Canucks' Pettersson talks about being shy in Swedish boat interview

The boat ride was smooth, but the news that came out of it rocked Vancouver Canucks fans this summer.

Elliotte Friedman’s interview with Elias Pettersson on a boat in Stockholm, Sweden, which was recorded in August, finally aired on Hockey Night in Canada this weekend. This is the interview where Pettersson reveals that he’s “not in a rush to sign” with the Canucks, which has many people nervous about his wait-and-see approach.

But Pettersson did talk about other things, particularly in the extended version of the interview that Sportsnet dropped on YouTube.

One interesting tidbit that didn’t air on Hockey Night in Canada was Pettersson opening up about being shy.

“[Head coach Rick Tocchet] wants the best for me. He wants me to be more vocal. He wants me to lead the team, and just be the best version of myself,” Pettersson said when asked how Tocchet pushes him.

When Friedman asked if Pettersson would be comfortable talking more, given it’s not something that comes naturally to him, the Canucks star accepted the premise.

“Yeah, that’s always been my thing. I’ve always been more of a shier person. I hated schoolwork, presentations in front of the class. One of those things that I’ve never been comfortable about, but I’m trying,” Pettersson said.

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What is clear from the interview is Pettersson’s confidence in his coach.

“After Tocchet took over, I think he set a standard of what we want to do as a team. After he came in, we won a lot of games and we got a good sense of how we needed to play to be successful,” he said.

“It’s team first. Whatever you do, it’s for the team, it’s for the logo on the chest. It’s for the fans… You play for your teammates. It sounds really cliche but it’s so true.”

So far, so good for Pettersson, who has 10 points, and for the Canucks, who have a winning record (3-2-0) after five games.

Can Pettersson score 50?

Pettersson surpassed the 100-point plateau for the first time in his career last season.

Could he score 50 goals one day?

“Yeah, I like to think so. I just got to be a little more selfish and shoot sometimes,” said Pettersson.

“I’ve always been a pass-first-minded player. I hear a lot [that] I need to shoot more, so I’ll start listening to some people.”

One time when Pettersson had a shoot-first mentality was on his first NHL goal. Pettersson scored on his first shot, in his first game, back in 2018.

He was on a two-on-one with Derrick Pouliot, but instead of passing to the defenceman, he opted to shoot.

“I was shooting that for sure,” Pettersson said with a laugh. “Yeah, sorry Pouliot. But I was shooting that the whole way.”