The Corey Perry Curse: The story behind Oilers star's 17-year Stanley Cup drought

Corey Perry is back playing for the Stanley Cup but is there a curse on him?

Perry won the Stanley Cup 17 years ago in 2007 in just his second year in the NHL. He has yet to win the Cup again, but it isn't due to a lack of attempts.

Perry made his return to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2020 while he was a member of the Dallas Stars who made it to the Finals but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He then played for the Montreal Canadiens in 2021, who made it to the Finals but lost to the Lightning.

After losing back-to-back years in the Finals to Tampa Bay, he signed with the Lightning in free agency. Unfortunately, Tampa Bay went to the Cup Final for the third straight year, as did Perry, but for the third straight year, he lost.

After making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in three straight years but losing in all three, many started to say Perry had a curse as his team was guaranteed to make it to the Finals but would lose.

"I never had the opportunity to play for a Stanley Cup [again] until five years ago," said Perry, via CBC. "So, there was 12 years, 13 years, in between. You never really know if you're going to get back there. Every year goes by and you're out in the first round, second round, third round. And you're just like, 'Ugh, maybe next year.' And they just keep adding up."

Although many think the Perry curse is real, he is ready to prove it isn't by helping Edmonton win the Stanley Cup. He's also eager to play Stanley Cup Finals games in Canada as, although he did it in Montreal in 2021, he knows it isn't quite the same.

"When I was in Montreal, it was COVID. I think we had 3,000 or 4,000 fans, that was it in a place like the Bell Centre. It's not quite the same. It's a different atmosphere, a different animal, when you have fans."

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals is set for Saturday, June 8 at 8 p.m. ET in Florida.

Oilers focused on winning for each other

Edmonton has had a very up-and-down season which saw them fire their head coach, Jay Woodcroft. But, the Oilers rallied to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals and have become a tight-knit group.

“I think with our team, it’s all about accomplishing something for the guys in the room,” Knoblauch said, via NHL.com. “I know they are tightly knit, and they’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, especially our veterans, Connor (McDavid), Leon (Draisaitl), Ryan (Nugent-Hopkins), Darnell (Nurse). They’ve been through this for quite a long time, and they want to win for each other."

1993 marked the last year that a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup, and Edmonton looks to bring it back home this year. It will be interesting to see if they can end the drought.