Oilers' Corey Perry won the Stanley Cup as a rookie. It's been a long 17 years trying to win another

Corey Perry won his first Stanley Cup in his rookie season with the Anaheim Ducks. Seventeen years later, he's still looking for ring No. 2.

It's not for lack of trying. As a veteran member of the Edmonton Oilers, he's about to play in his fourth Cup final in the last five years.

He's lost it as a member of the Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning. In fact, the "Perry Curse" is something you can find online easily.

"I never had the opportunity to play for a Stanley Cup [again] until five years ago," said Perry. "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."

Perry continues his quest for his second Cup when the Oilers face the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup final, starting Saturday.

Perry has lost three Cup finals in the last half-decade, but he isn't alone on the "would a, should a, coulda list." Trade deadline acquisition Adam Henrique, penalty-killing ace Mattias Janmark and defensive stalwart Mattias Ekholm have all been on the losing ends of the NHL finals in the past. And they hope that experience can drive them to take the Oilers' Cup quest that one step further in 2024.

Ekholm and his Predators teammates lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017. He warned that, if players get lost in the spectacle of it all, the series can be over awfully fast. He felt it took the Predators too long to remember that their most important job was to play hockey.

"Obviously, we got off to a rough start," Ekholm recalled. "We lost both on the road, and it was almost like it took a game and a half