Josh Perrott has come full circle as a major award winner at the John Reid Memorial Tournament.
The recipient of the 2012 John Reid Memorial Award for heart and hustle with the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres was presented with the 10th annual $1,000 John Reid Memorial Scholarship at Thursday’s opening ceremonies at the 40th annual St. Albert bantam AAA invitational.
“It’s a really prestigious award and scholarship and it means a lot coming from the Reid family,” said Perrott, a centre for the Morinville Jets in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
The Reid scholarship was established by the parent group of the 2004/05 Sabres to recognize former St. Albert bantam AAA players who are contributing members of society, academically inspired, volunteer driven and display a passion for hockey like the individual its named after.
Reid was a prime-time scorer with the St, Albert Saints and Sherwood Park Crusaders in the Alberta Junior Hockey League and the Alberta Golden Bears and as a hockey and lacrosse coach was a positive role model for countless youths.
Reid died of leukemia at age 41 on Nov. 6, 2003 and the next year the St. Albert bantam AAA tournament was renamed in his memory.
Justin Kueber was the inaugural scholarship recipient, followed by Joshua Maeda, Steven Woolger, Brady McCorriston, Ryan Harrison, Liam Liston, co-recipients’ Steven Canduro and Brady Reid, Brad Holmes and last year’s winner, Tyler Dea.
Individuals who played bantam AAA for the Sabres after the 2004/05 season and played hockey in St. Albert for a minimum of three years were eligible to apply for the scholarship.
Perrott, 20, experienced the thrill of the Reid tournament twice with the Sabres.
“The biggest year of personal growth for me was my first year playing bantam AAA. The coaches I had were great. It was probably some of the best mentoring I’ve ever had,” he said. “That year I remembered the opening ceremonies were such a cool thing. When you’re that age it means a lot. Probably one of the biggest things going in your life is that tournament and the prestige that surrounds it.
“We played the Phoenix team, I think it was the same team as (the Sabres) played this year, the junior Coyotes, and that was just a huge game with the opening ceremonies. I remember how packed the stands were and how supportive the community was around this tournament.
“It seems a lot of people use it as like a rallying point.”
The next year was highlighted by the heart and hustle award, which is presented annually to the Sabre who symbolizes the person and hockey player Reid was.
“It was a big deal,” Perrott said.
Mark Matsuba, Josh Mahura, Matteo Gennaro, Cam Mazur, Brendan Kallis, Matt Murray and Pat Dea were some of Perrott’s teammates on the Sabres in his second appearance at the Reid tournament.
“Being able to play two years in it was huge. The John Reid brings in the best competition from around so it's pretty cool seeing some of the names that are now in the NHL, such as like Matt Barzal (of the Burnaby Winter Club who now plays for the New York Islanders). It’s pretty neat to say you played against some of those guys,” said Perrott, who recorded one goal and three assists in five games in his second Reid tournament before finishing his final bantam AAA season with nine goals and 13 points in 23 games.
Perrott would go on play for the midget 15 St. Albert Flyers and two seasons with the Grande Prairie Storm in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey league before joining the Jets prior to the 2015 playoffs.
The St. Albert Catholic High School graduate juggles academics at the University of Alberta as a second-year Bachelor of Commerce student with the junior B grind as “a good two-way player who is good in my own zone and responsible but can also contribute on offence where need be,” with the mighty Jets, a team to fear at 21-10-2.
“The two kind of complete each other really well because you can focus on your studies a lot and that can be your primary focus but then also the way the schedule works with the junior B and being local it's great to be able to go to school and still play a decently competitive hockey so I think it's good,” said Perrott, who has no precise end goal with his studies. “I don’t want to be an accountant or a finance guy but maybe an entrepreneur could be something to strive for.”
The versatile skater tallied twice for the Jets on Sunday against the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks before moving to the back end to assist the injury-riddled blueline in the 5-3 win at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
Perrott is on pace for a career season offensively with seven goals and 22 points in 23 games for the Founders Cup contenders.
“Now that it’s the tail end of the season our dressing room has really came together and meshed and it's really helping us get back on track here with some good wins and hopefully we continue to climb the standings here near the end and hopefully get into second place and get a first round bye. That’s our goal right now or even first place,” said Perrott of the Jets, who are led by Brett Dubuc’s MVP-calibre 40 goals and 72 points in 33 games. “Some guys who play for us are pretty huge and Brett is a big part of it.”
Sunday’s game was Perrott’s second with the Jets last weekend and the fifth overall in three days while competing at the 26th annual Family Hockey Tournament at Riviere Qui Barre. The event consists of eight family teams in Sturgeon County and the Perrott team won the C final against the SheeFitz (Sheehan and Fitzgerald) team to finish with two wins and one shootout loss. Perrott’s teammates on the Jets, Josh and Zach Mcrae, also played on the McKief (Mcrae and Kieftenbeld) team.
"it gets really pretty packed in the rink. The stands are always packed with a bunch of family and people that you know,” Perrott said. “Playing with your brother (Mitch) and your dad (Greg) and all of your cousins is pretty fun. It's really cool playing with people that you’ve probably never really had a chance to play with. ‘I’ve only played with my brother one year with the Jets so it means a lot.”
