Valeri Nichushkin believes Corey Perry intentionally tries to injure people

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S. Harper
July 29, 2022 (8:46 PM)

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There are not too many players in the NHL that play that hard noised old school hockey as hard as the Tampa Bay Lightning's Corey Perry. Say what you want about his style, he's hated by the opposition, yet everyone would love Perry as a teammate.

However, with that rough no holds barred style Perry plays, there has been times he's injured players. Perry was a big part of the Tampa Bay Lightning's run this year, losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final. After the series, one member of the Avalanche had some accusations against Perry and his style of play, accusing Perry of intentionally trying to to injure players.

The accusations come from Valeri Nichushkin. Perry comes by his nickname "the worm" for doing whatever it takes to get under the skin of opposing teams. Nichushkin is currently home where he is conducting interviews and he would talk about the Stanley Cup Final when the Avalanche knocked out the Tampa Bay Lightning.

During one of them, he was asked if any other players tried to get under his skin during the playoffs:

Mikhail Sergachev tried to poke me and knock me off balance, and I answered him. That's normal when the Cup was just around the corner> We clung to him, even if we are both Russians. I'll say more. In the NHL playoffs, there's a mental game with dirty elements. Everybody tries to get under each other's skin.

Nichushkin was then asked about Corey Perry and what it was playing against him in the Finals

No, I don't like his behavior. You can yell at each other, even punch each other in the face if you want to. But when a person purposely falls on people's feet, on their knees to injure and incapacitate them, it's not nice. What good can come from people trying to take away your health by acting out of line?"