“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”
It’s a quote attributed to NFL coaching legend Vince Lombardi. If you’ve been in a football team’s training facility, odds are you’ve seen it.
The meaning behind it is simple. The more you put into something, the more you have to lose.
Which leads us to Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson.
Pettersson has become a lightning rod for criticism from Canuck Nation for his sub-standard play for almost half a season now.
Listen to any Canucks post-game show on Sportsnet 650 or take a glance on ‘X’ and you’ll find out rather quickly just how much heat Pettersson is taking.
With only two even-strength goals in his past 42 games including playoffs, you can understand why there is some angst among fans especially considering the fact Pettersson is in year one of an eight-year, $92.8 million dollar contract.
Now Pettersson did mention at the end of last season that he was dealing with tendonitis in his knee. Granted most players are dealing with something after two rounds of playoffs but there is a difference between playing injured and playing hurt.
Given the way the Canucks organization reacted to Pettersson’s knee issue, they obviously believed he was playing hurt – which is to be expected during the playoffs. How much it impacted his play only he knows.
So let’s fast forward to this year.
We’re four games into the 2024-25 NHL season and Pettersson has yet to score. His play drew the wrath of Canucks fans after the first three games of the season although it did improve in the 3-2 overtime win against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night which bought him a reprieve from criticism.
Yet the question remains: what does Pettersson have to do to get his game back on track?
What I have found interesting is that Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet has mentioned his practice habits on a couple of occasions with the latest being during an appearance on “Halford and Brough” on Sportsnet 650 prior to the start of the season.
Tocchet talked about coaching players like Sidney Crosby, who were ‘obsessed’ with the game and believes that Pettersson is transitioning to that. He referenced examples of going above and beyond in your practice habits in an effort to achieve greatness.
Now to be perfectly clear, we are not calling Pettersson lazy.
Pettersson is a tremendous talent but talent alone doesn’t make you into a superstar.
During our radio days, we had the opportunity to interview a lot of athletes and coaches in various sports.
When the question was asked about that superstar player on their team and what surprised them or what they learned from that player, there was one common denominator: the individual’s work ethic.
Whether it was a Crosby, MacKinnon or McDavid, all you would hear about was how their work ethic — both on and off the ice — was off the charts.
No one is saying that Pettersson goes through the motions, but judging by what Tocchet is saying about him, he has to find that extra gear in his practice habits and transition that to his in-game performance.
I’ve always talked about that “extra 5 per cent” and I was chuckling when former Canucks head coach Travis Green used the exact same phrase one night during his post-game media session.
As an athlete, if you can find that “extra 5 per cent,” your game will take off exponentially and that’s what Tocchet is pushing for with Pettersson.
Pettersson has the skill to be a superstar player in the NHL – there is no question about that.
But he will not reach that status until his work ethic goes to the next level.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this all pans out.
The Canucks’ success as a team just might depend on it.
OVERTIME
* The Canucks did pick up their first win of the season against the Panthers on J.T. Miller’s overtime winner. It was the 13th time that Miller had scored in overtime in his career and his 10th OT marker as a Canuck.
* Tocchet was pleased with his team’s performance. “We have some work to do but there was some good stuff there. There were times where we had good possession and had some chances. That’s a championship team and they were missing some key guys but it was a good, hard-fought win,” he said afterwards.
* Vancouver plays in Philadelphia on Saturday night and then concludes its four-game road trip with a game in Chicago against the Blackhawks on Tuesday before returning to Vancouver to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob “the Moj” Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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