Player Discussion Elias Pettersson, Calder Trophy winner

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Chimpradamus

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Feb 16, 2006
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That EP40 isn't happy with his season and that he's working very hard to improve in areas most critical to achieve further success, is at this point just expected to hear. His assessment of his most critical weaknesses is also correct, since he's a smart player. The key part though is that he remains humble, he knows how privileged he is to play hockey as a job (before he arrived in the NHL, he already talked about hockey as his job and job = hard work) and he'll not allow his dream to slip if there is something he can do about it.

He's not a party goer, he's very serious about his hockey career, he's intelligent, a perfectionist, extremely talented, hard working and is very mature for his age. Any concerns about Pettersson handling his business is the last name on a check list for the Canucks and will probably be so for a long time. If anyone can avoid the famous rookie slump, it's this guy. I think he will improve his consistency, now when he knows what 82 games mean to your mind and body.

He kind of has the same mentality as Ingemar Stenmark, a world famous Swedish slalom skier in the 70s. During his whole career of domination, he said he was happy with two races in his whole career. In those two, he could ski without effort, every turn was made without struggle, all technique was perfect. Every other race was a struggle according to him. Same as Peter Forsberg, he was constantly unhappy about his performance in games where he had 2-3 assists. At best, you could get Forsberg to admit his game was "ok". As other stars of this mental caliber, Pettersson is also a player who loves technique. You always want the perfect game and only hard work, repetition and technique can take you there. And Pettersson has realized that for a long time now.

These kind of guys want to win, but they also want to win with as little effort as possible and do everything perfect. If I have any hopes for Pettersson's next season, it's that I hope his team gets better at giving him scoring chances. His shot is already world, world class.
 
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petrishriekandgo

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Mar 7, 2003
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That EP40 isn't happy with his season and that he's working very hard to improve in areas most critical to achieve further success, is at this point just expected to hear. His assessment of his most critical weaknesses is also correct, since he's a smart player. The key part though is that he remains humble, he knows how privileged he is to play hockey as a job (before he arrived in the NHL, he already talked about hockey as his job and job = hard work) and he'll not allow his dream to slip if there is something he can do about it.

He's not a party goer, he's very serious about his hockey career, he's intelligent, a perfectionist, extremely talented, hard working and is very mature for his age. Any concerns about Pettersson handling his business is the last name on a check list for the Canucks and will probably be so for a long time. If anyone can avoid the famous rookie slump, it's this guy. I think he will improve his consistency, now when he knows what 82 games mean to your mind and body.

He kind of has the same mentality as Ingemar Stenmark, a world famous Swedish slalom skier in the 70s. During his whole career of domination, he said he was happy with two races in his whole career. In those two, he could ski without effort, every turn was made without struggle, all technique was perfect. Every other race was a struggle according to him. Same as Peter Forsberg, he was constantly unhappy about his performance in games where he had 2-3 assists. At best, you could get Forsberg to admit his game was "ok". As other stars of this mental caliber, Pettersson is also a player who loves technique.

These kind of guys want to win, but they also want to win with as little effort as possible and do everything perfect. If I have any hopes for Pettersson's next season, it's that I hope his team gets better at giving him scoring chances. His shot is already world, world class.

Kids challenging for the Art Ross this season... he knows he's good but he has no idea how good he really is. Once he figures it out the NHL will be his be-atch.
 

Chimpradamus

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Kids challenging for the Art Ross this season... he knows he's good but he has no idea how good he really is. Once he figures it out the NHL will be his be-atch.
Honestly, I don't think he can win it, not even close. The team support isn't good enough and I still believe he needs a couple of more years before he will be a serious contender for the award. He has good chances to go above PPG or slightly around it, but in his current team enviroment he'll not break even 100 pts. It's a team game after all. While Boeser is a good winger, he's not the same class. Horvat, also being a very solid player and leader material, isn't exactly a Sakic kind of guy. After that, the leap is too big in terms of depth, still. The defense still lacks quality puck movement and mobilty.

