Ex-NHL coach Perry Pearn fired as coach of Japan’s national and U-20 teams

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It’s sayonara for long-time NHL assistant coach Perry Pearn after his 18-month adventure as head coach of the U-20 and men’s national teams in Japan — especially the older squad which was on the precipice of qualifying for the 2025 world championship in Denmark and was in the hunt for a spot in the 2026 Olympics in Italy.

This wasn’t Pearn’s call.

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The longtime coach from Edmonton has been behind the bench in Ottawa, New York, Winnipeg and Vancouver for over two decades, has over 1,600 NHL league games and another 130 in the playoffs as well as coaching in six world championships and a silver at the Olympics. He did his job after he took over from good friend Rick Carriere in November, 2022.

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But, he was informed last Thursday by the Japanese Federation that his contract, which runs out Mar. 31, wasn’t being renewed.

Not for lack of results.

Instead it’s a Japanese Hockey Federation that seems more about power in the boardroom than strength on the ice. For them, it’s almost like hockey is recreational. Winning more means spending more. They haven’t put sufficient resources into hockey on the world stage or have enough sponsorship..

Pearn had a feeling his firing was coming because the Federation had let his assistant coach Yuji Iwamoto go recently, leaving him short-handed. He’s equal parts upset, and frustrated.

“Our senior team record was 12-3-1, just three games lost over two years,” said Pearn.

“I know where they were when I started and where they are now. Before I got there their whole mindset going into games was hoping they don’t lose… not going into games feeling they’re going to win. I believe that changed. It was harder for the U-20 team, but the senior team was successful.

“I heard over and over we can’t do that… no money, can’t have extra players at camp, no money. Simple things like apparel got less and less. Most of the money comes from the Japanese Olympic Committee and since I started there, the support for the senior team was significantly reduced. Like being unable to travel to Europe for any exhibition competition that helps develop players. The JOC spends it on the U-18 and U-20 teams.

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“The long-range plan (reason for letting him go) is bogus. Every two years in Japan they elect a new president. The man who took over as president (Koto Fujiki, big in the transportation business) has a national team’s general manager named (Takahito) Suzuki.”

Suzuki is a former player in Japan and at U of Alberta Augustana in 1996-97 and later in the ECHL in Charlotte. He has also been Japan’s national team coach.

“Suzuki barely saw me coach the U-20 team at Christmas, we did a pretty good job at being competitive but we had some guys scared to play. And he watched me coach three games in Hungary (senior national team),” said Pearn.

“I believe they were already making the move. So now he will put his stamp on the program.”

Pearn, who took over from Carriere when he had teaching duties at Vimy Hockey Academy that he had to get back to, said he would have been alright to fulfill his Mar. 31 contract, then finish up the rest of this season with the World A championship in Bolzano, Italy.

But they didn’t want to stay with Pearn even with the two top teams in the A worlds getting to next year’s top tier tournament in Denmark.

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For the tournament in Bolzano, Mike Keenan currently coaches the Italian team, ex WHL junior coach Kevin Constantine is in charge of the Hungarians, Anze Kopitar’s dad coaches Slovenia, by way of introduction.

But, they let him go before the six-team tournament in Bolzano (Korea, Romania, Japan, Slovenia, Hungary and Italy).

“He (Suzuki) was right there at the bench to shake my hand when we won the recent Olympic qualifying tournament (in Hungary) to advance further and he was up with the rest of the group the next morning to see me off the next morning (trip back to Edmonton). I think he had already hired a coach while we were in Budapest,” said Pearn, who feels it’s a job unfinished.

“Some of the people I reached out to thank them for their help there, they thought I resigned. I told them, ‘no, they fired me.’ I want that word out there,” he said.

“I would have been going back to Japan (Apr. 1) to prepare with a selection camp for the tournament in Bolzano,” said Pearn.

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