It was only one season in a 20-year career, barely a flicker over Corey Perry’s illustrious NHL odyssey.
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But playing for the Canadiens during the COVID season of 2020-21, when the franchise reached the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 1993 before losing in five games to Tampa Bay, had a profound effect on the Edmonton Oilers forward, who is still going strong at age 39.
“The Canadiens were my favourite team growing up,” Perry said Monday, following the Oilers’ morning skate at the Bell Centre. “I grew up 25 minutes from the Quebec border (in Haileybury, Ont.) in northern Ontario. It was the team my dad cheered for. For my family, the Montreal Canadiens were the team. When I put their jersey on the first time it meant the world to me, and it still does.
“Every time I step on this ice it’s pretty special.”
Perry joined the Canadiens as a free agent from Dallas, signing a one-year, US$750,000 contract, before producing nine goals and 21 points over 49 games. He remained effective in Montreal’s post-season run, scoring four goals and 10 points in 22 games before the magical run came to a halt against the Lightning.
Perry expressed a desire to re-sign with the storied franchise, but former general manager Marc Bergevin reportedly declined to offer the right-winger a two-year contract. On Monday, Perry refused to revisit that period, although he was more than content to discuss the Canadiens’ playoff run under unusual circumstances created by the pandemic.
“Everything being closed,” he said. “Curfew at 9 p.m. It didn’t bother me because there was nothing to do; you’re either at the rink or at your place. But that ride and the thrill of being in this city. You could feel the atmosphere outside. Beating Vegas in overtime to go to the final. We were in the room until 2:30, 3 in the morning. We couldn’t leave with everything going on outside. You could feel that part of it.
“Obviously I was disappointed to leave,” Perry added. “I wanted to see where it could have went. It’s a business. Things happen and everybody moves on.”
Selected in the first round (28th overall) by Anaheim in 2003, the 6-foot-3, 208-pound Perry made his NHL debut two seasons later, winning the Cup in 2007. If Perry thought it was going to be easy, he wasn’t totally wrong. He has reached the final four other times, most recently last season with Edmonton, having joined the Oilers after having his contract terminated by Chicago.
The Oilers trailed Florida 3-0 and forced the series to a seventh game before losing 2-1 on the road in the finale.
“It’s frustrating. They never get easier,” Perry said. “Four of the last five years I haven’t had the ending we wanted. It’s why I’m still playing. It’s there. It’s in this room. You can’t look too far ahead but we have to know what’s at stake.
“That was the only chance I had to win,” Perry added of the Oilers three times surviving elimination games. “You get one goal short of tying it and who knows what happens after that? Those are the ones that sting. Being down 3-0 in the final, coming back and forcing Game 7, it was a pretty remarkable ride. Those ones sting.”
Perry won the Hart Trophy, given to the most valuable player, along with the Rocket Richard Trophy, as the top goal scorer, in 2010-11, when he tallied 50 goals and 98 points in 82 games for the Ducks. Otherwise, he has been a gritty, aggressive player. Perry never will win a skating race, but provides fire, sandpaper and intelligence to every team he has played for.
He has appeared in 18 games this season, scoring a modest three goals and an assist while averaging 11:14 of ice time. While Perry had been expected to be a fourth-line player this season, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch has him on the second line, with leading scorer Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin. Perry has also received time on Edmonton’s second power-play unit.
“He has scored some key goals while usually playing 10-14 minutes a night,” Knoblauch said. “But it’s mostly the leadership. A lot of people have a lot of respect for his career and the success he has had in the playoffs, the amount of Stanley Cup games he has had. He’s also a big extension for the coaching staff.
“He has made a career of being dangerous around the net, especially below the goal line. Finding ways to sneak a goal in or making a play. He has been exceptional in that role.”