If Pettersson and a veteran star like Gaudreau would switch places, I think he would have a chance, theoretically. But he cannot compete with guys like Kucherov and his unbelievable support in Tampa and McDavid is a tough nut to crack on any team. Give Pettersson a couple of years to get into an Art Ross conversation, he needs a stronger team around him, he needs to improve all his qualities for that and he needs to learn the grind.
 

petrishriekandgo

Why not us?
Mar 7, 2003
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Honestly, I don't think he can win it, not even close. The team support isn't good enough and I still believe he needs a couple of more years before he will be a serious contender for the award. He has good chances to go above PPG or slightly around it, but in his current team enviroment he'll not break even 100 pts. It's a team game after all. While Boeser is a good winger, he's not the same class. Horvat, also being a very solid player and leader material, isn't exactly a Sakic kind of guy. After that, the leap is too big in terms of depth, still. The defense still lacks quality puck movement and mobilty.

If Pettersson and a veteran star like Gaudreau would switch places, I think he would have a chance, theoretically. But he cannot compete with guys like Kucherov and his unbelievable support in Tampa and McDavid is a tough nut to crack on any team. Give Pettersson a couple of years to get into an Art Ross conversation, he needs a stronger team around him, he needs to improve all his qualities for that and he needs to learn the grind.

Don't agree... kid is an offensive machine on his own and is smart enough to make his own opportunities and finish them. (see offensive zone opposition D turnovers he causes every game). Watching him play for Vaxjo he was everywhere on the ice, reading the play 3 steps ahead of everyone else and capitalizing on it. He wasn't just hammering shots home, it was his deceptive offensive pressure game, his attack, his relentless pursuit of the puck all over the ice... he's more mature, physically more prepared and knows he can dominate NHL games. With Hughes/Meyers moving the puck and Miller/Ferland/Benn/Meyers etc. getting him more space/respect on the ice...

Kid is going to be ridiculously dangerous this season and should crest 100pts especially with that loaded top PP unit.
 
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Chimpradamus

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Swedish journalists visit Pettersson during the summer season. I'm way too lazy to translate it all, so I only give the best parts.
Around Sweden some of the best hockey players in the world recharges for another season. But what do they actually do during the summer?
Zibanejad: DJ
Klingberg: "I have some kind of letter combination."
Klingberg: "When I take a crap, it airs out directly [with this window]."
Journalist: "But when you take a hockey trip in Sweden, you almost always end up in the north of Sweden, this time it's in Sundsvall and Elias Pettersson."

00:44
Reporter rings the door frenetically
[P] Pettersson responds: "But caalm..."
[J] Journalist: "Let's see how you live."
P: Yeah. Here's the most boring, a cleaning corner and a bathroom.

01:08
J (on the balcony): "But it's nice you can go out directly from the shower naked, out here."
P: "Yes. If you're not shy, you can honk and drive [Swedish expression]."
P: "The kitchen, very open."
J: "Very nice view, especially makes it even better when you do the dishes."
P: "I have a washing machine, so..."
P: "I like my clothes, a quite adequate order."
J: "During a burglary, this is where you start. Why do you have so much clothes?"
P: "I like clothes to some extent. At the start, I was chocked how much money you got [playing in the NHL]. I got a frenzy and shopped, but then I calmed down, so..."

02:06 Showing the jerseys and awards
P: "At one part it's fun for me, at one part it's fun for all my buddies to watch all my jerseys. They appreciate it."
P: "You only need to film these two [covers all but the gold medals], the others... [sighs]"
P: "The biggest individual award hasn't come yet."
P: "No... the biggest team award I've won is the World Championship."

03:18 - Looking at his own train yard (a wrecked side of a barn)
P: "There was some damage done to the window, the net was broken, before my dad fixed it there were holes. There's been some broken flower pots, eeh..."
J: "The funniest part of this picture is the photographer didn't have the energy to step out of the car, you can see the side mirror."
P: laughs

03:50 Pointing at team jerseys and prices
P: "You don't think about it every day yourself, but when buddies are here they remind you that you've done really well and that motivates me. It reminds me and motivates me."
J: "So you can go in here when it feels tough..."
P: "Well, not because I've done it alot so far... sure there has been some tough times in my hockey career... not that I can't say that either [with a straight face]."
J: "It has been quite alright."
P: "It has been quite alright."
P: "I want more. I want more."

