"It's fun": Canucks' Pettersson explains why he loves hitting
What can’t Elias Pettersson do? The Vancouver Canucks forward is not only scoring at a career-high pace, but he’s also “laying guys out,” as he put it to the media after Tuesday’s 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
The Swedish centreman has been more engaged physically this year than in previous seasons. He has 30 hits in 23 games, good for a pace of 106 over a full season. His career high at the moment is 74 hits, and he’s never averaged more than one hit per game.
After commonly being listed at 161 pounds during his draft season, the official NHL website now lists Pettersson as 176 pounds. He’s done an impressive job at adding muscle to his frame, and it’s helped unlock a new dimension to his game.
“It’s fun. I wish I was a little heavier earlier in my career,” the star player said to the media last night when talking about hitting opponents. “Sometimes I get pretty mad out there, I want to throw hits.”
āIf I see I can hit, Iāll always try hits. Iām just trying to play hard and play hard for the team.ā
š£ Elias Pettersson speaks on playing more physical following the win over Anaheim.@theprovince | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/0JOXIc42bC
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 29, 2023
Pettersson’s willingness to play the body has not gone unnoticed. Head coach Rick Tocchet was asked about the forward’s increased frequency of big collisions and gave a huge compliment.
“There’s an art to do it. I used to love to hit, but somehow he’s better than me the way he does it. I don’t know how he does it, but he surprises people, and they’re 10-bell hits, there’s been about three or four of them in the last couple weeks.”
That’s no small statement, considering that Tocchet was a physical force as a player. While they didn’t keep track of hits during the new coach’s playing days, he finished his NHL career with nearly 3,000 penalty minutes.
“It’s good. A guy like that, he takes a physical beating,” the head coach said about the assistant captain after last night’s win. “Every once in a while, it’s nice to have a guy like that, a star guy, surprise the other team because it keeps the other guys’ heads up too.”
āHeās a top goalie in the league…Gives ourselves a chance when weāre not on our game. Heās just a mountain out there.ā
š£ Coach Tocchet highlights the play of Demko, provides updates on Mikheyev, shares thoughts on the trade, and more.@theprovince | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/tQvb3DEPB8
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 29, 2023
Tocchet will be happy to know that if you take the star player’s word for it, those surprises are not going anywhere soon.
“If I see I can hit, I’ll always try hits. I’m just trying to play hard and play hard for the team,” Pettersson said.