Rich Peverley is excited to still be involved in the sport he loves. Peverley, 33, who went into cardiac arrest on the Dallas Stars bench on March 10, 2014 and never returned to play, is serving as player development coordinator for the Stars this season. He is with the organization at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament in Michigan learning as much as he can from general manager Jim Nill and director of amateur scouting Joe McDonnell. Peverley, who will focus on the Ontario Hockey League, has been viewing games all week at the tournament while paying particular attention to the prospects in Dallas.
Peverly finished his career with 84 goals and 241 points in 442 regular-season games. He had nine goals and 21 points in 21 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and won a championship with the Bruins in 2011. In 62 games with the Stars in 2013-14, he had seven goals and 30 points and won 60.1 percent of his faceoffs.
Rich Peverley: "I'm just trying to listen and learn and get the most out of it. I spent some time last year in Cedar Park [with the Texas Stars in the American Hockey League] so I have that familiarity and that kind of gave me a little jump start. It's still a learning process but it's like starting a career all over again; I just have to stop and learn and make the most of the information that I can."
"One of the biggest things I've noticed since I focused on face-offs when I played was that a lot of these junior kids have no idea how to take a faceoff. If you can do the little things, like pay attention to your nutrition, your strength and conditioning, it will go a long way. There are so many facets of the game that you have to be able to be really good at to be a good, honest pro."
Peverley played nine seasons in the NHL with the Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins and Stars. He said watching the young players brings back memories of his playing days.
"It does, but I tried to come back and exhaust every avenue but I'm happy with the fact now that it's been almost 19 months since I played a game in the League. I wanted to play but I'm more at ease where I am in life. You always want to play and you'll miss that side of it but I'm lucky enough to have this opportunity that the Stars have given me and to work my way up."
He said the NHL moving to a 3-on-3 overtime format if tied after regulation will be a learning process for players and coaches.
"When it went to 4-on-4, there were a lot of chances off the hop and I think that's what's going to happen with 3-on-3. There's a lot more ice out there but team's will find ways to give themselves a better chance. There's going to be a strategic side to it eventually but I feel right off the hop there will be chances everywhere. That's what teams want since everybody is trying to avoid the shootout."
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