Last June, 24 hours before Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, Corey Perry caused some amusement among journalists by declaring that he saw himself playing for five more years.
Posted at 2:07 p.m.
Humans are capable of saying stupid things in the heat of emotion, but Perry made sure to make it clear that he knew very well what he was saying five months ago. Thus, a few hours before a vulgar November match which will undoubtedly not go down in history, the former Canadian reiterated his comments from last summer.
“I said it in the final last year, I still have five years to give,” repeated the veteran forward at the end of the Oilers’ morning practice on Monday at the Bell Centre.
Perry’s insistence is interesting because he’s been slow so far, with 4 points in 18 games. The 39-year-old veteran, however, is not alone among the Oilers: behind Leon Draisatil’s 13 goals and Connor McDavid’s 7 goals, no forward has scored more than 3 goals this season.
It must also be said that Perry has reached the level in his career where his contribution is measured much more broadly than just his offensive production. During these famous 2024 series, he was limited to 3 points in 19 games. That didn’t stop the Oilers from reaching an agreement with him again for one year, when the free agent market opened on 1is July.
“It was a very good acquisition,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. He scored key goals, he plays 10 to 14 minutes, he’s part of our second power play unit. He said things in our locker room last year. A lot of people have respect for his career, for his number of matches in the final. He’s like an extension of the coaching staff. »
In one sense, though, Perry isn’t helping himself, with his annoying habit of always reaching the Stanley Cup final. The 2024 final was his fourth in his last five seasons, and the fifth of his career.
Such journeys are obviously taxing on a body soon to be in its forties. “You play until the end of June, you are magané, you play every other night and you travel from one end of the country to the other,” explained Perry. Mentally and physically, the guys were burned out and that’s OK.
“It’s an eight-week marathon. Once the series begins, at 1is tower, the ice rink gets smaller. It shrinks even more in the next round and at the end, there is no more space. They are two good teams who know how to play and it’s a battle. »
These courses are worth to Perry the 12e rank in NHL history for games played in the playoffs (215). He is 1is among active players and the only one who could surpass him next spring is Ryan McDonagh, at 191. McDonagh will have to make the finals, however, and hope Perry misses them.
Nurse absent
Speaking of the playoffs, the road to getting there is not as simple as expected for the Oilers, authors of a 9-7-2 record after 18 games.
And it won’t get any easier this week. Knoblauch confirmed, unsurprisingly, that Darnell Nurse will be missing. The big defender was the victim of a hard hit to the head from Ryan Reaves, which earned the perpetrator a five-match suspension.
Knoblauch expects a relatively short absence (5 to 10 days, he said), but the Oilers are entering a week of four games in six days. Their depth on the blue line will therefore be put to the test, having lost Cody Ceci, Vincent Desharnais and Philip Broberg during the summer.
Mainstays Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm are still there, but the supporting cast behind them has changed significantly since the finale. In the seven-defender lineup Knoblauch will deploy on Monday, Josh Brown, Ty Emberson and Travis Dermott all played elsewhere last season, while Troy Stecher was a reserve.
“Fortunately, our defenders have experience in the National League. It’s not like you’re calling someone up from the American League and hoping they immediately become an NHL defenseman,” Knoblauch recalled.
That said, with the aforementioned McDavid and Draisaitl, as well as Jeff Skinner, real poison at the Bell Center (14 goals, 10 assists for 24 points in 19 games), the Oilers have the tools to win even with suspect depth on defense.
Oilers training lineup
RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Perry
Janmark-Henrique-C. Brown
Skinner-Ryan
Ekholm-Bouchard
Ear-Emberson
Dermott engraver
J. Brown
Pickard
