TALKING POINTS: Perry & Holland speak after forward signs a one-year contract

Holland provides his opening remarks:

“Thank you all for coming. I’m here today to introduce the newest Oiler, Corey Perry. Late Saturday afternoon, I was in Calgary for the game against the Flames and we agreed to a one-year contract. I was hoping to keep it a secret and have an announcement today, but it’s getting harder and harder to keep things secret in the world that we live in, so that’s why I’m here today to introduce Corey.

“In 2019, when Corey was bought out by the Anaheim Ducks during my first year here as the general manager of the Oilers, I went after Corey hard and unfortunately, he made the decision to go to Dallas, so I’ve kind of been hot after Corey for the last few years. I think he’s the type of player that every team wants on their team. He’s got an incredible winning pedigree. We were just talking inside – we were together in 2010 in Vancouver when Canada won the Olympic gold. When I was in Detroit in 2007, they beat us in the third round and went on to win the Stanley Cup. He’s won a World Championship, a Memorial Cup, World Juniors, so certainly, he’s been a player that’s been on a lot of winning teams. 

“When Chicago terminated his contract earlier this year, at some point in time after that I reached out to his agent Pat Morris to find out what was going on. And over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve done due diligence to get to this point. I’ve talked to [NHL Deputy Commissioner] Bill Daly. At Corey’s request, he reached out to Commissioner Gary Bettman and Bill Daly and Corey and his agent went and met together in person so that Corey could tell Commissioner Bettman and Bill Daly why his contract was terminated in Chicago. I have talked to Bill Daly. I’ve talked to Kyle Davidson, the General Manager of the Chicago Blackhawks. We’ve talked to other people who know Corey and talked internally.

“I’ve obviously talked to Coach Knoblauch, [Oilers COO of Hockey Ops] Jeff Jackson, people in our organization and ultimately decided – in talking to Corey, talking to Pat and the things that Corey has gone through here over the last two months between the hockey, what he brings to a hockey team, his winning pedigree and what he’s done over the last couple of months to make himself a better person – we felt that this was an opportunity to add a player that could make us better on and off the ice. 

“He’s a great leader. I love that come playoff time, you think about blue paint goals and greasy goals, and that’s what Corey stands for. I’m excited today to introduce Corey to the Edmonton Oilers, and I’ll let Corey talk and we’ll be open for questions.”

Perry delivers his opening remarks:

“Hey, guys. Over the last two months, I’ve really had a chance to reflect and get help and take full responsibility for what happened in Chicago and try to better myself. Those are the things that I’ve been working on with people in the mental health field and in different fields. It’s been a long time to get back to this spot, to be back on that ice with players in the NHL, and I have to thank my family, my friends, all the support I’ve gotten – the support from my counsellors and just trying to better myself each and every day – and from where I was two months ago to where I am today, I think it’s been a world of difference with the help that I’ve gotten and from where I’ve come from.

“On the hockey side, I’m excited to be here. This is a passionate fan base. It’s an exciting town, an exciting time for the Oilers organization. I mean, you look around that room and you got some pretty tremendous players in Connor, Leon, Darnell, and the list just keeps going on. So like I said, I got to say thank you to the Oilers organization, to Ken, to everybody involved to be here sitting here today and talking in front of you guys.”