PHOTO: TT News Agency
Elias Pettersson has only managed one goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
And therefore met with stinging criticism from his own coach Rick Tocchet.
Now the NHL Swede hits back against the harsh words.
During the regular season, the Swedish NHL star responded Elias Pettersson for his second-best season ever in his career. By delivering a whopping 34 goals and a total of 89 points in 82 games for the Vancouver Canucks.
Criticism of Elias
But in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the 25-year-old has not gotten it off at all and only managed to reach four points in ten games. The most remarkable thing is that Pettersson only scored a single goal.
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Recently, the Canucks star received stinging criticism from his own coach Rick Tocchet who called Elias a “passenger” in the playoffs.
– We can’t have five, six guys who are passengers during the playoffs. We have to get them going, they have to understand that the playoffs have started now. It’s not enough for twelve players to win the games for us, said Tocchet after Tuesday’s loss.
The Vancouver coach was clear that he was talking about Pettersson in his criticism, among other things.
– He needs to get started for the sake of the team. I am aware that his chain mates didn’t give him anything either, but he is so good that he should be able to create chances on his own too, he added.
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Now Elias Pettersson addresses the criticism and gives his own view of the situation in the NHL, see the video below.
– I have heard his message to the team that we all need to play better. I’m trying and I really want to get better. I want to be a player who makes the difference, that’s how it always has been, says “EP40” to the assembled journalists during a press conference.
READ MORE: Erik Karlsson’s heartbreaking words in the middle of the hockey World Cup – now say what everyone feels deep down: “It’s a shame”
“It’s been tough”
Pettersson then gets a question about why there haven’t been more points in the playoffs from his club shaft, see the video below.
– A good question. I don’t have an easy answer. I will do everything to raise my game. I like challenges and I think I’ve met them over the years, but this has been tough, he told the media on site.
It is currently 2-2 between the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers in the quarter-final series. Now Elias Pettersson can get new chain mates to start scoring again, where both compatriots Nils Höglander and Jonathan Lekkerimäki are mentioned as possible alternatives.
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