Guy Perron has made a positive impact on the eastern Maine hockey community.
The former University of Maine captain and assistant coach, who lives in Bangor, is now receiving an outpouring of support from the people with whom he has interacted over the years.
The hockey community is rallying around the 55-year-old Perron and his family after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Two fundraising events have been planned to assist Perron, his wife Renee and their children Grace, Jack and Marc-Andre.
Plans are in the works for a benefit golf tournament in June and an ice hockey tournament in August in Brewer.
Bangor Municipal Golf Course is the site of the golf event, which is scheduled for Friday, June 25. The cost is $500 for each four-person team.
“There has been such a huge response. We have gone from one shotgun start at 9 a.m. to two, at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.,” said Greg Hirsch, one of the organizers and a former UMaine goalie who played under Perron when he was an assistant coach.
Thirty-nine teams have already entered according to Cheri Damon, another organizer, who said the goal is to raise $100,000.
A friendly men’s ice hockey tournament is slated Aug 13-15 at the Penobscot Ice Arena in Brewer. There will be silent auctions at both events.
People can also donate to the cause at the Guy Perron Family Get Teed Off at Cancer GoFundMe page.
Players can enter either of the two tournaments on the “Teed Off at Cancer” Facebook page.
Damon and Hirsch said Mike Golden, one of Perron’s former UMaine teammates, has organized 10 teams for the golf tournament made up primarily of players from that era.
“It speaks volumes about his character. I’ve known him for 30 years and he is a fabric of the community. He is beloved,” Hirsch said. “You won’t find anyone who will say anything negative about him.”
Hirsch has coached with Perron with various teams and at clinics.
Hirsch said Perron often not only attends his children’s games but those involving kids of friends and acquaintances. He coached teams even if his own children weren’t involved.
“He’s a great person,” Damon said.
Jack Capuano, Perron’s former UMaine teammate and the coach of Team USA in the IIHF World Championships in Latvia, called him a first-class citizen.
“He is a high-character guy and was a great teammate. He is fun to be around,” Capuano said.
Perron ranks 18th on UMaine’s career scoring list and was a two-year captain. Between 1986 and 1990, the Laval, Quebec native amassed 62 goals and 84 assists to help the Black Bears make four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Perron served two stints as an assistant coach at UMaine, was the head coach of the UMaine women’s team for two seasons and was the head coach at Bangor High from 1992-1994.
He also is past president of the Maine Junior Black Bears.
Perron was an assistant at Dartmouth College, the head coach and general manager of the Chicago Freeze of the North American Hockey League and spent six seasons as a scout for the National Hockey League’s Colorado Avalanche.
Capuano said Perron was a force on the ice.
“He had a lot of skill and he competed at a high level. He competed as hard as anyone. He played fast and he played physical,” Capuano said.