Winnipeg Jets fans are having a bit of fun (again) at the expense of Corey Perry, who was on the receiving end of a butt-end to the face on Friday.
Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot was the culprit in the second period of a 4-1 Winnipeg win against the Ducks. Chiarot got his hands up in Perry’s grill and, along with it, the butt-end of his stick.
Ducks fans, of course, weren’t too pleased that Perry’s face needed many stitches to repair the wound, which can be seen here:
Crazy how much Corey Perry's chin resembles the outline of #nhljets Ben Chiarot's butt-end. #NHL is reviewing the incident. No call on play, could've been a match penalty. Perry needed 20 stitches, including some below top layer of skin. pic.twitter.com/VfWOzNbwqz
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) November 25, 2017
For Winnipeg fans, Chiarot was doing God’s work. And now those same fans are trying to use the incident to spread some love.
A GoFundMe to raise the same amount of money Chiarot was fined has been set up, with donations going to the Christmas Cheer Board, a local charity in Winnipeg that provides food hampers and toys for children to those less fortunate during the holiday season.
Hilariously, the GoFundMe has raised nearly half its goal amount of $3763.44 from 75 people in five hours (at the time of this blog post.)
Perry’s history with the Jets and its fans goes back some years.
During the playoffs during the 2014-15 season, Jets fans, forever unhappy with Perry and his perceived antics, chanted ‘Katy Perry, Katy Perry’ periodically. Perry, of course, would have the last laugh in that series as the Jets were swept out of the playoffs in four games by the Ducks.
Last season, Perry drew the ire of Jets fans once again after this slash to the hand of Mathieu Perreault:
The slash from Perry on Perreault.. I'm sure it's ok though because Perry is a "star" right? pic.twitter.com/aJMnK10z4t
— Noted Team Player (@GameTimeArt) January 24, 2017
Perreault missed four games because of a broken finger.
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck