Elias Pettersson.. Playoff Ghost

[Grifter3511]

Very similar players, with exception EP shoots more and hits more. But generally:

- Similar salary of about $11M/yr
- Same long contracts (MM coming off next year)
- Both prefer passing
- Both dont like to get hit or gets hands dirty, especially in playoffs
- Both not the types of players to motivate the team with a burning desire to win
- Any fancy passing and zipping around racking up pts in regular season drops during tougher playoff style by opposing teams, and they have trouble adapting. Heck, Conor Garland was more noticeable trying to spark the offence and he's only 5'10 and most pts he ever got in a season is 52

And im basing this on one post season of 2 rounds when EP was already not playing well for 2 months leading into the playoffs.

 

[syz]

Is the autopsy out yet?

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Is the autopsy out yet?

 

[Regal]

Is the autopsy out yet?

 

[Bgav]

was dealing with a knee injury since January. lol at all the insane takes in here

 

[Rowlet]

So the exact time frame people said he'd been injured for...

 

[Szechwan]

Lingering knee injury makes sense. Hard to play with pace when you can't skate.

Everything we've seen of EP in his career points at him being highly competitive, he isn't the type to phone it in just because he signed a contract.

 

[Juxta Position]

was dealing with a knee injury since January. lol at all the insane takes in here

If it doesn't require surgery is it really that bad? he probably should've rested back in January and February then when the Canucks were comfortably in a playoff spot if all he did need was rest.

Or pulled a Vegas and went LTIR and picked up a few players for the run at the deadline that may have addressed some of their issues. seems like this "injury" was pretty poorly handled by everyone involved.

 

[arttk]

If it doesn't require surgery is it really that bad? he probably should've rested back in January and February then when the Canucks were comfortably in a playoff spot if all he did need was rest.

Or pulled a Vegas and went LTIR and picked up a few players for the run at the deadline that may have addressed some of their issues. seems like this "injury" was pretty poorly handled by everyone involved.

we played Mikheyev with a torn ACL for like 3 months... not sure why the team don't rest injured players but it seems like that is a policy that need to change.

 

[Juxta Position]

we played Mikheyev with a torn ACL for like 3 months... not sure why the team don't rest injured players but it seems like that is a policy that need to change.

I would agree. it sucks to lose a player like EP during the season, but if it means losing him for 2-4 weeks in January so he can be at full health for the playoffs, that's a decision that should be easy to make in my opinion, and it sounds like the Canucks opted for the wrong decision.

 

[Bankerguy]

Pettersson at the all-star game took part in the speed skating challenege and did well
He wasn't moving like that at all during the playoffs.
No wonder he couldnt generate speed. this hurt his confidence....meaning he shot less.
it makesa sense.

 

[Brookbank]

He's been meh since after the all-star break not just the playoffs. Lost his mojo or something.

He had a knee injury

 

[HockeyVirus]

was dealing with a knee injury since January. lol at all the insane takes in here

So the exact time frame people said he'd been injured for...

He had a knee injury

So now is the part where we can use injuries as an excuse? No other teams get to use that excuse.

 

[bossram]

So now is the part where we can use injuries as an excuse? No other teams get to use that excuse.

People had insane takes about Pettersson being bad, lazy, depressed, or some other dumb reasons.

He had a physical limitation, which was clearly visually obvious. It's not really an excuse. It's an explanation. Why wasn't he playing at 100%? Well, because he wasn't at 100%.

 

[Gorskyontario]

Found him!

 

[Rowlet]

So now is the part where we can use injuries as an excuse? No other teams get to use that excuse.

Explanations =/= excuses

 

[Slats432]

So Allvin wasn't smart enough to put him on LTIR and rest him until the playoffs and load up even more at the deadline? Seems like Vegas has the only smart management in the NHL. (well and Tampa)

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Strange. Tocchet said that he isn't injured. Tactics?

 

[eojsmada]

So the Leafs refused to rest their stars at the end of the season and then lost to injuries that were probably sustained during the time they would have been resting and now the Canucks decided not to rest Pettersson when the injury could have been rested and then lose for similar reasons.

Do organizations really not understand that player health is actually a pretty huge deal in the Playoffs?

 

[johan f]

People had insane takes about Pettersson being bad, lazy, depressed, or some other dumb reasons.

He had a physical limitation, which was clearly visually obvious. It's not really an excuse. It's an explanation. Why wasn't he playing at 100%? Well, because he wasn't at 100%.

But he should have rested and nursed the injury in january. I do not know who to blame. Tocchet, Pettersson, team medics. Perhaps all of them.

 

[eojsmada]

But he should have rested and nursed the injury in january. I do not know who to blame. Tocchet, Pettersson, team medics. Perhaps all of them.

Blame Rutherford. The buck stops with him.

 

[Siludin]

If it doesn't require surgery is it really that bad? he probably should've rested back in January and February then when the Canucks were comfortably in a playoff spot if all he did need was rest.

Or pulled a Vegas and went LTIR and picked up a few players for the run at the deadline that may have addressed some of their issues. seems like this "injury" was pretty poorly handled by everyone involved.

He was in the midst of a contract negotiation so that was never going to happen.
Realistically they should have rested him in March, but it's not common for players to immediately duck out due to a lingering injury immediately after signing their extensions.

 

[OilerTyler]

But he should have rested and nursed the injury in january. I do not know who to blame. Tocchet, Pettersson, team medics. Perhaps all of them.

Seems much more likely that Pettersson is playing up the injury so he has an excuse for his poor play. No shot the Canucks kept playing him in meaningless games if he had an injury affecting his play.

 

[bobbyking]

playoffs are a different beast mcdavid just played like trash for 5 of 7

 

[Suntouchable13]

Explanations =/= excuses

It is an excuse. Almost any player that has played the whole season can probably say they have something nagging or some pain somewhere. Who is playing at 100% by the time the playoffs start? Let alone into the 2nd round of the playoffs. It's not enough of an explanation, imo. To talk like he is the only one to play through something is nonsense.