PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Elias Pettersson had a tough season last year.
Now the Swedish NHL star reveals what went wrong.
– Basically it was like two different selves out there, he says in an interview on the Vancouver Canucks Twitter.
Last NHL season got Elias Pettersson a really tough start and not much was right for the Swedish forward star. One of the reasons was that the 23-year-old missed the pre-season camp due to protracted contract negotiations.
Tough time in the NHL
The second half of the NHL season would then be much better for the Swede who reached 68 points in 80 games for the Vancouver Canucks, which is his highest scoring record in the NHL so far.
Now Pettersson has stepped out onto the ice again for another NHL season and this time he hopes for a much better start than last year. After the first ice session, he met the press to talk about the expectations for the new season.
– Last season did not start in the way I had hoped. But I’ve grown from the experience and I’ve learned why it happened and then why I played much better in the second half of the season, he said in an interview on the Canucks’ official Twitter.
– I can still feel a little grateful that it happened. Because now I know how to get out of such a situation, if you know what I mean.
Elijah’s thoughts
Pettersson was also plagued by an ankle injury last season, but that wasn’t the only thing that was difficult. Even the pressure on himself took over and affected him negatively.
– The expectations for me were higher, which they should be. But I focused on the wrong things, on what others wanted to see of me instead of focusing on myself. I don’t have an exact answer to why it happened, but I think I’ve learned from it and I feel much better for this season, says the 23-year-old in the interview, which you can see in its entirety below.
Elias Pettersson has so far produced 221 points in 245 games for the Vancouver Canucks and enters his fifth NHL season after moving from the Växjö Lakers in 2018. Now he aims to take the last big step to reach the absolute top tier of scorers in the world’s best hockey league.
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