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Face Time: Former Spartan and current NHL player Jeff Petry

February 15, 2012

With the jerseys of hockey legends such as Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey hanging in the rafters, the Edmonton Oilers have built a legacy as one of the great franchises in the NHL. Jeff Petry wouldn’t mind seeing his name in the rafters someday.

Following the 2008-09 season, Petry left MSU early to sign a contract with the Oilers. Since then, Petry has made a name on the Oilers defensive core by doing many of the same things that made him successful during his time at MSU. The State News talked with Petry to discuss his career and MSU’s program.

Seeing that you didn’t play for head coach Tom Anastos, what have you thought about what he’s done for the program in his first season?

I knew him a bit from just meeting him here and there. He knows something on this, from what I’ve heard. When there was talk of him potentially getting the job, it was kind of a surprise.

After spending the summer at Michigan State and seeing what changes he was making in that short period of time and what he’s done, just from what I’ve heard from current players, I think he’s gonna be great for the current organization and great for pushing forward and taking a new step and potentially getting a new arena. The changes that he’s made, they’re changes that needed to be done that are gonna help the program.

What has been the biggest transition from the college game to the NHL for you?

The biggest transition? I’d say the strength. Guys are just so much stronger. The speed too. The speed and the depth, the guys are so much stronger, so much faster.
The lines are deeper. In college, your first two lines are pretty strong, and then they kind of tail off. Here, guys all the way through can make plays. There’s no weak line, there’s no time to sit back and say, ‘OK, this shift you can kind of take off.’
Every line can do something out there.
 
Many players who make the early jump from college to the NHL cite the opportunity to play professionally. Was it the same for you?

Yeah, it was. It was the opportunity that Edmonton presented to me and knowing that after that year, I’d become a free agent, and I’d no longer be Edmonton’s rights. They had interest in me, and I had kind of thought before the end of the season that was what I wanted to do. The timing and everything like that kind of set in.

What goals have you set for yourself as a defenseman in the NHL?

Growing up in Detroit, I always watched (Nicklas) Lidström play, and it was always something that I tried to pick things up in his game.

You’ve gotta learn from the people you play with around you.
You know, (everyone) wants to get that name that’s going to stick out for years, but it doesn’t really overly concern me.
Just play in the opportunity I have and play for as long as I can.
 
Playing for the Oilers, you have the benefit of playing with former Spartans Shawn Horcoff and Corey Potter. Sharing that experience, how often do you guys talk about your time at MSU?

We always talk about it. Me and Potter are back for the majority of the summer last year, and Horcoff is back for a week. We still do go back. Right now, I don’t have my
summer planned out, but I’m sure I’ll be back there for — if not the majority of the summer, I’ll be there here and there.
I still do follow it, and we have those rivalries with other
college guys and hearing all the major junior guys talk about how their time was, but we always say that nothing beats college.

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