MONTREAL— Jeff Petry knows what to expect when he takes to the ice at the Bell Centre Monday night for his first time as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After eight seasons in a Montreal Canadiens uniform—the formative years of his NHL career and most of them, the best he’s enjoyed at this level—he knows he’ll get a warm reception from the crowd before likely getting booed every time he touches the puck, and he’s just fine with that.
“That’s usually how it goes,” he said after he took part in the Penguins’ optional morning skate, “and that’s kind of what I figure will happen.”
“This was a special place to play,” Petry added before saying he was both nervous and excited to do it as a member of the Penguins.
The 34-year-old defenceman is also happy to be doing it just three games into the season.
He’s made quite an impression in his short time with the Penguins, skating around 22 minutes in each of Pittsburgh’s early-season wins over the Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning. Petry notched an assist against the Coyotes and was awarded player of the game by captain Sidney Crosby, and coach Mike Sullivan said on Monday that he’s delivered what was hoped for when the organization traded Mike Matheson and a fourth-round pick to get him and Ryan Poehling this past summer.
“Well, what we’ve learned is that he’s an elite player, and that was what we had hoped we were getting,” Sullivan said. “He helps us on both sides of the puck. He’s big and strong at our net front, he defends well, he helps us on our penalty kill, we’ve played him in our top-four and he’s a big part of all the situations. He’s just a real solid defenceman on both sides of the puck, and that’s what we were hopeful we were going to get, and he’s certainly lived up to all of our expectations.”
Falling well short of lofty ones last season in Montreal changed how Petry was received by Canadiens fans.
He went from being the subject of their adulation to being the subject of their ire on many nights following a stumble out of the gate that saw his game plummet considerably from where it had been over three career seasons in succession.
Petry was limited to zero points in 25 out of his first 27 games, only scored his first goal in Game 28, and he appeared nothing like the player who ritually topped 40 points.
In early January, the Michigan native requested a trade for personal reasons, and he took on more and more heat from the fans as he struggled to find his game and that request became public.
“You don’t want to see anybody go through stuff like that,” said Montreal’s Cole Caufield on Monday, “but I hope the fans really recognize him tonight because he did a lot for this team and was a big part of our success going to the 2021 Cup Final. I think the fans know that and will give him a warm welcome.”
The 21-year-old winger said Petry was like a big brother to him and 23-year-old captain Nick Suzuki, often inviting the two of them over for dinner with his wife and four children.
“He was awesome for me,” said Suzuki. “Just kind of an older guy who took a lot of the younger guys under his wing.”
Jordan Harris, who joined the Canadiens late last season to play 10 games after completing his college career at Northeastern, said he learned a lot from Petry, who had rebounded under coach Martin St. Louis with four goals and 20 points from Feb. 13 to Apr. 29.
“He’s a great defender,” said the 22-year-old said. “When I think of Jeff, I see some of those plays where could skate all the way down the sheet and be the first guy all the way back. He was also such a professional. He treated his body great.
“He taught me a lot about how to play and how to act, and I think it’ll be special for him to be back here.”
This was the place Petry established himself as a highly successful player after five turbulent seasons with the Edmonton Oilers. He rose to play his most prominent role in the league in oft-injured Shea Weber’s absence—averaging more than 23 minutes per game, oftentimes playing closer to 30, and facing off against the NHL’s best forwards on a nightly basis.
“I just think about how from the day I got here, I think my time here was really beneficial for me,” Petry said. “If you look at the pattern of my career, I came into my own and developed into the player that I am. A big chunk of that was my time here. And looking back at some of the teams we had and the team accomplishments we made, it was a special time here.”
It was that from Day 1, when Petry was moved from the Oilers for a second-round pick and a conditional fifth at the 2015 trade deadline.
He made the first of four strong playoff contributions to help the Canadiens to the 2015 Eastern Conference Final and then signed a six-year, $33-million contract to stay in Montreal.
It was after Petry posted two goals and three points and helped the Canadiens beat the Penguins and come within a couple of wins of knocking off the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2020 bubble playoffs that he signed a four-year, $25-million deal that would kick in to start the 2021-22 season. He then posted six points, played through dislocated fingers and played a huge role in allowing the Canadiens to get to within three wins of dethroning the Lightning for the 2021 Cup.
Mental exhaustion and physical issues hampered Petry from delivering to start Year 1 of his new contract. As he struggled and the Canadiens plummeted down the standings, the disconnect between Petry and coach Dominique Ducharme became public.
After the Canadiens lost 6-2 to the Penguins to extend a winless streak to 0-6-1, Petry said, “It seems like there’s no structure out there,” and was heavily criticized for calling out Ducharme.
Things devolved from there, with his trade request becoming public and his game failing to come close to meeting the high standard he had established over years in Montreal.
“It was a crappy year for everyone,” said Suzuki. “I think Petey was more in the media limelight with the fans and stuff, but in the room, he was the same guy—very helpful and a great leader for everyone. So, I think it was a different reaction for the fans, but in here he was always the same Jeff.”
He echoed Caufield’s comments, saying he hopes Petry will be received well by fans attending Monday’s game.
Unfortunately for Petry, his wife, Julie, and his four sons, Boyd, Barrett, Bowen and Blake, won’t be among them. They’ll be watching from a distance, unable to make it to the Bell Centre for this game.
But Petry said they’re planning on being in attendance when the Penguins return in three weeks.
Poehling hopes to be a part of the lineup for that one, and he’ll also be skating in his first game at the Bell Centre Monday since playing 12:17 in a win over the Florida Panthers in Montreal’s final game of last season.
The 23-year-old, who was drafted 25th overall by the Canadiens in 2017, has started off well—helping the Penguins control 58 per cent of the shot attempts when he’s been on the ice at 5-on-5 and winning 61.5 per cent of the faceoffs he’s taken.
“Ryan’s been great,” said Sullivan. “One of our role-player guys, our supporting cast, so to speak, playing in our bottom six. He’s been good on our penalty kill, he’s won a lot of faceoffs for us. He’s been real good in the faceoff circle. I think he’s getting more comfortable every day with just becoming more familiar with some of the details of how we’re trying to play and so I think his game is becoming more instinctive as he gets more familiar with our team concept and all those details. He’s fit in really well for us. He skates well, he’s got good size, he’s a conscientious player, he’s positionally sound, and he’s another guy that we think he can play the type of game that we’re trying to play. He can fill the role that we had hoped he would fill when we acquired him, but he also, I think, has dimensions to grow offensively and otherwise.
“Both of those guys have filled into our team really well.”
