Yaniv Perets follows unique road to collegiate hockey

Jordan Stoopler
6 min readFeb 17, 2021

20-year-old made NCAA debut for Quinnipiac on Saturday

(Photo courtesy: Justin Wolford- Colgate Athletics)

It should come as little surprise that one of Yaniv Perets’ first words he ever uttered was hockey. After all, Perets’ life has largely revolved around the sport, and this from a young age.

“I was always around it,” said Perets. “My oldest brother (Adam) was playing hockey. I used to go watch him all the time. I would have the pacifier in my mouth and be playing street hockey.”

It would not be long before Perets found his way between the pipes, first recreationally on the street facing his Dollard-des-Ormeaux home, and later, across local ice hockey rinks.

The 20-year-old, who points to Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price as his idol, played his bantam and midget level hockey for the Lac St. Louis Lions. Perets was a part of U-14 and U-15 championship teams, and captured the bronze medal at the Telus Cup in 2016.

(Photo courtesy: Rob Amyot- The Suburban)

“Playing for the Lions was great,” said Perets. “We always had great teams. It’s a winning culture over there. Every single season, you are expected to win. The staff is great and they pushed us, as players, to go to…

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Jordan Stoopler

Freelance sports journalist. B.A. Concordia University Journalism program, M.A. Hofstra University. Lover of sports and of the great game of hockey.