Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Petrovic makes change for ‘deda’
Pronunciation honors his grandfather
CORAL SPRINGS — Alexander Petrovic has always been Alexander Petrovic.
But through his hockey life with the Florida Panthers, the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage and the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels, he’s been Alex Petrovic. His last name strayed from his family’s Serbian roots as it was pronounced Pet-ra-vick, courtesy of growing up in western Canada.
But recently, the pronunciation was changed. Rather, it was corrected. It’s now pronounced Pet-row-vich and he added two more syllables to his first name. So what was behind the sudden switch?
“My grandpa’s 96 years old living back at home, watching pretty much all the games I play,” Petrovic said. “It’ll be nice for him to hear it the right way. He’s always listening, watching. More thinking about him. He enjoys hearing it.”
Budamir Petrovic still lives in Edmonton, but follows his grandson’s games religiously. He watches the Fox Sports Florida feed all the way in Alberta, just as he watched Alexander’s games coming up through the Panthers system.
Before, he heard the sanitized version of his family’s
name on the broadcasts. But since Petrovic made the change, it’s been the version he brought over to North America when he was in his 20s and 30s.
When he was growing up, Alexander said the family never used the correct pronunciation, but he knew it existed when his deda and baka (grandpa and grandma in Serbian) invited company.
“But I know my deda and baka, whenever they had friends over, that’s how their friends would pronounce it,” Petrovic said. “For me, I was born in Canada. I don’t really know any Serbian. It’s more just for him. It’s my dad’s dad. It’s good for him to hear.”
Petrovic’s father, Predrag, was also born in Serbia but came to Canada when he was a young child. Alexander was born in Edmonton and played five seasons of junior hockey in Red Deer before joining the Panthers organization. He was a second-round pick in 2010, selected with the No. 36 pick.
He estimated that his grandfather hadn’t been to one of his games in person since his minor hockey days. So broadcasts are Budamir’s main window into Alexander’s playing career.
He said his grandfather wasn’t suffering and wasn’t in pain, but Petrovic’s brother and sister-in-law help take care of Budamir as they watch the games.
“They watch all the games,” Petrovic said.
Recently, they’ve seen the resurgence of Petrovic’s game. Earlier this season, Petrovic languished as a healthy scratch for eight consecutive games while rookies Ian McCoshen and MacKenzie Weegar played instead.
For Petrovic, it was a drastic change. He’d been protected in the expansion draft and was expected to be a key contributor along the blue line for Florida. But instead of helping to solidify the defense, he didn’t even see the ice.
He returned to the lineup Nov. 27 against the New Jersey Devils and has played in 16 games in a row as Florida embarks on a five-game road trip today. In the past nine games, Petrovic has been on the ice for only three opponent’s goals.
Petrovic notched his second assist of the season against Minnesota on Dec. 22 and participated in his first fight on Thursday against Philadelphia.