Donald Frederick Perry (March 16, 1930 – April 15, 2019) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

defenceman and coach.

Biography

Perry, born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, began his playing career with Edmonton area junior league teams. He broke into professional hockey in 1950 with the Boston Olympics, and in 1954, he started a long tenure as player-coach with the New Haven Blades of the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart, ...

. Perry's teams were skilled, in 1956 winning the only professional sports championship the city has had. However, they gained a reputation for their physical play that often included fisticuffs. Perry retired from the ice in 1969 with over 600 points in excess of 1000 games at the blue line. He continued to coach the Blades until 1972. From 1972 until 1981, Perry coached the Saginaw Gears of the International Hockey League. His teams won two

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

championships (1977 & 1981). In 1981, he was hired to coach the

New Haven Nighthawks The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Islanders (1972–1973), New York Rangers ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

, but he held this position for only half a season before he replaced

Parker MacDonald Calvin Parker MacDonald (June 14, 1933 — August 17, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played for five National Hockey League teams between 1953 and 1969. He later coached the Minnesota North Stars and the Los Angeles K ...

behind the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

' bench. Just weeks into his tenure with the Kings, Perry was suspended for six games for ordering enforcer

Paul Mulvey Joseph Paul Mulvey (born September 27, 1958) is a Canadian retired ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League with the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Los Angeles Kings between 1978 and 1982. Mulvey was born in S ...

to leave the bench to join a fight. Perry would guide the Kings to the playoffs in 1982, a postseason that included the famous

Miracle on Manchester The Miracle on Manchester is the nickname given to a National Hockey League (NHL) playoff game between the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers that took place on April 10, 1982 in the league's 65th season. The game, the third in a best-of-five ...

comeback against the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

. However, he failed to make the playoffs in 1983 and was fired midway through the 1984 campaign. He continued his career as a Professional Scout for the LA Kings for more than 10 years before retiring to his long-time home in Hague-on-Lake-George, NY and, subsequently in Green Valley, AZ where he died at a nursing home on April 15, 2019 at the age of 89.

NHL coaching record

References

External links

* 1930 births 2019 deaths Boston Olympics players Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Alberta Los Angeles Kings coaches New Haven Blades players Sportspeople from Edmonton {{Canada-icehockey-player-stub