Panthers celebrate Petry’s 1,000th NHL game 

Jeff Petry celebrated his journey to 1,000 NHL games with a little bit of help from his sons.

The Florida Panthers honored the veteran defenseman's career milestone with a special ceremony before their game against the New Jersey Devils at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.

Petry’s wife, Julie, and their four sons, Boyd, Barrett, Bowen and Blake joined him on the ice for the ceremony. His sons each wore jerseys from the four other teams the defenseman has played for —Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings – in age order.

Panthers general manager Bill Zito presented Petry with the commemorative silver stick. The team gifted all four Petry boys their own miniature versions of the sticks.

Video messages from Petry’s current and former teammates congratulating the defenseman on the career accomplishment aired on the arena video board.

“Congrats on 1,000 games, unbelievable accomplishment,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said in a clip. “I look up to you as a teammate, as a person, as a father and a husband. I want to also say congrats to Julie and the boys. You guys mean a lot to me and my family and I know you are a huge part of Jeff’s success. Petey congrats, enjoy it, enjoy a nice glass of red.”

Before the game, the Panthers sported custom T-shirts in honor of the veteran defenseman as they arrived at the arena.

During warmups, each player wore Petry’s No. 2 on the back of their jerseys.

On Monday, Petry played in his 1,000^th NHL game when the team played the Vancouver Canucks.

Petry is in his 16^th NHL season and first with the Panthers. He was drafted by the Oilers in the second round (45^th overall) of the 2006 NHL and played with the team from 2010-2015. He played for the Canadiens from 2015-22, the Penguins from 2022-23 and the Red Wings from 2023-25.