NBC Broadcaster makes another statement on incident that caused Perry termination in Chicago

PUBLICATION

Liam McCormick
January 24, 2024 (12:59)

SHARE THIS STORY

Yesterday afternoon, massive news broke when NBC Chicago broadcaster and former NHLer John Scott seemingly revealed the incident that caused Perry's contract termination by the Blackhawks. Yesterday on a podcast, Scott claimed that while the team was on a road trip in Columbus, Perry drank too much and made a pass at a colleague of his at NBC. Now, Scott is walking back his comments entirely.

Corey Perry was a model citizen in the NHL for like, 18 years. He made a mistake in Columbus one night, he drank too much and he made a pass at a staff member who worked at NBC. And then Chicago, in the environment that they live in now, if there's any hint of anything like that, they just get rid of everything.

Here's the video of Scott making the claim on the podcast.

Prior to Scott's comments yesterday, there had never been any sort of details revealed about the incident, and this was thought to be the truth finally coming out - but today Scott has entirely walked the comments back. He entirely dismissed the previous comments as false and misleading, and promised to be more careful in the future.

It's careless work by Scott who needs to have higher standards as a network broadcaster. Regardless, Scott's endorsement of Perry's character still stands, still leading to us believe the Chicago incident was something relatively minor. Perry's clearance to return to the NHL after an investigation by Bettman and the Oilers also reaffirms it was a minor and isolated incident.

When all the noise quiets down from Perry's off-ice incident and he actually joins the lineup for the Oilers, he'll be back in his element as a great contributor for a cup contending team. Perry will provide a great scoring touch and a presence in the bottom six, likely living up to his nickname of �The Worm'. In 16 games with the Hawks this season, Perry scored 4 goals and 9 points on a desolate offensive team. On the Oilers, even at age 38, Perry could have an incredibly successful rest of the year.