May 21, 2025 by Eric Friesen

Future Hockey Hall of Famer Corey Perry turned 40 years old on Friday.

By modern hockey standards, he’s ancient. However, Perry continues to be an impact player for the Edmonton Oilers in his 20th NHL season.

Perry joined Sportsnet’s Colby Armstrong for a one-on-one interview from the Oilers Hall of Fame Room at Rogers Place on May 12, to discuss his incredible longevity, playing alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and his drive to win another Stanley Cup. Armstrong started the interview by asking Perry about Draisaitl saying that he has the smarts to play in the NHL until he’s 50.

“It’s a pretty nice compliment coming from a guy that’s probably top three in the world,” said Perry. “You didn’t say the rest of the sentence that he said about my boots may not be there, but I got a chuckle out of that one. People think it must be easy to play with [McDavid and Draisaitl], but you have to think with them. You have to know what they’re thinking and how they’re playing, so it takes a little skill mentally to play with those guys, as well.”

After spending the majority of his career south of the border, Perry has thoroughly enjoyed his time in Edmonton. The former Hart Trophy winner insists that the players feed off the energy of the home crowd at Rogers Place and use that to their advantage, especially during the playoffs.

“The community is unbelievable,” said Perry. “When you walk out for that first playoff game here in Edmonton, you see the passion, you see the excitement. You can’t say enough about these fans and what they bring to us.”

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In 1,618 career NHL games across the regular season and playoffs, Perry has 507 goals, 1,069 points, a Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player, a Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as goal-scoring leader, two NHL First All-Star Team selections, and a Stanley Cup ring. Though he has achieved everything in the game of hockey, Perry’s desire to win another Cup has never diminished.

“This is why we play the game,” said Perry. “This is why we put the work in all summer. This is what you dream of as a kid, to have this opportunity, and I always say, they don’t come around that often. It is extremely hard. I won one. I was fortunate enough to win when I was early in my career, only 22 years old. You know, I was never back [in the Final] until I was 35 years old, and we had some pretty good teams along the way.”

When Perry broke into the league with the Anaheim Ducks in 2005-06, he played alongside legends such as Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer, who played in 21 and 18 NHL seasons, respectively. A student of the game, Perry learned important lessons from them early on in his career that have helped him stay in the league for two decades, as well.

“Every year that you’re in this league, you learn something,” said Perry. “And what I learned when I was younger, maybe not then, but when I look back on it now is how hard they worked, and what they did to continue playing into their late 30s and early 40s. This game is hard, and you have to put the work in, and that’s one thing that I’ve taken away from it.”

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Not only has Perry managed to stay in the league, he’s still an important player on a team that was two goals away from winning the Cup last year. He has five goals in 11 games this playoffs, including a team-high three tallies in Edmonton’s second round series victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.

Perry has reached the Stanley Cup Final in four of the last five seasons, with the Dallas Stars in 2020, Montreal Canadiens in 2021, Tampa Bay Lightning in 2022 and Oilers in 2024, falling short of hoisting the Cup each time. His biggest driving force to make another run at it this spring? Sharing the Cup with his seven-year-old son Griffin.

“With [my son watching], it’s pretty cool,” said Perry. “He always talks about the Stanley Cup. He’s seen the little replica at home, but he’s never actually seen or touched the big one, and that’s why I’m still playing.”