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Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin is a master of surprises.

It wasn’t necessarily a surprise that he managed to get Jeff Petry’s signature on a contract — Petry told reporters last month that he was open to returning — but it was a surprise that he was able to sign Petry before the player had a chance to test the free-agent market.

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The way Petry told the story in a conference call Tuesday, he was hooked shortly after he joined the Canadiens from the Edmonton Oilers in a deadline deal.

“From the day I got there, to the playoffs, the environment at the Bell Centre, the players in the locker room and the organization just being first-class. It was a real eye-opener. It all played a big part in my ultimately signing the deal,” Petry said from his home in the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield.

Petry was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and he said that it was his intention to test the market when he signed a one-year deal with the Oilers last summer.