QMJHL: Perron Takes Maine Road to Vancouver

Unity and perseverance are common attributes of any successful hockey team, so naturally, the QMJHL champion Lewiston MAINEiacs, thoroughly embody both – although it is a boost that they are also the most talented team. Rookie-winger David Perron is a key component to their cohesive dynamic, and their efforts to ensue a President's Cup victory with a Memorial Cup ring.

"We'll have to wait to see who's our opponent. We'll have to face anything to get the Memorial Cup," says Perron, the team's playoff leading scorer with 28 points in 17 games. "So anything, I don't really think about it."

Lewiston was the Q's toughest team to beat in the 2006-07 regular season - as well as the playoffs - surrendering only 14 losses in regulation time, and finishing atop the league's standings. They even accomplished the feat of carrying an 18-game winning streak to Game 4 of the second round of the QMJHL playoffs, before finally losing in overtime to the Halifax Mooseheads. The sincerity of that loss can even be disputed, as a contingent of the MAINEiacs dressing room faced a battle of its own with the flu.

"Hopefully our captain's going to be back for the next series," Perron commented following the elimination of the Mooseheads, and advancing to the third round. "It's a flu that lasts maybe a couple of days, and you don't feel very good at all. Four or five players have it right now, but some played with it. Like I said to the other guys, we had to close it tonight because if we come back and some more players have it… it'll get worse and worse all the time."

Perron is Lewiston's top hopeful for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, pegged unanimously by competing scouting agencies for the mid to late-first round. Critical minds rank the potential of the Sherbrooke, Quebec native to be consistent with his MAINEiacs teammates, who currently enjoy NHL affiliations including Chad Denny of the Atlanta Thrashers, Marc-Andre Cliché and Jonathan Bernier of the Los Angeles Kings, and Stefan Chaput of the Carolina Hurricanes. Perron, an intensely competitive playmaker with arguably the most graceful set of hands and feet in the QMJHL, knows he has tools he can impress with at the Memorial Cup.

"I am a playmaker I think, but I can put it in too. I had 29 goals this year and could have had way more than that", he says, wearing a military-style helmet outside the Lewiston dressing room following a hard fought game. "I just have to shoot the puck more, but I am a good stickhandler, and have my head up all the time."

Truth be told, Perron was eligible to be selected last year. However, he decided not to rush himself into junior hockey and waited to be welcomed into the National Hockey League in June 2007.

"Two years ago I played Midget B and its not good hockey, but I got invited to Junior AAA. I could have been drafted last year, but from Midget B to Junior AAA, it's not the same hockey," says Perron of his decision to wait a year to make the jump to Lewiston. "I also had some offers from colleges too, but I came to camp and with Clem Jodoin as coach, I think I made the right decision and we'll see where I get drafted this year."

Perron, a Montreal Canadiens fan, based his difficult decision, in addition to the coaching factor, on the belief that junior hockey is more conducive to his hockey aspirations. Conveniently, it was less than a two-hour drive away from his other option.

"I went to the University of Maine in Orono to visit, and was very impressed about it, but the style of hockey… it's not like my style," he says. "I remember when I was growing up I was watching QMJHL games and it was more my style. I decided to come to Lewiston with the coach for the team I got drafted by."

Jodoin acts as a mentor for Perron, who reiterates his respect for the coach numerous times across a number of interviews. It is apparent the former Canadiens bench boss has a positive relationship with his players, keeping them grounded and focused. Perron has an acute perspective on what he must work to develop and improve.

"I am not a fast skater, but I am good on turns and turn quickly," says Perron, before turning his attention to a comment on his visible frustration during the Halifax series. "Sometimes the bounces don't go in and there are those nights. Like my coach Clem Jodoin told me, when you play a bad game it doesn't matter, you learn from it and you bounce back."

Along with Angelo Esposito of the Quebec Remparts and Jakub Voracek of the Halifax Mooseheads, Perron is among the top-three ranked players entering the draft from the QMJHL. The No. 1 ranked player is Voracek, who Perron cautiously endorses as the most likely to be chosen first out of the lot.

"I won't make any predictions where it's gonna go, but he's a great player and a great playmaker. That's his strength in my opinion," he says, laughing. "He's a big guy too. I think he's projected to go top five or something, and he's got to go there for sure."

Before turning his attention to the draft, Perron is preparing to cap off a remarkable season for himself and his teammates. The QMJHL Rookie of the Year nominee will have a chance to display his talents on a national scale as the Lewiston MAINEiacs, who won 16-of-17 games in the Q-playoffs, are off to Vancouver for the prestigious Memorial Cup Tournament.