Corey (Scorey) Perry, might have just earned the title of the unluckiest National Hockey League player. After losing the Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers for the second straight season, the losses actually run deeper for Perry and here is how.
Yes you read that correctly, Corey Perry has played for four different teams since 2020 and has made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals five times in a six-year span. Losses were the biggest storyline, as he has now lost five of the last six Cup Finals. To make it that far five times in such a short span of time and that consistently, is very impressive and unfortunate or “unlucky” at the same time.
Corey Perry has played with four teams since 2020
Perry has definitely been moving around quite a lot since 2020 and it’s time to look at why that has been the case. He recently turned 40 years old, just over a month ago. He has played for the Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks and present Edmonton Oilers, over his long but rewarding 20-year career.
Corey Perry played with the Dallas Stars in 2020 and made it all the way to the Cup Final, but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. A year later, he got traded to the Montreal Canadiens and somehow made it back to the Final during the shortened COVID-19 season, but would go on to lose to the Lightning yet again. Perry decided to go where the Cup was and got picked up by the Lightning who yet again, for the third consecutive season, made it back to the Stanley Cup Final. For his third season in a row, he would go on to lose the Cup to the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
Perry would decide to stay with Tampa for the 2023 season and unfortunately that year, would end up losing in the first round of the playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2024, he was picked up by the Edmonton Oilers and I am sure that he loved that. Edmonton, for the first time in the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era, would make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, where they faced off against the Florida Panthers. Sadly, the Oilers and Perry would lose to the Cats in a very tight, back and forth, seven-game series. A year later it is the same storyline, as yet again the Oilers would go on to lose to the eventual Cup Champions, this time in six games.
Perry just wanted another Stanley Cup
Perry won his first Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks, after beating the Ottawa Senators in just five games. I think that the biggest reason why he has decided to move around to different NHL teams so much in the last six years, is because he wants to try and get one last Cup Final win before he retires.
To be this close to potentially winning five more Stanley Cups and becoming one of the most decorated champions in league history, has to be heartbreaking for him. It is so impressive to accomplish what he just did, but it has to really sting, because the chance to win another Cup was definitely there in front of him.
What is next for Corey Perry?
At 40-years-old, it is truly difficult to say what is next in his NHL career. With 20 seasons under his belt, Corey Perry might decide to give it one more go with the Edmonton Oilers, if they want to re-sign him, or he will get traded to yet another team in hopes of becoming a Stanley Cup Champion once more.
Will he retire? Will he stay with the Oilers or move to a different team? Is he the unluckiest NHL player? Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments.
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