Longshot Peroff opens Troops’ scoring
BRAMPTON, Ont. – Ken Peroff gave himself an early birthday present Friday night.
Peroff, who turned 19 on Monday, scored the first goal of the Brampton Battalion’s Ontario Hockey League season in a 4-2 loss to the visiting Ottawa 67’s. Peroff connected at 7:06 of the first period when his shot from inside the blue line eluded Ottawa goaltender Chris Perugini.
“At first I was trying to keep the puck inside the blue line,” said defenceman Peroff. “The guy who was on me gave me a little room, so I fired it as hard as I could toward the net. It just seemed to loft over the goalie.”
The goal matched the total from each of Peroff’s first two OHL seasons. A seventh-round pick in the 2005 OHL Priority Selection, he had three points in 45 games as a rookie in 2006-07 and 10 points in 67 games last year.
“For a guy like me who doesn’t get many goals, it was great to get the first one of the season.”
Peroff and his fellow rearguards got a workout in the third period against the 67’s, who fired 15 shots on goal, more than they generated in the first two periods combined.
“Our first two periods were all right, but in the third it was almost like we ran out of gas. We weren’t competing hard enough. We needed to be better getting the puck out. But we know that, and now we have some time here to practise and hopefully that will get us ready for the games we have coming up.”
Peroff, one of three 19-year-olds on the Battalion blue line with Brad Albert and Alexander Eriksson, said the opportunity is there for any of the defencemen to have a breakout season offensively.
“We all have to pitch in a little bit. Offence might be tough to come by for us right now. Eriksson has a great opportunity to get some offence, same with Albert. We don’t have a real go-to guy back there this season.”
Peroff said he learned plenty over the last two years from veterans such as John de Gray, Bobby Sanguinetti, Zack Shepley and Kyle Sonnenburg.
“I would love to be as good defensively as de Gray and Shepley, and I’d love to be able to score like Sanguinetti.
“We want to be the guys the younger guys look up to. We want them to take bits and pieces from the game of every guy here. That’s what I did. I’m sure other guys have done it too. “
Peroff acknowledged he’s come a long way since his first game at 17.
“It’s totally different as a 19-year-old. I’m so much more comfortable now and focused on the job I have to do. I have that experience and I know how to prepare.”
