The Petey Predicament

[Chef Boi RD]

Josh Norris would’ve been better, it’s who they were trying to land at the deadline.

[Nuckertuzzi]

Cozens had Tage to hide behind in Buff and now Brady, Tim, Drake, etc.. Here he'd be the top dog with nobody to hide behind (barring a separate trade) in a crazy market and would instantly absorb Petey's scrutiny. I know a lot of people will be happy just to move off of Petey's 11.6, but guaranteed it won't take long for the consternation over his mild production despite the reasonable contract. Can you imagine the pressure on the new kid? Welcome to the team, now you have to carry our offence. Good luck! I don't know, maybe he'd thrive but could see it going the other way too.

[Chef Boi RD]

Cozens had Tage to hide behind in Buff and now Brady, Tim, Drake, etc.. Here he'd be the top dog with nobody to hide behind (barring a separate trade) in a crazy market and would instantly absorb Petey's scrutiny. I know a lot of people will be happy just to move off of Petey's 11.6, but guaranteed it won't take long for the consternation over his mild production despite the reasonable contract. Can you imagine the pressure on the new kid? Welcome to the team, now you have to carry our offence. Good luck! I don't know, maybe he'd thrive but could see it going the other way too.

Well said, tuzzi. These are the important details most casual fans skim over, it’s too challenging for some to consider. I do like the Canadian factor of Cozens but he obviously is struggling hard core with his confidence since the Hathaway beat down. He’d be rendered utterly useless in this hotbed. Norris, although American, would’ve been the wiser, simply for the reason of him being the best friend of Quinton Hughes, Norris trophy winner and clearly the greatest Canuck of all time, thank you Jim. Signing Quinn long term is a must. Having his best bud here would have gone a long way in sealing the deal on Hughes future here.

[Blob Mckenzie]

Adam Gaudette has two more goals than the punching bag.

Which punching bag are you talking about? Dylan Cozens or JT Miller?

When the gloves come off I think Dana Murzyn or Neil Belland could beat the snot out of JT. He got clobberfucked by two non fighters from St Lou. He didn't exactly fight Kelly Chase or Tony Twist. He's going to get dummied up pretty soon.

[Blob Mckenzie]

Peter is figuring it out. Will be fun to stomp some crow sandos down a few yaps. Thank you Patrick. There's a reason these guys have won cups.

[Topper]

Great Game Scooter!

Against Chicago.

LOL

[Argay Ham]

Peter is figuring it out. Will be fun to stomp some crow sandos down a few yaps. Thank you Patrick. There's a reason these guys have won cups.

...and we have not. To finish the thought.

Elbow's up, guys. Being on the winning side of things isn't easy. It never is. Certainly as a lower seed.

But it sure is exciting, I'll give it that. I believe in this group. No pussies, please.

Winners drink water.

[Topper]

68 games into the season and Scooter has, to date, pocketed a little over $12 million.

But just maybe, he's turning the corner, or so some hope.

[UWSaint]

68 games into the season and Scooter has, to date, pocketed a little over $12 million.

But just maybe, he's turning the corner, or so some hope.

Good take for EP40. Enough to hire a performance coach. Chuck Rhodes' wife would do.

[Blob Mckenzie]

Its funny to see fans bitch about a 26 year old player's salary who has had a down calendar year but has played at a high level since arriving here for the most part. Most of the same people didn't utter a peep when Lois Eriksson or OEL stole money from this team for multiple years.

He has 7 points in his last 5 games. I'm sure a few folks are creased about this.

[Meds]

Its funny to see fans bitch about a 26 year old player's salary who has had a down calendar year but has played at a high level since arriving here for the most part. Most of the same people didn't utter a peep when Lois Eriksson or OEL stole money from this team for multiple years.

He has 7 points in his last 5 games. I'm sure a few folks are creased about this.

While I was definitely one who did not like Eriksson.....

The Air Thief ate up a smaller percentage of the salary cap and was also doing so on a roster that nobody with half an eye was believing to be anything more than a playoff hopeful, and most of the time a bottom 12 candidate. He was also never expected to be the one to carry a line or be central to the core of the team. The lack of any real press and media on Eriksson was evidence of what the expectations of him were.

Pettersson is on a team that is supposed to be coming out of rebuild into contention, AND he is here to be the 1C that drives the bus on offense. That implies leadership, a quality which he has demonstrated very little of to date.....the latter should be crystal clear to anyone whose wits are not addled.

For Pettersson to actually not be stealing money he will need to score at an 85 point clip and continue with his current defensive zone play. He has, to date, stolen money at a rate that would make Loui green with envy. We all hope he figures it out and actually becomes the player we had in 2022-23.....if his last few games are what he brings consistently going forward then he is on his way to doing that.

[Meds]

It's ironic that I'm posting this considering the last post in this thread was by yours truly 7 months ago. But.....

