Former Vancouver Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau insinuates Rick Tocchet might be mishandling Elias Pettersson

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Maverick Mitchell
November 5, 2024 (11:39)

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Former Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau has weighed in to discuss the issues surrounding Elias Pettersson, and may have insinuated that current coach Rick Tocchet might not be handling his star player properly.

Whether you hated him or loved him, Bruce Boudreau is viewed as a great players coach, especially over his tenure with the Canucks. Having coached and dealing with Elias Pettersson, they developed a strong relationship that catered to what Pettersson needed out of a coach and mentor, and clearly his numbers under Boudreau speak for themself.

«In today's world, the players want to know you care about them before they start caring about you. I never had an uprising of players not wanting to play for me.»

Bruce Boudreau Comments on What Elias Pettersson Needs Out of a Head Coach

It is pretty clear that Boudreau and Rick Tocchet have polar opposite styles of coaching, Boudreau is a true players coach, while Tocch follows the old school mentality. Tocchet coaches exactly like he played, he has a no nonsense, aggressive style that may or may not work for some NHLers.

Boudreau claims a coach needs to understand all his players and what works for them individually in order to get their motor running. This rings the most true when dealing with players like Elias Pettersson, where a one size fits all model doesn't work.

«He doesn't look excited when he plays and gets frustrated very easily,» Boudreau said Monday. «I've always said when you're a coach, you're also like a psychiatrist. Your job is to see what makes 23 guys tick. I told J.T. Miller: �I'm going to come after you like the head of a snake and he said put it on me.'

He went on to insinuate that he feels Tocchet might not understand what Pettersson needs right now while he is going though his slump, that the "old school" in your face challenge type motivation that works for players like J.T. Miller, does not resonate with the likes of Petty.

«He wants that and I don't think Petey likes that kind of thing. You have to treat him differently. My first game there, he said he'd be a good penalty killer and I gave him a chance. Then he wanted to play against the best. It's communication and Rick (Tocchet) might be doing the same thing. I don't know. It's not working.»

In reality, Boudreau is not calling Rick Tocchet out, he is just giving his 2 cents on what worked for his relationship with Pettersson, and maybe that can help with the situation that Pettersson is facing right now.