skating Saints, where he led the Skating Saints in points in three of his four seasons. Undrafted, Peverley made his professional debut in the 2004–05 season in the

with the

South Carolina Stingrays The South Carolina Stingrays are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the North Charleston ...

before playing a solitary game with the

Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks ...

in the

(AHL). After leading the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team based in Milwaukee. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Nashville Predators. They play their homes games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther ...

in points midway in the 2006–07 season, his second season with the team, Peverley was signed by the team's parent club, the

, on January 17, 2007, appearing in 13 NHL games by season's end. Peverley split the 2007–08 season with the Predators and the Admirals, appearing in all six games for the Predators in the

Stanley Cup playoffs The Stanley Cup playoffs () is the annual elimination tournament to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, and the league champion of the National Hockey League (NHL). The four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held after the NHL's regular s ...

against the eventual

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

champions, the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. On January 10, 2009, Peverley was claimed off waivers by the

after accumulating nine points in 27 games. The switch to Atlanta rejuvenated his career, as he collected 35 points in 39 games for the remainder of the 2008–09 season and earned a two-year, $2.6 million contract with the Thrashers in the process. On February 18, 2011, Peverley was traded by the Thrashers, along with Boris Valábik, to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

in exchange for Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart. He won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins on June 15, 2011. As a result of the 2012–13 NHL lock-out, Peverley signed a contract with JYP of the Finnish

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

. On July 4, 2013, Peverley was traded, along with Tyler Seguin and Ryan Button, to the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

in exchange for Loui Eriksson, Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith and Matt Fraser.

In-game cardiac incident

In September 2013, before the start of the Stars'

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

training camp, Peverley underwent a surgical procedure to help with an irregular heartbeat. Six months later, Peverley collapsed on the team bench during a game against the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...

, due to the cardiac issue. Subsequent surgery corrected the irregular heartbeat, and Peverley spent the 2014–2015 season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Stars' AHL affiliate, the

Texas Stars The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Cedar Park, Texas. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars. They play their homes games at the H-E-B Center. History In ...

. He formally announced his retirement in September 2015, remaining with the Stars in the front office as the team's Player Development Coordinator.

International play

Peverley made his international debut in 2010, when he was named to the Canadian national team for the 2010 World Championship. He played all seven games for Canada, who finished seventh, and had one goal and three assists; his one goal was scored in a game against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peverley, Rich 1982 births Atlanta Thrashers players Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey centres Dallas Stars coaches Dallas Stars players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States JYP Jyväskylä players Living people Milwaukee Admirals players Nashville Predators players Portland Pirates players Reading Royals players St. Lawrence Saints men's ice hockey players South Carolina Stingrays players Ice hockey people from Guelph Ice hockey people from Kingston, Ontario Stanley Cup champions Undrafted National Hockey League players Canadian ice hockey coaches 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland