Hockey Canada announced Friday that Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry will replace the injured Jeff Carter on Team Canada for the World Cup of Hockey.
L.A. Kings Insider Jon Rosen reports that Carter suffered a lower-body injury while training and won’t be able to participate. “I have a preliminary sense that this isn’t a major injury — one source told L.A. Kings Insider that the injury is ‘week-to-week’,” writes Rosen.
For Team Canada, this isn’t a major problem. Perry is well-equipped to replace Carter and can provide a little more sandpaper for them. It’s not nearly as significant as a loss like Jamie Benn, who is irreplaceable.
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While many have begun to complain that players seem to not be that interested in the World Cup and many players are dropping out due to injuries, there’s an irony in Perry finally making his way onto the team. He seemed to be one of the few players very vocally interested in playing at the World Cup. At the end of the season, he said as much and indicated that his participation in the 2016 IIHF World Championship as Team Canada’s captain was an effort to prove to Hockey Canada that he should be on the final roster.
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He went to Worlds and had a nice tournament, leading Canada to their second straight gold medal finish, but didn’t get added to the team. He was also passed over in favor of Logan Couture when it was announced that Benn would be pulling out of the tournament due to injury.
Now a part of the team, Perry is in a unique position. That gold at Worlds made Perry one of just 27 players in the history of the game to enter the Triple Gold Club. If Canada wins in September, he’ll enter even more rarified air with a World Cup championship to add to his Olympic and World Championship gold, as well as his Stanley Cup ring.
Beyond the Triple Gold feat, Perry has also won gold as a part of Canada’s 2005 World Junior Championship team and was on a London Knights squad that won an OHL Championship and the Memorial Cup. A World Cup championship would make him one of the most decorated players in the history of the game.