A doozy of a rumor from the National Hockey League has been circulating for the past day, as numerous NHL fans are convinced that Corey Perry was cut from the Chicago Blackhawks for sleeping with the mother of his teammate, Connor Bedard.

Connor Bedard opening twitter to see why Corey Perry and his mom are trending pic.twitter.com/Cn2BpiIrEB

— S Λ Μ (@sighsamuel) November 28, 2023

Here's how we got here: 38-year-old Corey Perry was a player for the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks. On November 22nd, he was scratched from the game despite being healthy. No information about why he was scratched was given. Blackhawks players had no idea why it happened, and the coach, Luke Richardson, only told the media it was an "organizational decision."

Then earlier today, the Blackhawks put out a statement that they were placing Perry on waivers with the intent of terminating his contract due to "unacceptable" conduct and that he violated "The Chicago Blackhawks’ internal policies intended to promote a professional and safe working environment."

That very harsh language naturally led to people wanting to know what exactly Perry did, and Twitter was already running with a salacious rumor that Perry had slept with the mother of the Blackhawks' young star, Connor Bedard, on a recent road trip where the teams' mothers accompanied them.

At this point, it's important to note that this rumor is extremely dubious. It hit Twitter thanks to a screenshot from a group chat in which an anonymous person says they heard it "second hand" from an employee at Canadian sports network TSN.

Furthermore, Chicago Blackhawks beat writer Charlie Roumeliotis called the rumor 100 percent false. Chicago Tribune writer Phillip Thompson heard the same thing and reported that Blackhawks sources told him the rumor was "100% false."

This has put the Blackhawks in a dubious position. The organization has been under intense scrutiny after former player Kyle Beach alleged that he was sexually assaulted by a team's video coach in 2010. The team promised "transparency" after that incident, but so far none has come in the Perry case.

Furthermore, the "slept with teammate's mother" theory is the only thing Twitter has going for it in terms of an explanation, and unless the organization gives an official reason for cutting ties with Perry, it seems they're dead set on running with it.

Corey Perry walking out of the bedroom after blackhawks staff saw him with Bedard’s mom pic.twitter.com/Hj9MIAKMMs

— StarsCountdown (@StarsCountdown) November 28, 2023

In sum, Corey Perry was cut from the team for something that sounds serious, but no one knows what it is and much of social media is convinced it's because he slept with a teammate's mother.

Overall, it hasn't been a good season for the Chicago Blackhawks, who are also dead last in their division.