John Scott, a studio analyst for NBC Sports Chicago’s Blackhawks game coverage, apologized Wednesday for unsubstantiated comments he made about former Hawk Corey Perry’s behavior that led to the team terminating Perry’s contract.
“On my podcast this week I made a false and misleading statement regarding former Blackhawk Corey Perry,” Scott wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It was an off-the-cuff remark that is completely unfounded and not true. It was a poor choice of words and I’ll try to be more careful in the future.”
Scott, a retired NHL enforcer who played two seasons with the Hawks, made the statements about Perry during his “Dropping the Gloves” podcast, which is affiliated with hockeyfights.com and isn’t associated with NBC Sports Chicago or the Hawks.
Perry’s contract was terminated in November after a team investigation found he “engaged in conduct that is unacceptable.” The Hawks didn’t specify what occurred or when and where it happened.
In an apology in late December, Perry said he was “embarrassed”
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and was seeking help for alcohol abuse.On Monday, he and the Edmonton Oilers reached terms on a contract for the remainder of the season.
During Monday’s podcast, Scott said: “I was on the Oilers Nation … comment section and people are all worried about his character issues. ‘Oh, all the bad players come to Edmonton. We got Evander Kane (and) bring on Corey Perry.’
“Corey Perry was a model citizen in the NHL for 18 years. Made a mistake in Columbus one night, he drank too much and he made a pass at a staff member who worked for NBC. And then Chicago, the environment that they live in now, if there’s any hint of anything like that, they just get rid of everything. Scorched earth. He’s gone.”
Scott likely was alluding to two negligence lawsuits by former players who accused the Hawks of covering up sexual assault allegations.
Caley Chelios, an NBC Sports Chicago studio host who often appears with Scott on the Hawks pregame, intermission and postgame shows, told the Tribune she had been subjected to speculation about Perry even before Scott talked about Perry on his podcast.
“I had zero involvement in what happened in Columbus with Corey and the entire situation,” Chelios said Wednesday. “It had nothing to do with me and did not involve me. He did not make a pass at me. … I was not in any way involved in this.”
During a Nov. 28 news conference, Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said when team management learned the previous week of possible misconduct by Perry, “we immediately pulled him from the (Nov. 22) game (in Columbus) and conducted an internal investigation.”
Chelios told the Tribune that because Perry was removed from the lineup in Columbus, and a limited number of women were part of the Hawks traveling party, that led to rumors.
“The same way that some of the disturbing rumors happened to the players,” she said, “my name on Twitter — from some people, not credible — was thrown in there.”
Chelios said she wasn’t aware of Scott’s comments before Wednesday and hasn’t been on social media the last two days.