Ken PeroffBRAMPTON, Ont. – Ken Peroff’s penchant for blocking shots caught up to him last Friday night.
The Brampton Battalion defenceman got his left foot in front of a shot by Tim Billingsley of the host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors and fell to the ice in severe pain. He got up and blocked a Jordan Mayer shot before finally getting to the bench.
“That first shot hurt more than any other shot I’ve ever blocked,” Peroff said Wednesday. “Usually, when it hits you, it stings for a minute or two, but that one bothered me for quite a while.”
Peroff finished the game, a 3-1 loss, before sitting out a 3-1 home-ice setback Sunday to the Niagara IceDogs.
“It was one of those things where I wondered if I’d be able to do any of the things I normally do during a game, and I knew I couldn’t,” said Peroff. “It was hard for me to put weight on it, and I would be pretty much useless out there. I made the decision to sit that game out.”
He isn’t the only Battalion player to have been felled by a blocked shot. Centre Cody Hodgson, who played with the injury before x-rays confirmed its severity last week, has missed two games with a broken right foot suffered Feb. 12 against the host Sudbury Wolves. He’s expected to return for the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.
Overager Peroff, who leads the Troops’ unofficial tally in blocked shots with 170 over 63 games, said he’s taken precautions to avoid getting hurt in the line of fire.
“I got double-stiff skates this season, so if I do get hit it doesn’t hurt as bad. A lot of guys are taking whatever measures they can to prevent getting hurt, but sometimes it’s inevitable.”
Peroff is expected to return to action when the Battalion visits the Barrie Colts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the opener of a home-and-home set between the Central Division rivals. The Colts visit Brampton at 7:30 p.m. Friday before the Troops wrap up the regular season by entertaining the Kingston Frontenacs at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Battalion, third in the division with a won-lost-extended record of 24-27-14 for 62 points, needs one more point to secure fifth place in the conference against everybody except Niagara, which would prevail in a tie at 63 points if it wins its final three games. The fifth-place team faces fourth-place Kingston in a best-of-seven conference quarterfinal, while sixth place means a date with third-seeded Mississauga.
Barrie, 54-9-2 for 110 points, has clinched the best record in the league and is assured of home-ice advantage through the playoffs.
“Any time you play Barrie you have to make sure you’re defensively sound,” said Peroff. “But that’s the way we’ve played all season. We’ve always been a defensive, tight-checking team that’s hard to play against. That’s our identity. If we can get a couple of goals, we can find a way to win.
“We’re going to be a little more desperate than the Colts are at this time. I don’t know if they’re going to rest guys or do whatever they have to do to be ready for playoffs, but we want to seal up fifth place. Our fate is in our own hands now.”
Peroff said the last three games will be a good tuneup for the postseason.
“If you can’t get used to the kind of high-tempo game we’re going to have to play against Barrie, then you won’t be ready for playoffs. We see Kingston in our last game, and that’s a team we may see in the playoffs. We could end up playing eight games in a row against them. If that’s the case, that last game will give us a chance to get a little more familiar with them.”
In their last three games, the Troops have scored a total of three goals while allowing eight, including one into an empty net and another attributed to a shootout.
“We were working hard, but we just didn’t have that scoring touch,” said Peroff, who leads Battalion blueliners in scoring with four goals and 25 assists for 29 points.
“That’s what a guy like Cody brings to our lineup. When he was in, our team looked a lot different. This last stretch does remind me of earlier parts of this season, but that’s all right. We found ways to win then, and we have to do that now, too.”
The game at Barrie can be seen live in Brampton on Rogers Cable 10 and in Caledon and Orangeville on Rogers Cable 63.
