CHL Leaders: No shortage of fond memories for OHL grad Perugini
Time flies when you’re having fun.
Recalling his four full seasons in the OHL, former Ottawa 67’s and Soo Greyhounds netminder Chris Perugini fondly remembers his time in junior hockey.
“Looking back now, it was 11 years ago when I played in the OHL. Travelling all the time with your 20 best friends, it was just a super cool experience,” Perugini told Junior Hockey Magazine’s CHL Leaders presented by CIBC. “As a young kid, when you’re in it, it feels like it is the norm, but it is really not. You have to cherish those moments.”
Following his successful showing in the junior ranks, Perugini then opted to earn an education, attending York University where he attained a bachelor of commerce degree while also doubling as a student-athlete with the varsity Lions. In all, it’s an educational background Perugini puts to use today as a project success manager with a leading national bank.
“I have been with this company since I graduated five years ago,” Perugini detailed. “I was fortunate enough to start in sales, and then transitioned more into managing some of our sales partners, which I still do today, and I am also doing a little bit of project management work. Overall, things are going great, and a lot of the success I have had personally can be attributed to the time I spent in the OHL.”
Like many before him, Perugini benefitted from the CHL scholarship program and still speaks of its value glowingly today.
“It was huge not having to worry about paying for school when doing a degree and playing hockey,” Perugini concluded. “A lot of people come out of university in debt and it takes years and years to pay off. I was lucky enough to graduate without a penny of debt, and I was able to buy my first property a year after graduating, which I think is not a possible realization for many graduates. It was huge when I was in school but even more important after I graduated.”
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