I just wanted to point out that if you remove the absolute whole-team abortions that were games 2 and 3 of this year (Edmonton and St. Loo), Pettersson is ticking along at an 82 point pace instead of the 65 point pace he's actually on with 8 points in 10 games.

His game on the defensive side of the puck has never been better.

His skating actually looks better until he runs into defenders. I actually noticed last night when he settled in for a face-off that his didn't look splayed at the knees the way they did in previous seasons (also noticed this a bit when he's skating too).

He is more physically engaged on the forecheck and aggressive at pursuing loose pucks in the offensive zone.

He has actually let go of one-timers more often the last few games as well.

There is reason for some optimism.

[UWSaint]

It's ironic that I'm posting this considering the last post in this thread was by yours truly 7 months ago. But.....

Petey came into the league dangling, skating fast if a bit awkwardly, with a lethal shot (that he didn’t use enough), and good vision. The big concern was he was so slight, he was physically overmatched (especially defensively, where no one at the time doubted the effort).

But bad habits crept into his game even as he leveled up his production (namely too much time being static, no more dangle or challenge) — his offense became almost all perimeter. And it didn’t work, especially when he wasn’t playing with skill. And he stopped drawing so many penalties, because he wasn’t taking the play to anyone (I think he led the league once in penalties drawn…seems
Like forever ago, but I think it was 22-23).

He did respond to challenges to his manhood—sometimes stupidly (like going to a stiffer shaft because that what the strong guys use). He got bigger but only used it for reverse hits and on defense (which was pretty good and improved over time, I think). When he came into camp this year, I was worried he got the wrong message. It wasn’t upper body strength that was the big issue; the real issue for hockey players whose game is skill is endurance and lower body.

But now Petey is bigger, and he’s throwing his body around, bearing down without the puck. What if he could combine what he did as a rookie—that style of offensive play—with the finally filled out frame? That would be a player…. That’s the hope for this year. Better still if he’d learn to catch and settle the puck smoothly and shoot it a lot more…..

[Meds]

But now Petey is bigger, and he’s throwing his body around, bearing down without the puck. What if he could combine what he did as a rookie—that style of offensive play—with the finally filled out frame? That would be a player…. That’s the hope for this year. Better still if he’d learn to catch and settle the puck smoothly and shoot it a lot more…..

I agree (with all of your post, I just Lever'd it a bit because our new mod prefers brevity).

Maybe going to a stiffer shaft is part of his problem when it comes to shooting? It requires more effort to manage the higher flex rating.

Some of the problem I've noted with his settling the puck, and the corresponding disappearance of his one-timer, is that too many passes to him on the wing go into his feet or come at the wrong time.

I for one do NOT think that Pettersson and Hughes have great chemistry on the PP. QH wheels around to draw defenders and force movement, when the PP runs through him that way the pass to Petey is often not great or comes when Petey is trying to anticipate both the when and where to receive that pass. Last night was an example of the opposite of this conundrum. The absence of Hughes on the PP meant that the puck was being moved around the zone with quick passes, and often through Hronek at the point which meant that a right-shot was feeding Pettersson on the right circle for that one-timer. Those passes were better placed and we saw him release a few of them, one of which found the mark.

What's your take on that?

[UWSaint]

I for one do NOT think that Pettersson and Hughes have great chemistry on the PP. QH wheels around to draw defenders and force movement, when the PP runs through him that way the pass to Petey is often not great or comes when Petey is trying to anticipate both the when and where to receive that pass. Last night was an example of the opposite of this conundrum. The absence of Hughes on the PP meant that the puck was being moved around the zone with quick passes, and often through Hronek at the point which meant that a right-shot was feeding Pettersson on the right circle for that one-timer. Those passes were better placed and we saw him release a few of them, one of which found the mark.

What's your take on that?

On the shaft [Lever'd from the quote], he switched back but that was years ago and have no idea where he is now. On the bobbling [also Lever'd], if I coached an otherwise talented kid taking passes like that, I'd go to the equipment room and lost and found to see if a shorter twig fixed the issue. Because he's catching it like its too long (good for the shot, good for pokechecking, okay for passing, bad for handling). But its been like that for at least the last two seasons.

I like your power play point. QH has manned the PP since Petey's been stapled to that off wing. But what's changed over time is QH's movement as you note -- it is constant and often now takes on both his historic role and JT's when he was the left side of the umbrella and would come down on the strong side. This has meant EP40 isn't getting the puck at the same predictable angle and often gets it with insufficient distance to wind up. Sure, some pucks are in his feet, but EP40 is peculiarly unable (for a player of his skill) to adjust to any imperfections -- even when that imperfection isn't suboptimal pass but is instead a good pass that's coming in at a different angle. ITs like his own time is programmed for precise events....