On Wednesday morning, the NHL released a two-minute long video promoting the upcoming Winter Classic in Washington DC. The gravely narrator gets us excited for the Capitals match-up with the Blackhawks on January 1.
Enjoy!
GIF by welshhockeyfan
Braden Holtby and Alzner celebrate a shootout victory. (Photo credit: Jonathan Kozub)
When Mathieu Perreault was traded to the Anaheim Ducks, the Caps lost more than a talented forward. Perreault was the terrier puppy of the Washington Capitals: small, frantic, usually bouncing with joy. His post-game celebrations became A Thing. But Perreault wasn’t the one who came up with the idea. It was his buddy Karl Alzner, who was inspired by YouTube videos of Seton Hall basketball player Peter Dill. Though they both made up elaborate rituals, it was Perreault who got all the attention. So, after a while, Karl stopped trying.
“I was like ‘Man, that’d be awesome if we did that!’” the mustachioed defenseman told me Wednesday. “I said, ‘Perry, you gotta watch this! It’d be awesome if we did this after a win’” Next game, it went to a shootout. He did it, I did it, and his got a ton of attention.”
This year, though, Perreault is gone and the Capitals have won a spade of games in the shootout. Therefore, it’s been up Alzner to carry the torch. His repertoire is more advanced than Perreault’s, with Alzner featuring distinct celebrations this year: Bow and Arrow, Thor’s Hammer, and the Hulk Hogan.
By Chris Gordon 10 years ago
Photo credit: Oksana Zolotar
When the Washington Capitals traded Mathieu Perreault to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, we felt like a chapter in the Book of the Caps had come to a close: ridiculous, post-game celebrations.
We were wrong.
Mike and Owen show off their creation during warmups.
Horn Guy, Owen, and Matty P.
Ed. Note: Well, this stinks. Remember last year when Mathieu Perreault did all those celebrations? A couple fans came up with some super cool cutouts to partake in Perry Celly festivities. I wrote about it during the playoffs when the Caps were up 3-1 3-2 in the first round, but before we could post, Washington collapsed. A long summer ensued. We intended to finally publish this as the 2013-2014 season got started, but, guess what, Perreault got traded. Oops. Here it is anyway.
Mathieu Perreault is wild.
So are Caps fans.
In honor of Perreault’s crazy post-game celebrations, Kat and her boyfriend Owen could often be spotted during last year’s playoffs watching warmups from the front row, holding up a giant Matty P cardboard head, and waving around two gloves attached to popsicle sticks. Even for players accustomed to seeing things like the Brouwer Rangers (and their fanny packs) this provoked a second look for some Caps.
“Chimera was skating by, looked up, and he just broke out laughing,” Owen told me outside Verizon Center in May.
“It’s made Oleksy do a double take,” Kat continued. “Matty P smirked and he actually tried to throw a puck at us. He didn’t quite get it over.”
“He gets an A for effort,” Owen added.
By Chris Gordon 10 years ago
Mike Vogel has reported that Mathieu Perreault has been traded to the Anaheim Ducks. The Caps will receive Anaheim’s fourth-round pick in 2014 and minor-league LW John Mitchell.
Perreault was consistently among the Washington Capitals’ best possession players. He was an excellent passer. He was the team’s best celebrator. He didn’t know he was tiny. One time– in a big game against the Bruins– and without Ovechkin in the lineup— Perreault scored a hat trick. WITH HIS FACE.
Matty Perreault is a plucky little French Canadian sumbitch, and Bruce Boudreau’s Anaheim Ducks will be better for having him.
(Note: Perreault and his celebrations were going to be today’s countdown post. I guess we’ll just skip that now.)
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
Mathieu Perreault‘s celebrations after Capitals’ overtime wins were the best part of the season. We gave them the name #PerryCelly and designed a t-shirt in its honor, but it seems Caps fans still can’t get enough of the enthusiastic gyrations Now, dougiegilmour has shared this GIF to Tumblr. Just stunning. Here, Perreault and Jay Beagle partner up to bake a cake. Real teamwork.
I think I still love the guitar windmill version more, but man, so great.
If you see other #PerryCelly remixes out there, post them in the comments below. They need a home.
It was mid-March and Karl Alzner was on the Internet. Like most twentysomethings, he looked up silly videos on YouTube to kill time. He stumbled across one from early last year — it was of Peter Dill, a basketball player for Seton Hall. Dill scored a single basket in his two years playing for the school, but he did get very excited when his team scored. Alzner played the clip for Mathieu Perreault.
“The guy would just go crazy, pretend he had Thor’s Hammer and he’d be smashing the ground,” Alzner told me Saturday afternoon. “Perry, I could just see his eyes, like ‘this is awesome!’”
“We should do that after we win games,” Perreault responded.
By Chris Gordon 10 years ago
Video via @dcsportsbog
Mathieu Perreault finally gives the people what they want: a playoff #PerryCelly. It’s a short and sweet celebration, just like MP85. What. A. Win.
Happy playoffs, hockey people!
On this very special day, we’re releasing a bunch of new shirts to the RMNB store— and we’re sure you’ll love at least one of them. If you’re into Perreault’s post-game celebrations, The Wagon, or meteors, we’ve got a shirt for you. And if you hate Pennsylvania (and who doesn’t?), we’ve got you covered as well. Seven new shirts in all, in men’s and women’s cuts, all printed on the finest natural synthetic fabrics available.
Wwith Mother’s day coming up, all Women’s tees are 15% off. Just use the coupon code MOTHER2013 during check-out.
We’re real proud of this new batch of shirts. Take a look and let us know what you think!
It’s becoming a tradition — one that I truly enjoy. When the Caps win in overtime, Mathieu Perreault freaks out like a 5-year-old who has inhaled one of those giant pixie stick straws and starts flailing around erratically. Perry started the celebration thing after a shootout win over Winnipeg, and he did it again after the Caps beat the Islanders. When Eric Fehr scored in OT to give Washington a win in their final game of the regular season, Perreault delivered.
