CANADIENS’ PETRY AND FAMILY EMBRACE LIFE ON SOUTH SHORE
Now taking up the role of No. 1 defenceman, Michigan native putting up career numbers
Canadiens owner Geoff Molson confirmed last week that Marc Bergevin will be back next season, meaning the GM will be spending part of his time this off-season trying to convince free agents to come to Montreal.
Jeff Petry might be able to help him with that.
Bergevin acquired Petry from the Edmonton Oilers at the NHL trade deadline on March 2, 2015 in exchange for a second-round pick (Jonas Siegenthaler) and a fourth-round pick (Caleb Jones) at the 2015 NHL Draft. Petry could have become an unrestricted free agent after that season, but instead decided to stay in Montreal, signing a six-year, US$33-million contract.
Since then, the 30-year-old defenceman has settled in nicely on the South Shore of Montreal near the team’s Brossard practice facility with his wife, Julie, their two young boys — Boyd, who is 2, and Barrett, 10 months — and a four-year-old chocolate Labrador dog named Nellie.
“I think it’s a great place to live,” Petry said after the Canadiens’ morning skate Monday in Brossard. “There’s a lot of different areas, depending on the player’s situation. Obviously, the single guys like the downtown area with lots of restaurants and stuff. Family guys, the area that I’m in there’s a good size yard, quiet area and I’ve enjoyed it.”
Petry recently took Canadiens fans on a tour through his family’s house with a video on the team’s website. Not surprisingly, it’s a beautiful home and Petry noted you can get a pretty good bang for the buck when it comes to housing on the South Shore. Julie admitted the house isn’t always as clean as it was when the film crew showed up, saying Boyd likes to use the couch cushions to build forts and there are usually “1.5 million” toys everywhere — something most mothers with two young boys can relate to.
Petry and his wife met when they were both at Michigan State University, where he played hockey for the Spartans and Julie was on the field-hockey team. Petry grew up near Detroit, where his father, Dan, was a pitcher for the Tigers, while Julie is from Texas. But they are both now comfortable living on the South Shore.
“Julie enjoys it,” Petry said. “She likes the group of wives (from the team). There was an adjustment with a new house and finding the grocery story and stuff like that, but she does enjoy it.”
On the tour of his house, Petry displays his watch collection and his wine cellar, which he calls “probably my favourite room in the house.” The basement is part man cave and part memorabilia room, including an autographed batting helmet from former Expos outfielder Vladimir Guer- rero, who was one of Petry’s favourite ball players when he was growing up.
Petry played baseball as a firstbaseman until he was 17 and then decided to focus on hockey.
“Every kid wants to play professional sports, but it never really crossed my mind in high school to play in the NHL,” he said. “For me, it was take it as far as I can go. My first step was to get a college education. When it got to that point when I had to decide, I never really thought about baseball as becoming a professional.”
The Oilers selected Petry in the second round (45th overall) at the 2006 NHL Draft after his first season with the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers. He played one more season with the Buccaneers before spending three years at Michigan State and then turning pro.
This has been a difficult season for the Canadiens, who will miss the playoffs for the second time in three years. Petry has had to fill the role as the team’s No. 1 defenceman since Shea Weber went down with a season-ending foot injury in mid-December. Petry is averaging 23:37 of ice time per game with 10-25-35 totals and a minus-29 heading into Monday night’s game against the Florida Panthers. Petry has already posted career highs in goals and points and his plus/ minus is reflective of playing a ton of minutes on a bad team.
“Obviously, we’ve had a lot of injuries, a lot of bodies coming though,” Petry said. “Webs going down was a big loss for our team and not only myself, but I think everybody had to kind of step up. So it’s good to get that kind of experience.”
As for the media scrutiny that comes with playing in Montreal — something that might scare some free agents away — Petry said: “For my situation, I had dealt with a crazy hockey market in Edmonton and the media there, so coming here it wasn’t much different. But if you’re playing well, the media’s great and it’s a great place to be and, obviously, everybody wants that.”
I had dealt with a crazy hockey market in Edmonton and the media there, so coming here it wasn’t much different.