GOOD NEWS: Canucks coach appeal that none of the players is on injury

GOOD NEWS: Canucks coach appeal that none of the players is on injury

 Rick Tocchet insists Elias Pettersson isn’t injured

“He’s just a little sick,” Rick Tocchet said Wednesday morning about Elias Pettersson.

Other than an apparently mild illness, Elias Pettersson is totally fine, Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet insisted on Wednesday.

Pettersson missed practice Tuesday with what Tocchet described as a head cold, but was back on the ice Wednesday morning, before Game 1 of the Canucks’ Pacific Division final series versus the Edmonton Oilers.

Asked about whether he was concerned about how Pettersson’s illness might be affecting him — he’s just the latest Canuck to fell under the weather in the past two weeks — Tocchet went over and above in answering the question.

Elias Pettersson: Behind the numbers of a career-defining season -  CanucksArmy

The team isn’t using illness to cover for another injury to Pettersson, he said. “We don’t lie here,” he said, with emphasis.

 

Unprompted, Tocchet said he’s aware that there’s been speculation about whether Pettersson is carrying some sort of injury, perhaps to his back or his wrist. But he moved to quash that speculation.

“He’s just a little sick,” he said. Pettersson, for his part, said he’s feeling fine.

He had just three assists in the first round against Nashville and struggled to shoot, which drove much of the speculation around whether he’s injured.

Obviously to beat the Oilers, the Canucks will need him to be the player he has been much of his career here in Vancouver, not the player who struggled down the stretch this season.

NHL rumors: Insider sheds light on Elias Pettersson's conversation with  Canucks GM over his future

“He’s a big factor for us,” Tocchet said. “You know, hopefully, especially at home, we get him in some good situations on the ice. So hopefully he can take advantage of it.”

ROUND 2! SIGN UP TO GET YOUR FREE CANUCKS PLAYOFF  We are proud to partner with the Vancouver Canucks to bring you this year’s edition of the longtime Province tradition, the Canucks Playoff Poster series

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*