If you know the true lore behind Corey Perry, you’ll realize the Lightning’s folly.
PublishedMarch 6, 2026 4:40 PM EST•UpdatedMarch 6, 2026 4:40 PM EST
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When trying to select a Stanley Cup contender this postseason, it’s hard not to pick a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning.
As of Friday morning, they sit at the top of a very competitive Atlantic Division and are second in the league behind only the juggernaut Colorado Avalanche in goal differential (+49).
In addition to all of this, they have some of the best players in the world on their roster, such as Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, and Art Ross mainstay Nikita Kucherov, all of whom have Stanley Cup Finals experience.
With all of that in mind, it’s hard to think of anyone more equipped to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals this year, but what about winning the whole thing?
Well, as much as it may pain fans in the greater Tampa-St. Pete area, the Bolts made a move ahead of Friday afternoon’s trade deadline that may have just sealed their fate as Stanley Cup runners-up.
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That’s right, folks! Corey “The Worm” Perry (no relation) is heading back to Tampa Bay, where he spent two years in 2022 and 2023.
Now, to the uninitiated, this looks like a pretty good pickup for a team chasing a Cup.
While he’s a little on the mature side (he turns 41 in May), he has playoff experience and even won a Cup with the Anaheim Ducks back in 2007.
But, if you know the true lore behind Perry, you’ll realize the Lightning’s folly.
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Since the start of the 2020s, Corey Perry has been on five Stanley Cup-losing teams, each one making it to the Finals before bowing out.
His most recent stint in Edmonton earned him back-to-back heartbreaks in June, as the Oilers couldn’t get over the hump against the Florida Panthers.
He is now Tampa’s problem, and you have to wonder why they even decided to make this trade in the first place.
The Worm will likely be in the Hockey Hall of Fame someday, but hockey is a very superstitious sport, and the front office in Tampa had to be aware of his bad mojo.
Everyone on the internet sure knows about it.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning are tempting fate and laughing in the face of the Hockey Gods, and that rarely ends well for anyone.
Then again, maybe they are finally the team to break the Corey Perry Cup Curse.
Time will tell, but if I were a Bolts fan, I’d be despondent about the fact that my team just seemingly pissed any chance of hanging a Stanley Cup banner this year down the drain.
But, to paraphrase the Canadian Hockey Federation, The Prince of Wales Trophy shines just as bright.
