Rapid City Rush defenseman Chris Perna has officially announced that he is retiring from hockey through a post on Instagram.
Start in Hockey
Reigning from Pittsford, New York, Chris Perna got his start in hockey from an early age, starting to play around the age of three. Perna played high school hockey for Pittsford High for two years before playing for the U16 and U18 Rochester Jr. Americans AAA teams.
In the 2015-16 season, Perna started the season with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres U18 AAA team in the T1EHL 18U and then joined the Buffalo Jr. Sabres in the OJHL. He spent the 2016-17 season in the CCHL with the Hawkesbury Hawks and Cumberland Grads before playing in the NCDC for the Rochester Monarchs, where he captained the team. Perna then went on to play at the collegiate level.
College
Perna spent four seasons playing Division Three hockey at the State University of New York College at Geneseo (SUNY-Geneseo) in Geneseo, New York, but he only played in three seasons due to the 2020-21 season being canceled. In his three playing seasons as a Knight, Perna played in 81 games, where he had 15 goals and 47 assists for 62 points. He had 42 penalty minutes. In his senior season, he wore an “A” and had a plus/minus of +20.
Professional Career
After playing at the collegiate level, Perna went on to play professionally, where he started in the ECHL with the Tulsa Oilers. In the 2022-23 season with the Oilers, Perna played in 54 games where he had zero goals and eight assists for eight points. He had 20 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -11. After spending the 2022-23 season in the ECHL, Perna went down to the SPHL and played for the Pensacola Ice Flyers and Quad City Storm to start his 2023-24 season. He played in a total of ten games between the two teams in the SPHL, where he had two goals and seven assists for nine points. He had zero penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +4.
Eventually, Perna was called up to the ECHL by the Rapid City Rush where he played in ten games before suffering a lower body injury that ended his season at the end of December. In the ten games played, Perna had zero goals and two assists for two points. He had zero penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +1.
Perna ends his hockey career, having played a total of 74 professional games, 64 ECHL games, and ten SPHL games.
Perna spent a very short time playing for the Rapid City Rush, but he still played a role on the team. Perna was an incredible defenseman for the Rush who was able to use his speed to prevent breakaways and made it hard for the other team to score when he was on the ice. After his season ending injury, Perna was out in the community a lot and was at the majority of the team events talking to and engaging with fans.