04:22 Bedroom:
Pettersson has a scorpio sign he intends to hang up. His star sign is a scorpio.

04:43 Balcony:
Journalist complements Pettersson's huge balcony and that he has a balcony sight from practically every room and that his balcony feels bigger than his apartment. P admits he likes being out there. P admits he doesn't like fishing and no, he doesn't fish from his balcony.

05:04
J finds a wrecked TV stand that failed to remain in the plaster wall, hidden on the balcony.
J: "What has happened here then?"
P: "But... don't show that now...
J: "What have you done?"
P: "But ffs... it should be sitting in the wall..."
J: "It looks like it once was put in the wall."
P: "Yeah, once it did, but the wall couldn't handle it, so, yeah..."
J: "But it wasn't you who assembled this?"
P: "Naaw, it wasn't me. otherwise it would have remained in the wall. But I'm not a rat, so I won't reveal whom it was."

05:30
J: "So what kind of training do you do when you're not on the ice then?"
P: "Ehm, alot of gym."
J: "But I can see that."
P mutters jokingly: "But get a hold of yourself!" (not satisfied, feeling he's not buffed)
Both laugh.
P: "But otherwise, soo, I play ball sports like golf, tennis, paddling and badminton as well, that I have an interest for.
J: "It's not common to hear athletes liking badminton."
P: "I didn't either until this summer until a friend challenged me, that plays badminton. After I played a game I got stuck in it, because part I think it's very fun to play, part it's a good exercise."
J: "Are you any good?"
P: "Quite alright."

J and P challenges eachother to a challenge. Whoever loses the game, gives the phone to the other guy and they can write any comment they want on social media. P explains he's very bad at losing, but he's gotten better at handling it lately. Still, he hates losing.

07:00
J complains P:s racket is of a better quality than his and excuses himself that P might win because he has better equipment. P gives his racket to J. P cruches J.
08:40
P analyzes the defeat of J. "What can you say? You don't feel the court, it's an away court..." and he admits his racket is tougher to play with, since it's lighter.
Trashing the J on instagram:
J: "Please just don't message the wifey."
both laugh
P: "I have alot of power now." He will comment on a T-shirt and why he doesn't choose a slim fit, since it's getting so much looser.
09:28
P: "You look tired."
J shrugs: "I'm absolutely soaked. I will never again taunt a badminton player."

J: "But the next season, how does it feel?"
P: "Well, it feels good, kind of, I hope to improve my season, that's what I'm training for and I want more, all the time. I'm never satisfied, so..."
lights out
 
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Chimpradamus

Registered User
Feb 16, 2006
16,634
5,249
Northern Sweden
Don't agree... kid is an offensive machine on his own and is smart enough to make his own opportunities and finish them. (see offensive zone opposition D turnovers he causes every game). Watching him play for Vaxjo he was everywhere on the ice, reading the play 3 steps ahead of everyone else and capitalizing on it. He wasn't just hammering shots home, it was his deceptive offensive pressure game, his attack, his relentless pursuit of the puck all over the ice... he's more mature, physically more prepared and knows he can dominate NHL games. With Hughes/Meyers moving the puck and Miller/Ferland/Benn/Meyers etc. getting him more space/respect on the ice...

Kid is going to be ridiculously dangerous this season and should crest 100pts especially with that loaded top PP unit.
I don't question his ability, I question the support. I hope you're right, there's no question about that, lol. I don't know at this point if I'm a classic Swedish pessimist or a realist, but my conclusions are seldom over the top. I got alot of flack describing Pettersson as the Swedish Gretzky, which of course was highly controversial. All I meant was his style is extremely technical and intelligent. I don't think any Canuck fan hasn't seen those are his true strengths.

If Elias could reach the next level so quickly, he will blow my mind for a second time. I didn't believe someone so physically weak could do what he did in the NHL, in his first season. I didn't believe he could make an impact so quickly because of his physicality, but he proved me wrong and that made me so happy. I like being proven wrong, because then I can improve my perception of reality.

