Before They Were Bulldogs: Andy Petersmark

Before the players of our six Adrian College hockey teams were the players that they are today, they were youth hockey players with big dreams and high aspirations. Before they were the inspirations of various kids in the Adrian area, they were being inspired by players from various college and pro teams from where they grew up. Before the season begins once again, let’s take a look at who some of these players were Before They Were Bulldogs.

Andy Petersmark will be a junior here at Adrian this fall and is majoring in sports management. Petersmark has played the first two seasons with the ACHA DIII Black team and wore an “A” last season. But before he was a Bulldog, he was a fanatic fan of the Michigan State Spartans, where he would go to games with his grandfather, whom he says influenced his hockey career the most.

“My grandfather, Robert Holden, influenced my hockey career the most. He was the one who introduced me to the game. My papa was a sports fanatic and that rubbed off on me. He took me to my first skating lesson, signed me up for Learn to Play, and drove me around to my games when my parents couldn't. Even if he would accidentally show up to my games an hour late, Papa was the most influential person in my life, especially my hockey career,” says Petersmark.

It was players like former Michigan State Spartan and current Red Wing Justin Abdelkader that inspired Petersmark to play hockey as well, beginning at the age of seven.

“I wanted to play hockey because I grew up at Munn Ice Arena. I began going to Michigan State Hockey games with my grandfather when I was the age of 6. I fell in love with the game right there. My dream was to play for State once I grew up,” says Petersmark, “My favorite hockey player growing up was Justin Abdelkader. I followed him through his years at Michigan State and now the Red Wings. I always fantasized the way he played and the impact he had on the ice.”

“I played travel hockey during my Squirt and Peewee years for the Lansing Capitals, before playing one year of Bantam A in Jackson, MI,” said Petersmark, who grew up in the Jackson/Lansing area.

“Leading up to High School at East Lansing, I played one year of AAA for the Lansing Capitals in the NAPHL. Sophomore through Senior year I played for my high school team, the Eastside Stars in the Capital Area Athletics Conference. It was the most fun three years of hockey I have ever played”

Petersmark at 13 playing for Jackson Generals Travel Hockey

But the most memorable moment in his hockey career, Petersmark says, was in his senior year of high school.

“My most memorable hockey moment of my career came in Strongsville, Ohio,” he says, “It was my senior year and we were playing in a tournament over MLK weekend. Our team went 4-0 and I scored the game winning goal with five minutes left in the championship game, for a 2-1 win. It was the first time in program history that we won the tourney.”

But with anybody’s career as a hockey player, whether it be college or youth hockey, there are moments we wish could do over.

“It was the championship game of a Bantam A tournament in Kalamazoo. There was two minutes left, tied 1-1, and I rang a shot off the post. The other team skated down the ice and ended up scoring with no time on the clock, winning the game and the tournament. I wish I could have been able to score that goal with two minutes left...little did I know, that would end up being the first of 6 second place trophies during the year.”

As far as being a Bulldog, Petersmark says it was the small campus and the stellar hockey program.

“I chose Adrian because of the small campus feel, the student to faculty ratio, and of course the hockey program. Before my freshman year, the D3 team won back-to-back-to-back national championships. I wanted to be apart of that and I believed I would be a good fit at Adrian College. Also, the benefit of having a rink on campus, such as Arrington, is something that every hockey player dreams of.”

And of his abilities on the ice and as a leader? Coach Kevin Sunde had praise for Petersmark after his sophomore campaign.

“I was very happy with the leadership of all the captains (Burns, Gibbs, and Petersmark) and veteran players, thought we had a number of freshmen that took charge in their first year as well as many sophomores that showed a ton of improvement.”

Petersmark and the Black squad open their season on Thursday, October 6th against Indiana Tech.