Corey Perry Deserves To Be A Free Agent During The Stanley Cup Final And Suit Up For Whichever Team Is Winning
Andy Devlin. Getty Images.Corey Perry was just a young worm when he got a chance to play for Lord Stanley's Cup for the first time in his career. It was his 2nd season in the league. He was just a bright-eyed, bushy tailed 22-year-old as the Anaheim Ducks were facing the Ottawa Senators in the 2007 Stanley Cup Final. And at just 22-years-old, Corey Perry accomplished the pinnacle of success in the game of hockey.
Dave Sandford. Getty Images.It has to be tough for some of these guys who experience a ton of success at such a young age to tamper their expectations. I'm sure when you win a Stanley Cup at 22, you figure you have a chance to win at least 3 or 4 of those things. You have your whole career still ahead of you, and you already have one ring. But then a Chicago dynasty comes around. Then a mini Kings dynasty comes around. Then Sidney Crosby makes sure he gets his 2nd and 3rd. Before you know it, you're 33 and still chasing that high.
That's when Corey Perry said enough is enough. He wasn't going to end his career without another crack at the Cup. He needed one last hit of the good stuff. So in 2020, he heads down south to give it a go with the Dallas Stars. They advance to the Cup Final in the bubble, but run into a buzz saw Lightning team.
Dave Sandford. Getty Images.2021 comes around and the worm decides maybe it's the year a Canadian franchise gets the job done again. No Canadian city has won the Cup since the Habs did in 1993, so maybe he could be a part of history in 2021. Montreal advances to the Stanley Cup Final but again, so did the Lightning.
Scott Audette. Getty Images.That's 2 years in a row of being on the wrong side of the handshake line in the Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Once again, enough is enough. The man can't keep losing to the Bolts anymore. It's time for him to join them in 2022 on the quest for their 3-peat.
Dave Sandford. Getty Images.Fuck.
3 years in a row. 3 different teams. 3 losses in the Cup Final. There's bad luck, and then there's whatever Corey Perry is carrying around.
He decided to change things up and just stick with the same team for another year, but that didn't work out for Tampa in 2023 after getting bounced by Toronto in the first round. This year he took the most roundabout way possible to get himself back to the Cup Final. A season that started in Chicago, had some controversy along the way, and now he ends up playing in his 4th Stanley Cup Final in the past 5 seasons with his 4th different team. He's the first player in NHL history to play in the Stanley Cup Final for 5 different teams.
I just can't take watching him lose another. I know people have their thoughts on Corey Perry, and he's not always the easiest guy to root for. But this man deserves to be done chasing another Cup. Let him rest. Let him finally put an end to this thing and get the job done one more time.
Which is why he should be allowed to be used as an extra for either team this series. We can really test out the Curse Of The Worm here. Whichever team is winning the series after each game gets Perry on their roster for the next. If the series is tied up, he goes back to Edmonton. We'll see how much the curse is actually real, or how much is just god awful luck over the past few years.