Pettersson and Karlsson (SJ) are my biggest pinpoints this season, because I love how both play (goalies are kind of boring nowadays). I'm a teamless fan, but I still keep up with the teams of the players I follow. No, it's not only because both are Swedish, it's their entire approach and how they play the game (that they caught my eye so early is because they're Swedish). The former two are Forsberg and Lundqvist. Lundqvist made me cheer for the Rangers for over a decade, even though I objectively still believe the organization is garbage. Now I'm not really a Rangers fan, I'm a NHL lurker that loves hockey and specific players.

I don't think Pettersson has a chance to win the Art Ross. But if he does, he will blow my mind, because I consider it just as impossible as him having this impact with that frawny frame.
 
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VanJack

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Jul 11, 2014
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Pettersson is a driven player, who's uber-determined to do whatever it takes to be the best he can be. Those are the kind of guys who make it to the top of the mountain. From all reports, when Gretzky was winning all those scoring titles he was first guy on the ice and the last to leave.

It's talent that gets you into the league in the first place, but it's a relentless determination to continuously get better that determines how far you go. The only thing that could hold Pettersson back would be the inevitable injury bug. Just praying he's immune to it.
 

Hit the post

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Oct 1, 2015
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Pettersson is a driven player, who's uber-determined to do whatever it takes to be the best he can be. Those are the kind of guys who make it to the top of the mountain. From all reports, when Gretzky was winning all those scoring titles he was first guy on the ice and the last to leave.
Gretzky would've also won zero cups had not Sather been able to surround him with the proper supporting cast. Just look at how many cups a peak/top of his form Gretzky won as a LA King.
 

PavelBure10

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Aug 25, 2009
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I haven't looked forward to a upcoming Canucks season like this in many years. I'm always generally excited for a new season to begin, but Pettersson has me really pumped. Pettersson is just a treat to watch, he had me standing on my feet many times last season. Probably the most exciting Canuck since Bure. Hopefully the added muscle keeps him from being an easy target.

With Pettersson, Boeser, Horvat, Hughes, Demko, and hopefully Gaudette. This years team "win or lose", should be a treat to watch.
 

CpatainCanuck

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Sep 18, 2008
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Gretzky would've also won zero cups had not Sather been able to surround him with the proper supporting cast. Just look at how many cups a peak/top of his form Gretzky won as a LA King.

Obviously a good supporting cast is necessary to win the cup, but Gretzky was past his peak as an LA King, even if during his first two or three years there he was still arguably the best player in the nhl.
 

CpatainCanuck

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Sep 18, 2008
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He looks a lot fitter. I swear to christ if he has lost his foot speed because of that though

I would doubt he would lose any speed. When you're 6'2" anything under 190 lbs is still pretty lean. Jack Eichel is 6'2" and 200lbs. Sidney Crosby is 5'11" and 200lbs.
 

BenningHurtsMySoul

Unfair Huggy Bear
Mar 18, 2008
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Port Coquitlam, BC
He may legitimately be a top 5-10 player in the entire NHL by the end of this coming season.

Adding weight and strength is huge for his development. His biggest weakness was being pushed around. With Ferland on his line and another 20lbs of weight on his frame, he is poised to have a dominant season.

I’m expecting 90+ points if he stays healthy.
 

logan5

Registered User
May 24, 2011
5,953
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Vancouver - Mt. Pleasant
Is that the same shirt he wearing? Looks tighter on him in the second picture. Or maybe same shirt in smaller size? lol. So what's he tipping the scales at now, about 180?
 

Jimnastic

Canucks Diehard
Nov 13, 2017
451
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Sydney
A tighter hollow basically makes the skates "sharper," while a flatter hollow will bite less, and glide better.
I haven't played for a few years, but I would say that rocker, both the curvature and whether it is a forward or back rocker makes a much bigger impact on how a skate feels. If you have a short rocker you can turn on a dime, but you have less stability and grip on push off.
 
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