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“He must practice better” : Rick Tocchet sends a huge message to Elias Pettersson
Marc-Olivier Cook
“He must practice better” : Rick Tocchet sends a huge message to Elias Pettersson
Credit: Getty Images
The Canucks have really had a disappointing season.

And without saying it’s entirely his fault, Elias Pettersson must look in the mirror to understand that he must give more.

Because a player who earns $11.6 million per season cannot afford to have a 45-point season in 64 games. It’s simply not enough.

Rick Tocchet, the team’s head coach, put his finger on the problem during his end-of-season review today.

In the eyes of the Canucks’ pilot, Pettersson must learn to have a better routine.

He must be better prepared for games… and that starts with individual practice during the summer and collective practice during the season.

He must practice better. – Rick Tocchet

We don’t often see that from a coach, but Tocchet was really transparent in his comments.

He doesn’t necessarily want to fall on the head of his star player… but let’s say he sent him a pretty important message today.

Pettersson must find a way to arrive at the team’s next camp in top form.

But it’s not just Pettersson’s performance that caught attention this season in Vancouver.

The conflict between the Swede and J.T. Miller also made a lot of noise… and again, Rick Tocchet didn’t hide his game when talking about this problem.

He said out loud that at one point, the situation became really uncomfortable in the locker room. It

is logical: when two of your best players no longer want to play together… the rest of the group no longer follows.

And that’s what happened this season with the Canucks.

Rick Tocchet did well to be honest like that.

Because he knows the Canucks had the talent to be one of the good teams in the NHL this season.

But there were so many distractions during the campaign that they were never able to reach their potential.

A big offseason is ahead for the management… because they must take advantage of the best years of Pettersson’s and Quinn Hughes’ careers to win.


On the heels

– « I think about him every day », says Sean Monahan about his friend Johnny Gaudreau. It’s touching.

– Reminder: Ivan Demidov is a good hockey player. And he has hands:

– Hello, Nick!

– We see the pride in Martin St-Louis’ face when he talks about his mother.

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