Blackhawks’ Foligno, Richardson react to ‘stunning’ Perry release

The Chicago Blackhawks placed Corey Perry on waivers on Tuesday with the intention of terminating his contract after an internal investigation concluded the veteran forward had “engaged in conduct that is unacceptable, and in violation of both the terms of his Standard Player’s Contract and the Blackhawks’ internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments,” according to a statement from the team.

General manager Kyle Davidson addressed the media Tuesday afternoon, saying “It’s been a tough couple days,” but not disclosing much else about what led to the decision to part with Perry. Davidson did add that none of the other players were involved in the situation and that none of the players are aware of what happened.

After a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken later Tuesday night, head coach Luke Richardson and forward Nick Foligno addressed the Perry news. Here is what they had to say.

Luke Richardson, head coach

“It was definitely a challenging day for the guys and I thought they were totally professional tonight and did their jobs and kept mentally strong.”

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Question: Did you address the team after Kyle did?
“I did not, no. Kyle addressed the team this morning before we left the arena. I was just part of the group that he addressed and there was really nothing else for me to say. I think it was just said then, plain and simple. And we have a job to do and that’s (what) we just focused on the rest of the day.”

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Question: How shocking is it that this has happened and did you reach out to (Perry) in the last week?
“No I think I just do the right thing with the organization, let them take their time and due diligence with their investigation. And I haven’t. But I was someone that had him in the past and I recommended my good faith on a guy like him to come here. And you know, he was doing his job on the ice and other than that, I don’t really know what went on, still, off the ice. Obviously it’s disappointing that we’re in this situation but there’s really no second guessing. We signed him as a really good player to help in our time of transition here and he’s shown that he’s done that in the past. It’s unfortunate that we’re now in this situation.”

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Nick Foligno, forward

“It’s not a normal day, it’s not a day that’s easy on any of us… It’s a hard day but I’m really proud of the guys… A lot of that is out of our control, we don’t even really know what’s gone on, we don’t have all the details. But we came here to work and get a job done and it shows growth, it shows maturity and now we need to build off that. It was a great step in the right direction on a day that’s really difficult for everyone.”

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“It’s stunning. To be honest with you, you’re stunned a little bit. There’s a lot of things that go into it. There’s a guy you care about, regardless of what’s gone on, he’s a guy you care about and we really don’t know all of the details. He’s a guy in this room that we all cared about and was a big part of it, so it’s difficult on the human aspect on it. But the organization handled it the way they felt. We honestly don’t have all of the details so it’s hard for me to comment any more on that, but they are going to stand firm on their beliefs and what the culture needs to be here, on and off the ice. And our job is to make sure we’re doing whatever we can in the room and on the ice to perform to that level.”

More from Sportsnet

Blackhawks GM: Perry release was ‘workplace matter,’ not connected to other players

Blackhawks to terminate Corey Perry’s contract, cite ‘unacceptable’ conduct

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