Pettersson defends Canucks' J.T. Miller from people who want to "sh*t" on him

Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson has many things: an elite shot, impressive skating skills, and, apparently, a potty mouth.

Speaking to Sportsnet’s John Garrett and Scott Oake on After Hours following Vancouver’s 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night, Pettersson was asked about what he thought of Canucks teammate J.T. Miller.

“J.T. Miller off the ice, grumpy gus or big ol’ softy?” Oake asked Petterrsson, originally contributed by Twitter user @RealSteveDanger.

JT Miller off the ice, grumpy gus or big ol' softy?

— Steve Danger (@RealSteveDanger) February 18, 2023

“I think a mix of both,” Pettersson said. “But it’s a guy who wants to do everything to win, he’s a great teammate.”

#Canucks Elias' Pettersson talking about J.T. Miller being a "grumpy gus or a big ol' softy?"

"It's a mix of both, he's a great teammate."

"Obviously there's people that, want to… 'shit' on a player.. I don't know if that's the right word… he only cares about winning." https://t.co/VTUtq8nCHM pic.twitter.com/IQWVXDKw5s

— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) February 19, 2023

“Obviously there’s people that want to, I don’t know, “shit” on a player… [I don’t know if that’s] the right word,” Pettersson added, before offering his apology for the curse.

“You can say that at this hour, no problem,” Oake quipped back at Pettersson.

Pettersson then continued in his defence of Miller.

“He’s a teammate that’s passionate, he only cares about winning. He plays with a lot of emotion and so does the rest of the group.”

At an interview conducted at NHL All-Star weekend, Pettersson told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek earlier this month about his working relationship with Miller.

“I mean, you’ve seen him on the ice,” Pettersson said. “He’s a skillful player… I don’t know if  ’emotional’ is the right word. I mean, he wants to win so bad and sometimes he maybe gets… too ‘hot-headed’… if that’s the right word, but he cares a lot and he just wants to win.”

“We’ve had our differences, maybe in some games, but I mean, he’s a teammate that I respect and yeah, he’s someone I like to play hockey with,” Pettersson added to Friedman and Marek. “Yeah, there’s a lot of speculation, obviously a lot, but he’s a teammate that I respect… it’s not an issue.”

You might also like:
• Teams are calling Canucks to inquire about J.T. Miller trade availability: report