{"id":454391,"date":"2024-10-28T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=454391"},"modified":"2024-10-27T18:58:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-27T22:58:47","slug":"can-form-return-vancouver-canucks-star-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/10\/28\/can-form-return-vancouver-canucks-star-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the Form Return for Vancouver Canucks Star Forward?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Players, coaches, and management on the <\/span>Vancouver Canucks<\/span><\/a> know they are always under a lot of pressure. After all, Vancouver is a hockey-crazed city and even the smallest <\/span>piece of<\/span> news surrounding the team is a big deal. Star players deal with the most pressure. The likes of Henrik and Daniel Sedin<\/a>, Roberto Luongo<\/a>, Markus Naslund<\/a>, and Pavel Bure<\/a> dealt with it. Right now, the current crop of stars such as Quinn Hughes<\/a>, J.T. Miller<\/a>, and Elias Pettersson<\/a> are dealing with it. Right now, it is Pettersson who has been dealing with the most pressure. However, he took a huge weight off his shoulders by scoring the first goal in the Canucks 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a>. Could this be the start of a return to form for the Canucks star forward Elias Pettersson?
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The Underwhelming Start for Canucks Star Forward Elias Pettersson<\/h3>\n

Pettersson had not played his best hockey since January 2024, and had not been standing out<\/a>, unlike other players.\u00a0<\/span> The Swedish centre had not scored a 5-on-5 goal since March 19 against the Buffalo Sabres.<\/span><\/a> It’s hard to believe, but it is true. Of course, he broke that slump on Saturday night.
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He had a disappointing 2024 playoffs with just one goal and five assists through 13 games against the Nashville Predators<\/a> and Edmonton Oilers<\/a>. <\/span>It was revealed after<\/span> the season <\/span>that he had been dealing with<\/span> tendonitis in his knee since January<\/span><\/a>, which explained a lot. <\/span>Prior to the game against the Penguins, Pettersson still had not hit the ground running. But could that game be the start of good things? Or is it something that happened a few days before?<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cIncident\u201d With Miller at Practice<\/h3>\n

What had got people talking about Pettersson more is an <\/span>apparent “scuffle” between him and Miller during Wednesday’s practice.<\/span><\/a> Sure, this whole thing is nothing. But at the same time, it is something. These are the Canucks two star forwards.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not quite known what exactly caused the “incident.” <\/em><\/span>However, <\/span>CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal reported on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650 on Friday morning that Pettersson and Miller have an apparent rift <\/span>between them<\/span>.<\/span><\/a> The rift goes back to the days Travis Green<\/a> was the team’s head coach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe Miller wanted to get Pettersson going or more focused or Pettersson said something Miller didn’t like. In sports, teammates don’t have to be friends as long as they cooperate and work together. Plus, incidents in practice happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, the St. Louis Blues had a huge fight in practice during the 2018-19 season when they were dead last in the NHL. Eventually, they would go on to win the Stanley Cup. Last season, Dakota Joshua<\/a> and Conor Garland<\/a> got into a similar incident at practice and were later inseparable on the third line.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe the whole incident isn’t worth talking about. <\/span>Miller was<\/span> asked about the incident on Friday afternoon on Sportsnet 650. <\/span>He was<\/span> asked if it was worth talking about <\/span>and<\/span> he replied with a simple “no.”<\/em><\/span><\/a> Maybe it lit a fire under Pettersson, because he and Miller were competing hard against each other during Friday’s practice. If the incident does get Pettersson putting up points consistently, maybe it is worth talking about.<\/span><\/p>\n

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J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson matched up in battle drill at #Canucks<\/a> practice <\/p>\n

(Sorry for bad quality) pic.twitter.com\/4VWmmxnq3p<\/a><\/p>\n

— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) October 25, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n