When Ryan Poehling learned he was being traded from Montreal to Pittsburgh along with teammate Jeff Petry, he immediately FaceTimed the veteran defenseman.
"Petey is the best," Poehling said. "He's one of my close friends. We were the only American guys, so it was easy to hang out with him. His family did a great job bringing me in as a young guy. I would go over there for dinners, hang out. When I called, the whole family answered. They all had big smiles on their faces. I'm glad we're going together, because he's a great person and a great player, too."
Petry "Extremely Happy" to Join a Team That's Ready and Eager to Win
When the move was first being finalized on Saturday, Petry was actually downstairs in his basement playing with two of his boys, and had left his phone in another room. When he went to check it, he saw a missed call from Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes. "I was like okay, something's up," Petry said.
That's when his agent phoned to inform Petry that the Penguins had officially acquired him and Poehling in exchange for defenseman Mike Matheson and a 2023 fourth-round draft pick (
details here
). It didn't come as a surprise to him, as Petry had been informed that Pittsburgh was showing a lot of interest even though they never really popped up on the list of rumored possible destinations.
"It seemed like everybody was always saying Detroit, Dallas and a handful of other teams, and Pittsburgh wasn't ever talked about," Petry said. "But when my agent mentioned it to me, my eyes kind of got big because you look at what they've done in the past and the roster that they have."
After hanging up with his agent, Petry then went upstairs to tell his wife Julie, who gave birth to their fourth son Blake on Monday, and their three older kids the good news.
"Everybody was extremely happy, and happy to be joining the Penguins," Petry said. "Talking with some people yesterday, it's a great organization, a great team. Their want to win is very apparent, and that's the most exciting thing for me - is to be on a team that's ready and eager to win."
Petry speaks with the media
Petry had a good introductory chat with assistant coach Todd Reirden, who works with the defense. He heard from Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang, welcoming him to the team. And he also got a ton of text messages, with many of them expressing a similar sentiment relating to those two players and the third member of the core leadership trio, Evgeni Malkin:
"The common one was you're playing with those guys; you don't have to defend them,"Petry said. "And that's exciting, because we all know the caliber of players that they are."
There's no doubt the feeling is mutual as Petry, 34, is still a top defenseman in this league. He's difficult to play against with his size (6-foot-3 and 209 pounds) and two-way ability, as Petry likes to skate the puck and get up in the play, but he can also be trusted on the defensive side.
Penguins general manager Ron Hextall described him as someone who can play all situations and log big minutes, and believes Petry is going to be a great fit with the group they have.
"For me to be able to join that and do my part to help the team win, it's exciting for me," Petry said. "I think early on in camp, I'll get acquainted with everybody and find my role and exactly what everybody expects, but ultimately it's for me is to go out and do whatever I can to make that team better."
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Having a chance to capture the Stanley Cup is incredibly important to Petry, who has not been able to do so during his 12 NHL seasons split between Montreal and Edmonton, and so is being closer to home.
Petry was born and raised in Michigan, which is where he resides during the offseason, and so does his extended family. Living far away from their support systems there and in Houston, which is where Julie is from, was especially hard during the pandemic with travel and border restrictions.
They're thrilled to be back in the States for the first time in Jeff's NHL career, knowing that during the year, Julie can hop in the car and be home in just over four hours. And vice versa for his family, with Petry saying that Pittsburgh has always been the favorite road destination of his dad Dan, who won a World Series with the Detroit Tigers in 1984.
"The past couple of years with COVID hasn't been easy on anybody, but living in Canada, it was very difficult for them to come up and to help with the boys and to come see us," Petry said.
That had its negative effects both off the ice and on the ice, as the big blueliner didn't have the first half he wanted last season. But he was able to recover and finish strong, with 21 points in his final 30 games.
"Obviously the second half of the year, started to find my game again, which is something that I put a lot of work in and was happy that it came around," Petry said. "It was a good way to end the year, to build off of to be ready for next year. I'm looking forward to stepping in."
