Corey Perry is now 40 years old, and is still going strong as one of the Oilers most important players - and he's still holding on to win one more Cup for his son.
Perry is clearly playing well enough to earn another contract for next year, but there's realistic belief he would retire if the Oilers were to win the Cup. His new comments about his son add to that theory.
Corey Perry has heartwarming answer on why he's still playing in NHL
With [my son watching], it's pretty cool. 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.
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.
It's incredible to see Perry still soldier on now for himself, but also to share that experience with his young son. As an older player, Perry's one of the few hockey players that has kids that know he's a hockey star.
Speaking to former teammate Patrick Maroon earlier this year, Perry shared a bit more on how much he loves to play with his son.
MAROON: Seeing you and Griff, what's that like? What's that mean to you knowing that he gets to watch his dad?
PERRY: It's awesome. He's at that age where he's starting to remember a lot of things and learn a lot of things. He watched every game, he's at pretty much every home game. It's special. I love having him around the rink, he's here on off days. He just loves the game of hockey as well. It's a special bond.
He may be the worm on the ice, but Corey Perry sounds like a pretty great father off the ice. It would be an incredible father-son moment to share a Cup, and ride off into retirement.