For 24 year-old forward Hugo Petit, who’s in his first season with the team, the transition from U.S. college to Senior hockey has been a smooth one so far. Having scored two goals in as many games, he’s quite optimistic that he can help the team achieve great heights this season.

Admittedly surprised by the high quality of skill throughout the league, it allows him to still play the game he loves competitively at a high level with a group of great players.

“The speed of the game and everything, there are some really great players in that league and it is fun hockey to play, and it must be fun hockey to watch because it’s really open too,” he said. “We’re lucky to play with some guys who’ve got some really good hockey under their belt. So, we can really learn from these guys.”

While he wasn’t certain about the league’s seriousness when he first joined the team, he knows that, while most of the players have full-time jobs and other things to do, the league is filled with highly talented players who are very hungry to win.

From the support of local fans, to the veteran players leading the team, Petit has really enjoyed his time with the Comets so far.

“Really great support from the community,” he said. “I know they’re happy to have a team there.”

Now, playing with much older players than he’s used to, Petit finds comfort in knowing he has experienced players like defenseman David Foucher, David Croteau and captain Darcy Findlay to lead the way for the rest of the group.

“I think it’s actually a good thing to have them,” he said. “They’re well-seasoned guys that to win games. wWe can really bank on their experience. The main thing for me is that I was really happy that they were there.”

An offensive minded player with silky mitts and high hockey IQ, Petit specializes in beating his opponents with his speed and his offensive creativity.

“That was always what stuck out when I talked to my coaches growing up and even still now,” he said. “I know [Coach Lavergne] says that – I’m relied on mostly for my offensive touch.”

Born and raised in Chelsea, Que., Petit played most of his minor hockey in La Pêche, before leaving home at age 17 to attend the Canadian International Hockey Academy (CIHA) in Rockland, Ont. where he attended high school and played Midget AAA for one year.

But as a youngster, he mostly struggled to make competitive teams. A late bloomer, Petit had never played at the highest levels of his age group, until he attended a spring showcase at CIHA. Not expecting much from it, he just wanted to know if he could keep up with the elite players of the region.

After showing flashes of dynamic speed and offensive ability, he was one of the few players selected from the showcase onto the school’s Midget AAA team.

“It was the first chance that I had to play good hockey,” he said. “All my minor hockey I was kind of a late bloomer so I never played AA or Bantam AAA or anything like that.”

For the next year, Petit lived at the academy on a full-time basis, sleeping in dorm rooms, attending classes and hitting the ice every single day along with world-class coaches. Petit credits his time at CIHA as having had a significant impact on his development as a player and a person.

“It was an unreal experience,” he said. “I’d go back anytime.”

For Petit, one of the biggest benefits of playing at CIHA was the level of exposure he had to scouts from one of the most well-reputed junior leagues in the country, the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL).

After a successful stint at CIHA, finishing second in scoring with the program; notching 18 goals and 34 points in 28 games, Petit’s hard work paid off when he got drafted with the seventh overall selection in 2013 CCHL draft.

After signing his first contract with the Brockville Braves, he admitted that it released a large amount of stress regarding his hockey future.

“That was kind of a weight off my shoulders because I knew exactly what was going to happen after my Midget AAA year,” he said.

But, the next four years proved to be difficult, as Petit struggled to find a role in a league that prioritized a simplified, rugged, shut-down style of hockey – the antithesis of what he thrived in. Transitioning from playing top minutes in Midget AAA to barely sniffing the ice every game admittedly wasn’t easy for him.

“When you come in as a young guy, you’re a top guy in Midget AAA and when you get to junior, you’re a fourth liner seeing five minutes per game,” he said. “When you’re a skills guy, five minutes per game, you can’t do much. So, I struggled a bit and bounced around. It was hard to really find my groove.”

After bouncing around the league in his first few years, he ended up with the Kanata Lasers coached by Findlay. After another tough year, sick of constantly changing addresses and struggling to establish himself on a team, Petit returned home.

“We didn’t really win much,” he said. “It wasn’t the best atmosphere in that league and I was kind of over the whole getting traded and everything. So, I decided to part ways with them.”

Then, he joined the Gatineau Flames of the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League (QJAAAHL). Known as one of the most offensive junior leagues in Canada, boasting a more open, high-flying offensive style of play, the league was tailor-made for Petit’s abilities, allowing him to flourish.

After returning from a back surgery in the best shape of his life, he put up an impressive 70 points in 55 games, which earned him a few looks from scouts of professional teams from across the Atlantic.

He also received numerous offers from American colleges, mostly schools in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) and others in the Boston area. But after visiting the Buffalo State University (BSU) campus and enjoying his time there, Petit signed his letter of intent on route to a four-year business degree and officially became a Bengal.

Regarded as one of the best programs in one of the top conferences in NCAA D-III hockey, joining the BSU Bengals over any other program was a no-brainer, Petit said.

“It is and was one of the top programs in D-III,” he said. “They do well. We finished second or third the three years I was there. We made the playoffs and lost in the semis of the SUNYAC.”

In his freshman year, his introduction to new systems, coaches and teammates, proved difficult. Again, it wasn’t exactly his style of hockey. Plus, slotted behind Juniors and Seniors who were three to four years older than he was, it was hard to get any looks or trust from the coaching staff.

But following his first year, he found some offensive success and with that his confidence soared. In his sophomore season with the Bengals he put up 14 points in 26 games, which made him primed for even better numbers the following year.

However, during a game last December, Petit broke his hand, which required major surgery on his thumb. That unfortunately cut his junior season with the Bengals short, limiting him to only seven games.

While it didn’t end in the way he had envisioned, Petit’s experience as a student-athlete in upstate New York was filled with tons of great memories on and off the ice. From the heated SUNYAC playoff matchups to experiencing the hostile atmosphere of Buffalo Bills home games, his time living south of the border will be something that he’ll cherish forever.

“We had a lot of fun on and off the ice,” he said. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I look back fondly for sure.”

Although, he was four classes away from attaining his degree, Petit dreaded the thought of watching his teammates hit the ice without him. So, instead of going back to school, he stayed home at Christmas, applied to law school and essentially called it a career.

“I would’ve been pretty much bored and just over it,” he said. So, I just stayed home in December and then I thought that was it pretty much for hockey.”

Away from the game for nearly three months, the game he loved came calling back, when Comets head coach Jean-Francois Lavergne reached out to him during the summer regarding the prospect of playing Senior hockey in either Chelsea or Fort Coulonge.

Aware of Lavergne’s reputation as a bench-boss, Petit was interested. The only question for him was whether or not he could still play at a high level.

As a fiery competitor, the last thing he wanted was to play below his level of expectation.

“I want to keep playing hockey for as long as I can at the level that I know I can play,” he said. “If I can’t play at that level I’m not interested. I’m a very competitive guy so if I’m not performing or helping the team it’s not worth it for me.”

After a successful training camp, he decided to give it a go and so far, he’s enjoyed almost every bit of it, especially being around such a great group of guys.

Plus, having played under Findlay as his head coach with the Kanata Lasers in the CCHL, Petit was comforted with the familiarity he shared with some of the players.

Back living with his parents in Chelsea, Que., the 24-year-old is currently in his first semester of a three-year law degree at the University of Ottawa. He’s also four classes away from finishing his four-year business degree from Buffalo State University.

While he knows the road ahead won’t be easy, he hopes to eventually become a criminal attorney or a corporate lawyer to make the most of his business degree.

“It’s really challenging,” he said. “But anything that’s hard to do is better when you accomplish it. So, so far so good.”

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