Corey Perry corroborates Kevin Bieksa's story of Oilers veteran's 'garbage stick' superstition

Corey Perry confirmed a unique superstition that has followed him throughout his career, one that his former teammate Kevin Bieksa had previously shared with the public. In the latest episode of the "Missin Curfew" podcast, Bieksa recounted Perry’s peculiar ritual of placing his hockey stick in a garbage can before games when he was struggling to score goals.

"One of my favorite superstitions that you had was the garbage can thing," Bieksa said. "So when you were struggling for goals, and I mentioned this about three years ago on air, you would put your stick in the garbage can in the middle of the room before the game and you would encourage guys to throw stuff in the garbage, to spit net, to dump their drinks in there.

"And that, for you, was symbolic of you were going to get a greasy goal, a garbage goal, and that was going to get you out of your slump."

Perry acknowledged this ritual and elaborated on its long-standing presence in his career.

"Yeah, the stick in the garbage can, that's been going on for a long, long time," Perry said. "I've already done it here a few times and guys are looking at me like, … they're going to take it out of the garbage can because you don't put a broken stick in the garbage can, the trainers take it.

"But I'm like, no, guys, just leave it, leave it, leave it and just throw whatever you need in there. And they're all looking at me."

Corey Perry's contract with the Edmonton Oilers

Despite past controversies in Chicago, the Edmonton Oilers signed him at a minimum salary, including performance bonuses in his contract. Corey Perry earned a $50,000 bonus for playing over 50% of the first two playoff rounds, and if the Oilers reach the final, he’ll earn another $50,000.

"Perry earned the $50K bonus, bringing the #LetsGoOilers overage cap hit to $3.5M. If they win the next round and he plays in 50% of the total games round 1-3, he’ll earn another $50K," PuckPedia shared on X

"Having played over 50% of the possible games through 1st 2 rounds, if #LetsGoOilers win Round 2, Corey Perry will earn additional $50K performance bonus. This would increase his total bonus earnings to $275K, and increase EDM bonus overage for next season from $3.45M to $3.5M," PuckPedia shared this on May 15, 2024, on X.

He’s played 10 of 12 games so far, ensuring he meets the bonus criteria.