Post-Game Talk: [Pre-Season] GM03 | Kraken def. Canucks | 3-1 (Myers)

[Nick Lang]

I really can’t be bothered to care about anything in these games. Like at all. It would be encouraging if Pettersson was better. I’m also barely paying attention.

Couldn't agree more. These games are beyond meaningless, just a small tool for the coaches to get the team ready.

 

[Nick Lang]

I find the Petterson criticism's lacking in true hockey knowledge. He's been a terrific player throughout his tenure. One of the best in the league. He has played on sh!te teams in all of his seasons here, except for last. Yet, we still won our division, and almost the Presidents trophy, most successful season in over a decade and here we are people are bitching about this no account pre-season. Regardless of how his personal metrics were he was still a massive piece of the team, and still is. People should give him slack and judge when the real season is being played. I wouldn't be wasting my time on these garbage games either but be focused on the goal at hand.

 

[theguardianII]

The thing I find tiring about all this is, all the other fan bases, when their best players are injured, they tend to be supportive because that’s what you f***ing do when you support your team and players. Here in Van, the moment our best player is injured, there are calls to trade him, get him out of this team. Like what the f*** are we doing here? Is this the way to really support your team and best players?

Excuse me. All is okay in lala land? Contracts paid for less than optimal performance?
The TEAM isn't or shouldn't be in the business of thinking a "participation" ribbon is sufficient. 11.6 million, the most EVER paid a Canuck does attract attention especially with a team this shallow in offensive depth. Did you think Eriksson was great at his dollar value of the day? I don't think so BUT he was not that bad at defensive play, but that was ignored.
The most important name on a jersey is the one on the front not the back and when the TEAM puts that much on ONE player expectations will soar. That EP is playing at a 3rd line level, most of his points the last 40 games have come through the PP, playing with an advantage is comparable to any player playing with a similar advantage and ice time.
Will empathy cure bad play? If so there are 75 McDavids' out there.

And when things went that badly to not register any concern when he looks the same to start the next season is just … weird. Even if it was 100% explainable due to his horrible knee injury that caused him to miss 0 games, you should be registering a concern that those problems are persisting.

I have posted before that I think it is concussion related, slower skating, fatigue, timing off, poor decisions. Repeatedly he is shaking his head after giving or receiving a big hit. Does anyone really believe that any team will now say there star player is suffering from less than obvious concussions? Even players can hide or deny those symptoms, some may not even be aware of them but shaking a head after a hit does mean something.

Yeah. As much as I like Tocchet, I think he also tends to overthink things so I'm not always onboard with his methods. Defense is something that can be worked on over time but if there is chemistry there, that's a foundation that can be built on.

Agree but any coach should be able to teach 5 cones how to play defence but at the cost of offence. Tocchet has been all about "board's guys", bangers. His systems depends a huge amount on the PP, PK, star defencemen and goalies. He has never had a winning team without a star goalie.

I am not saying I know what Pettersson is dealing with exactly, and in fact, I’ve said the opposite. I am saying that I think you have no idea what you are talking about if you are willing to assume any patellar tendinitis is going to cause Pettersson’s play to drop catastrophically and so abruptly.

Patellar tendinitis had a very wide range of outcomes from initially being almost imperceptible. It’s strange, to me, that Pettersson’s play could drop off so quickly solely due to the onset of such a gradual injury.

If I am correct and it is concussion related then you would see a sudden dramatic drop off in all areas of his game and if not resting, taking games off (oh ya, he has) he might have intervals of expected function. If he got a ringer then the next couple of weeks he would be sub par IMHO.

It seems more mental with Pettersson, but there's no doubt when he finds his groove or his lane or whatever, he's massively exciting to watch. There's something going on where he seems to be trying out different approaches to the game and that ease he's evinced in the past seems lost.

His hero was Forsberg and Tocchet wants hitting so it could be his attempt to be another Forsberg or simply trying satisfy Tocchet's "staples" and change his game from what made him good, a more perimeter player, to a Tocchet "boards guy"

 

[MS]

Remember during the first game where I said I looked forward to reading overreactions? This is an overreaction. He could go into the season cold and look terrible, he could start hot, could be in-between. Hell, there are three pre-season games left. There’s legitimate concern to be had. But the 20 posts you have on this topic definitely fall into the “overreaction” camp.

I made one fairly mild comment in my game summary and the ensuing posts were in response to the freakout another poster had about it.

And I find the seeming collective amnesia about what happened with Pettersson in the 2nd half of last season baffling and fascinating.