Éric Perrin (born November 1, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who last played for JYP Jyväskylä in the Finnish Liiga. As of December 2017, he is the highest scoring foreign player in the history of Liiga.

Éric Perrin
Perrin with the Hershey Bears in 2004
Born (1975-11-01) November 1, 1975 (age 48)
Laval, Quebec, Canada
Height 5 ft 09 in (175 cm)
Weight 184 lb (83 kg; 13 st 2 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Jokerit
Ässät
HPK
Tampa Bay Lightning
EHC Biel
Atlanta Thrashers
Avangard Omsk
HC TPS
JYP Jyväskylä
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 1997–2019

Playing career

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As a youth, Perrin played in the 1988 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Laval, Quebec.[1]

Perrin played college hockey at the University of Vermont, where he played with future Tampa Bay Lightning team mate Martin St. Louis and Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas. and went undrafted by the NHL. After spending several years playing minor league hockey, including a stint in Finland, Perrin was playing for the Hershey Bears when he was called up by the Lightning with 4 games left in the 2003–04 NHL season. He registered one assist in the playoffs on the way to the Lightning winning the Stanley Cup. Perrin is best friend of Lightning winger Martin St. Louis.[2]

During the 2004–05 NHL lock-out, Perrin re-signed with the AHL Hershey Bears, where he was named the team's MVP, as well as the Man of the Year for his charitable contributions. The next season, rather than re-sign with the Bears, he elected to go back overseas, and signed with Swiss team SC Bern. During the Playoffs in the Swiss Nationalliga B he played with the EHC Biel. Once the Swiss season ended, he re-signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and on November 2, 2006, he scored his first NHL goal against the Philadelphia Flyers into an empty net in a 5-2 Lightning victory.[3]

Perrin signed with the Atlanta Thrashers on July 1, 2007.[4] In the 2007–08 NHL season with the Thrashers, he recorded career highs in assists (33) and points (45). He last played for the Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League and he joined Avangard Omsk of the KHL on September 3, 2009. Perrin was cut from his try-out with the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 5, 2010. In his NHL career he recorded 32 goals and 104 points in 245 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Atlanta Thrashers. He was also a member of the 2004 Stanley Cup winning Tampa Bay Lightning.[citation needed]

In October 2010 he signed a two-year deal to return with JYP of the SM-liiga.[5]

On February 23, 2015, Perrin announced that JYP and he had come to a mutual agreement in which Perrin would leave JYP at the end of the 2014-15 Liiga season. On April 21, 2015, HC TPS announced they had signed Perrin as a free agent to a multi-year contract.[6]

Prior to the 2018–19 season, Perrin continued his longevity in returning to former club, JYP Jyväskylä, on a one-year contract on June 11, 2018. On March 19 JYP lost on the first round of Liiga playoffs and Perrin retired.[7]

After retiring as a player, he became Director of Hockey Operations for the youth travel hockey club DME Swamp Rabbits out of the Daytona Ice Arena in Daytona Beach, FL.[8]

Career statistics

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1991–92 Laval Régents QMAAA 42 41 50 91 12 7 16 23
1992–93 Hawkesbury Hawks CJHL 31 34 58 92 48
1993–94 University of Vermont ECAC 32 24 21 45 34
1994–95 University of Vermont ECAC 35 28 39 67 38
1995–96 University of Vermont ECAC 38 29 56 85 38
1996–97 University of Vermont ECAC 26 26 33 59 40
1997–98 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 69 12 31 43 34
1997–98 Québec Rafales IHL 13 2 12 14 4
1998–99 Kansas City Blades IHL 82 24 37 61 71 3 0 0 0 0
1999–00 Kansas City Blades IHL 21 3 15 18 16
2000–01 Jokerit SM-l 6 1 1 2 2
2000–01 Ässät SM-l 43 15 23 38 70
2001–02 Ässät SM-l 45 13 13 26 16
2001–02 HPK SM-l 12 5 10 15 4 8 2 4 6 6
2002–03 JYP SM-l 56 18 28 46 36 7 4 6 10 8
2003–04 Hershey Bears AHL 71 21 54 75 49
2003–04 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 4 0 0 0 0 12 0 1 1 6
2004–05 Hershey Bears AHL 80 24 49 73 46
2005–06 SC Bern NLA 44 13 25 38 28 6 2 4 6 8
2005–06 EHC Biel NLB 11 5 7 12 2
2006–07 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 13 23 36 30 6 1 1 2 2
2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 81 12 33 45 26
2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 78 7 16 23 36
2009–10 Avangard Omsk KHL 55 7 12 19 36 3 1 0 1 16
2010–11 JYP SM-l 50 18 32 50 47 10 4 3 7 6
2011–12 JYP SM-l 58 19 40 59 20 14 4 10 14 6
2012–13 JYP SM-l 59 11 42 53 22 11 1 5 6 2
2013–14 JYP Liiga 60 16 30 46 28 7 1 3 4 4
2014–15 JYP Liiga 59 12 43 55 20 12 3 8 11 6
2015–16 TPS Liiga 46 10 24 34 4 8 2 2 4 4
2016–17 TPS Liiga 43 13 18 31 18 6 0 2 2 0
2017–18 TPS Liiga 50 23 20 43 22 10 6 3 9 4
2018–19 JYP Liiga 56 15 19 34 18 3 1 1 2 0
Liiga totals 643 189 343 532 327 96 28 47 74 46
NHL totals 245 32 72 104 92 18 1 2 3 8
KHL totals 55 7 12 19 36 3 1 0 1 16

Awards and honours

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Award Year
College
All-ECAC Hockey Rookie Team 1993–94
All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1994–95, 1995–96
AHCA East First-Team All-American 1995–96
All-ECAC Hockey Second Team 1996–97
AHL
First All-Star Team 2003–04
NHL
Stanley Cup (Tampa Bay) 2003–04
Dan Snyder Memorial Award 2007–08
Liiga
  Kanada-malja (JYP) 2011–12
  Bronze Medal 2001–02, 2012–13, 2014–15
European Trophy
  Champion (JYP) 2013

References

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  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  2. ^ Hradek, E.J. (July 10, 2012). "LIGHTNING BUDS". ESPN. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  3. ^ "Lightning 5, Flyers 2". hockeyreference.com. February 3, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  4. ^ "Thrashers agree to terms with UFA forward Eric Perrin". thrashers.nhl.com. July 1, 2007. Retrieved March 3, 2009.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Eric Perrin remains with Champions" (in Finnish). JYP Jyväskylä. September 8, 2012. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  6. ^ "Eric Perrin siirtyy Tepsiin". hc.tps.fi (in Finnish). April 21, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  7. ^ "Eric Perrin returns to JYP" (in Finnish). JYP Jyväskylä. June 11, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  8. ^ "Eric Perrin is the New Director of Hockey for DIA". DME Sports. 2019. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year
1993–94
Succeeded by
Preceded by ECAC Hockey Player of the Year
1995–96
Succeeded by
Preceded by NCAA Ice Hockey Scoring Champion
1995–96 (with Martin St. Louis)
Succeeded by