MONTREAL - One person who wasn't at all surprised by Jeff Petry's 102 mph blast on Sunday was strength coach Dan Mozes.

The former NFLer and NCAA star, who has trained Petry at Barwis Performance Center in Plymouth, MI for years, has experienced the sheer power of the Canadiens' defenseman's howitzer first-hand on more than one occasion.

"I've seen him smack pucks at the glass when we're training on-ice and I could see the speed behind his slap shot. It scares the hell out of me every time he does it," said Mozes with a laugh. "I swear, one of those times when I'm bringing equipment around for our speed and agility drills, that glass is going to shatter."

Video: Petry, Weber + more compete in Hardest Shot

There's a lot that goes into Petry being able to shoot a puck with such wicked velocity. Rivaling the likes of captain Shea Weber in that department during the Canadiens Skills Competition presented by RONA isn't just a coincidence.

"He's a genetic freak," said Mozes, before expanding upon some of Petry's unique traits at 6-foot-3. "With the long levers he has, you never see a guy Jeff's height being able to do a power clean [movement] that fast. He pulls things astronomically as fast as everyone else. Guys who are shorter and have a short range of motion should have a lot more power. But, Jeff has more power than most of those guys, which correlates to that 102 on the ice."

Petry's work ethic in the gym is also second-to-none, according to Mozes, which only helps his cause development-wise.

"If we have training sessions at seven o'clock in the morning, he's there at 6:15 or 6:30 doing things to make sure that his body is adjusted and acclimated. That's every single day that we're there," praised Mozes. "He wants to be great. He doesn't want to be mediocre by any means. He's one of those people who comes in and gets the work done. He's a leader at our facility."

It shouldn't come as a shock, then, that the 31-year-old blueliner is equally serious at the rink.

"He's a competitor. If he doesn't do something perfect on the ice, he shows that. He'll smash his stick. I've seen so many broken sticks by Jeff, it's amazing. We take them all back to the center and we hang them up," attested Mozes. "This is in the middle of June and July. He takes a lot of pride in what he does. He wants to be better than you are, better than he is, and push himself to a new level. The competitor in him is what makes him great."

According to Mozes, the Michigan State University grad has also stepped up his fitness game since departing for Montreal last summer.

"He's very proactive this year, more so than in the past. He sees the overall benefits of that," mentioned Mozes, who has received numerous e-mails from the Habs' No. 26 inquiring about in-season workout programs. "He realizes that "plateau" is not really a word, whether it be from on-the-ice training or off-the-ice training. It's one of those things where you're going to follow a certain protocol and make sure that you know your body and make sure that you get better throughout the season so you don't hit that wall."

So far, so good, obviously. Petry ranks fourth on the roster - and first among Canadiens defenseman - with 34 points through 50 games.

He also ranks second on the squad by averaging 23:37 of ice time per outing.

"He's a very dedicated person to making sure that he has success on the ice," described Mozes. "He does it for his family. He does it to have a legacy behind his name and carry on that Petry name."

A good omen?

There's a tradition at the Southeast Michigan-based facility that takes place just as athletes wrap up their offseason training programs.

They try to toss their workout shoes onto a ceiling beam in order to commemorate time spent honing their craft with the Barwis staff.

It just so happened that Petry made it happen on the first try back in August, which Mozes believes was an indicator that more success was on the horizon.

"That was one of the first times he did it," concluded Mozes jokingly. "That was a sign of good things to come."