Column: Chicago Blackhawks missed on Corey Perry as a caretaker of the new culture — and it calls their judgment into question

Chicago Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson gave players the day off Wednesday after a 4-3 win against the Seattle Kraken, but as much as it’s a reward, perhaps they needed a cooling-off period.

Despite Corey Perry’s surprising dismissal looming over the day, they “kept mentally strong” and fended off a rally by the visitors.

But the challenges from the Perry incident will extend beyond one day.

Perry cleared waivers Wednesday, and the team terminated his contract.

The NHL Players Association is “reviewing the matter,” according to an official with the union, which has 60 days to file a grievance.

During a news conference Tuesday, Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson shed no light on what Perry did that warranted his termination. But in the vacuum of an explanation, various reports conflict about what transpired.

Davidson wouldn’t directly answer whether Perry’s “unacceptable” conduct constituted a crime, replying that it was a “workplace matter.”

“It’s stunning, to be honest with you,” Hawks forward Nick Foligno said after Tuesday’s game. “You’re stunned a little bit. We really don’t know all the details.”

The details might not emerge, but the Hawks have a bigger problem: credibility.

The franchise has been under scrutiny since an independent investigation released in October 2021 found that Hawks management in 2010 covered up former prospect Kyle Beach’s sexual assault allegations against then-video coach Brad Aldrich to protect the team’s run to a Stanley Cup victory that summer.

In the wake of that scandal, front-office officials from Davidson up to CEO Danny Wirtz promised sweeping reforms to workplace safety policies and team culture.

This summer, buoyed by No. 1 draft pick Connor Bedard, Davidson acquired several players who were thought to be tried-and-true NHL veterans and ready-made locker room leaders in Taylor Hall, Foligno and Perry to establish a winning culture, mentor younger players on how to be a trusted teammate on the ice and a solid citizen off it.

But in Perry’s case, it was a huge swing and a miss.

What Davidson ultimately learned about Perry’s character “certainly didn’t … mesh with the background we received.”

Hawks coach Luke Richardson was an assistant on the 2020-21 Montreal Canadiens when Perry was a player.

Richardson said Tuesday that he hasn’t talked to Perry since he was a healthy scratch before the Nov. 22 game in Columbus, Ohio, and removed from the team during a four-day internal investigation, “but I was someone who had him in the past.”

“I recommended my good faith on a guy like him to come here and he was doing his job on the ice,” Richardson said. “Other than that, I don’t really know what went on still, off the ice. It’s obviously disappointing that we’re in this situation, but there’s no real second-guessing in it. We signed him as a really good player to help us in our time of transition here, and he showed he’s done that in the past.

“It’s unfortunate we’re now in the situation we’re in.”

The Hawks acquired Perry on June 29 in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning and signed him to a one-year, $4 million contract the next day.

Not only did Davidson and Richardson herald Perry’s arrival — given his reputation as a protector of teammates and pest for opponents — they named him an alternate captain.

“Bringing in Nick (Foligno) and Corey Perry, that’s why they’re here,” Richardson said in October. “They’re here to lead.

“So they’re going to split home and away (games). I think it’s going to be Corey at home the first half of the season and Nick on the road the first half of the season and then we’ll flip-flop that.”

You can never truly know what’s ticking in someone’s head, but if you bring someone in to be a positive influence during the formative years of future stars such as Bedard and Kevin Korchinski — and you have to jettison said person before half the season is over — it calls your judgment into question.

It has to.

Davidson is undeterred, confident in the locker room’s “resilience” to bounce back from this episode.

“More than anything, it reinforces the resolve we have to change the culture and make sure we’re doing the right things,” he said. “Upholding our values and making sure we continue to build a culture of accountability.”

That includes Davidson, who’s accountable to players for the culture he’s establishing via the roster he’s building.

Perhaps Davidson explained how the team will move forward in good faith after he broke the Perry news to players and coaches Tuesday.

“It was obviously at that level that they needed to go through their protocol and we had to sit and wait until that was properly done,” Richardson said.

“There’s nothing you can do about it (as a player). It’s just like anything: If there’s nothing you can do about it, you have to do your job properly. Otherwise you’re worrying about things you can’t control.”

Foligno, who by all accounts is a stand-up guy, explained how it’s already difficult to reconcile the teammate they knew with the pariah dispatched for alleged misconduct.

“It’s a guy in this room that we all care about and was a big part of this (cultural rebuild),” Foligno said. “So it’s difficult on the human aspect of it.

“But the organization handled it the way they felt (was necessary). … They are going to stand firm on their beliefs and what the culture needs to be here, on and off the ice. Our job is to make sure we’re doing whatever we can in the room and on the ice to perform to that level.”

The Hawks’ leadership has taken some blows. In addition to Perry’s development, Hall will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

“We’ve lost Corey but we’ve also lost Taylor Hall to injury, and that puts a big dent in the guys we brought in to help the young guys,” Richardson said.

Foligno believes the Hawks still have more than enough candidates to step into bigger roles, become bigger voices.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to pivot and try to pick up the slack where you need it and lean on guys where you need to, and now other guys get to jump in with an opportunity to lead,” he said.

“How about (Jason) Dickinson this year? That guy has been unbelievable, and probably a guy that doesn’t get talked about enough with his leadership skills in this room and what he’s meant to this group. So you lean on him a little bit more.

“There’s other guys that can take a role on. So as hard as it is, you have other pieces and guys get to grow into those opportunities. And it’s kind of fun to see who comes to the forefront just naturally.”