Jeff Petry talks new contract, upcoming season with Oilers at MSU Pro Camp

 

 

By Nick Barnowski –

EAST LANSING – After a long offseason, Edmonton Oilers defenseman Jeff Petry is back home in Michigan.

The Ann Arbor native is skating in this week’s Michigan State hockey pro camp, held at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.

The annual camp – led by MSU assistant coach Tom Newton – gives former Spartans the opportunity to come back to campus and prepare for their respective training camps.

“It’s always good to come back here and get a couple of days of drills and scrimmages,” said Petry, who played for MSU from 2007-2010. “It’s nice to come back to campus and see the changes and see guys you played with or guys who’ve been around before you and after you.”

Petry is one of about 20 former Spartan hockey players to participate in the camp. The players come from a variety of leagues, including 11 who played in the NHL last season.

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The skates generally consist of 50 minutes of drills followed by scrimmages. For many of the players there, the pro camp is the first real sign that the new season is around the corner.

“I started skating in the beginning of July just a couple of times a week,” the 26-year-old said. “But in the last couple of weeks I’ve been really picking up the drills and ramping it up to get ready for [Oilers training] camp.

“It’s definitely the first time that you’re going to have some real structure to a practice and it feels like a real practice. It’s nice to come back to.”

 

Petry, who played high school hockey with Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, signed a one-year deal to stay with the Oilers during the offseason and returns as the longest tenured member of the Edmonton defense.

“It was something both sides agreed to and I’m happy to go back,” said Petry, who played in 80 games last season and had 17 points. “I think we made some good additions in the offseason and I’m excited to get back up there.”

Petry and the Oilers will head into training camp with a goal to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

The Oilers finished last in the Pacific Division in 2013-14 with 67 points, but Petry said there was moments where he felt the team could play at a higher level.

“We have a good, young group that has developed over the years,” he said. “I think we grew last year and showed some bits and pieces of when we can be really good and I think it’s just a matter of getting that experience and showing that game the majority of the time.

“We need to have that mindset coming into January or February where we’re still in the race and not out of it.”

Petry knows that skating at MSU this week is just the start of what he said will be a more focused 2014-15 season.

“I had some times last year where I had some off nights and I want to limit those nights and just play a more consistent game,” he said. “When I feel good is when I’m really on so I want to really focus on making sure that I have those nights a lot more often than the bad nights.”