Petrie, Andrew (Frij)

BORN JULY 28TH, 1968 in Greenock Scotland Great Britain, the son of Jacqueline and Samuel, the family immigrated to Australia on New Year's Day 1974, but was diverted from Darwin due to Cyclone Tracy. Instead, he settled in Dandenong, a South-Eastern suburb of Melbourne, and attended ice hockey clinics from 1977, the year the Dandenong Colosseum rink opened. His mother was an Ice-Dancer and his younger sister, Laura, became Junior Figure Skating Champion and represented Australia overseas in the 1980s. He first played with the Dandenong Blackhawks that same year where his coaches included Jimmy Smith, Steve Duncan and Peter South.

He represented Victoria in the Tange Trophy (U18) from about 1980 for every year he was eligible; Adelaide, Narrabeen, the Gold Coast, and Dandenong where he won MVP. He played for his state in the Brown Trophy (U23) from about 1982 onward, the first year at Narrabeen with the Rice brothers, John Jugum and Glenn Lynch. A state Brown captain once, he represented two States for the Goodall Cup on numerous occasions on-and-off from about the late-1980s onward, without ever winning the trophy as a player. He represented Australia on the first three National Youth Teams (U18) — Japan ('84), Korea ('85), Adelaide ('86) — and credits Coach John Botterill as significant in his early development.

He remained with the Blackhawks until 1984, then again from 1986 until about 1992, under coaches Charlie Grandy and Scott Davidson. In 1984-5, he was Midget Representative at the Vancouver Recreation Centre, BC, Canada. In 1994-5, he again lived in Canada for 18 months and played for the Esquimalt Rangers in the VHL on Vancouver Island, a senior men's league which included teams from the Navy, Police and Fire, all with lots of talent. He played his highest level of hockey there in an Invitational Men’s tournament in Chilliwack which drew teams from all over Western Canada. Back home in 1997, he scored 21 goals 16 assists for the Oakleigh Demons, beating the Blackhawks for the A-grade title.

In late-1997, he moved to Sydney and played for the Blacktown Bullets and the West Sydney Ice Dogs from 1998, before retiring from the AIHL in 2003. "Having played for Victorian State teams in many bitter VIC v NSW games over the years," he said at the time, "it was difficult to pull that NSW Jersey on for the first game of Goodall in '98. But that first season of club hockey up here with the Blacktown Bullets was an awesome experience. If I were to be honest I'd have to say that the ice league in Sydney was much more competitive than that in Melbourne. Faster, bigger teams, far more imports and more depth on teams all contributed to make that season my favourite of all I've played in Australia.

"We had a good team of guys who loved playing and partying together. It was fun to be part of. And we won it. In terms of talent, the truth is that both States are fortunate to have a lot of good senior players who get involved in coaching, and a lot of juniors with enough raw talent to be able to benefit from that senior involvement." [4]

In the late-90s, he captained Australian inline hockey teams, having begun the sport in 1998. He also coached the NSW women's team in the McKowen Trophy. In the early 2000s, he was player-coach of the Warringah Bombers for a season in one last, ill-fated attempt to resurrect the Club in the NSW state league. He came out of retirement in 2006 to play 11 games for the Central Coast Rhinos in the AIHL under Dion Dunwoodie, before retiring permanently from playing. He averaged 1.6 points a game for the Rhinos.

A coach of the Blackhawks at both junior and senior levels and one or two Tange Trophy (U18) teams, in Sydney he coached the Blacktown Bullets Junior men’s team, and also Inline Hockey teams during the boom (1996 to 2001). In 2014, he was appointed Head Coach of the AIHL Sydney Ice Dogs after a win and 5 losses. The team recovered well, winning 15 of the remaining 22 games to make the playoffs, but losing a close semi-final to the eventual Champion, the Melbourne Mustangs.

In 2015, he was appointed Coach of the Newcastle North Stars and went on to win the Minor Premiership and the Goodall Cup, setting Club records for wins, goals scored in a season, and total points. It was Newcastle's first title since 2008 and he helped successfully defend it, winning a back-to-back Championship in 2016. His AIHL win percentage over the 4 seasons was 53 percent from 106 games. In July 2017, he was appointed Head Coach of Australia’s National Junior Men’s programme for 3 years. His first Junior World Championship is in Sofia, Bulgaria, where the goal is to win a Gold Medal and promotion.

At the end of the 2017 season, he left the Northstars when the club decided to share the coaching duties. He was later appointed Head Coach of the AIHL Sydney Ice Dogs. He has played summer hockey for the Warringah Bombers and he played for the Sydney Hammerheads in Hong Kong in 2013 and in Thailand at the "City of Smiles" Over-35 tournament in 2014. Married to Kirsten since 2006, they are raising a daughter Ealasaidh (“Ella-say”), 8, and son Archie, 3.