Ottawa veteran David Perron has a soft spot for ex-coach Craig Berube

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Where everyone in Ottawa will have a beef with Craig Berube in this series, David Perron can’t quite bring himself to badmouth his old coach.

They sipped from the Stanley Cup together in St. Louis in 2019, well into Perron’s 1,100-game NHL career, his fourth club and third tour of duty with the Blues.

“Phenomenal coach, great human being,” the Senators forward said Sunday morning before Game 1. “He always had my back.

“I think it was a relationship, other than the next couple of weeks, that will always be (strong).”

Perron, who turns 37 next month, had not won a Cup before or since the Blues.

“I had a lot of hard conversations with him when he coached me. Not pleasant, but I’d always leave the room or the meeting excited about what’s ahead.”

Perron cited Berube’s preparedness and how he incorporates assistant coaches such as Marc Savard into formulating a plan.

“They dissect clips, they adjust well game-to-game.”

Berube saluted Perron’s competitive edge and that he’s still able to score, nine goals in 43 games. Perron has also played 104 playoff games, his teammates hardly any, as the franchise missed the dance the past seven years. But he doesn’t see that as a disadvantage.

“The whole story about these guys not playing yet (in an NHL post-season) … You have to write your own story.

“It’s like the old saying, ‘you’re not in the NHL until you’ve been in playoffs’. It’s exciting for me, even being away from it a few years.”

Lhornby@postmedia.com

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