Canucks Coffee: Why Elias Pettersson matters, why Pius Suter is 'Super Glue', why we can't forget 2016 U.S. election

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How do you turn off the noise when it’s deafening?

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How do you go about your business when every misstep, lack of goal production and frustration that’s portrayed with bad body language becomes fodder for questioning your resolve and willingness to silence the critics?

You do the little things that matter so much to turn a competitive corner and gain some much needed confidence.

For the struggling Elias Pettersson, all of that was in play Tuesday in Anaheim. The Vancouver Canucks centre had a heightened level of engagement and his night was complete with a well-positioned screen to tip home a goal, five shots and eight attempts in a 5-1 thrashing the Ducks.

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“Those are the ones you want to get,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said of Pettersson’s goal. “They’re not going to all be pretty.”

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It was the fifth-straight road victory for the Canucks and a hopeful turn of the competitive corner for Pettersson. Getting to the net and establishing position is the hard stuff and it’s not easy to score in today’s game. You have to really want it.

The Canucks need everybody to go further in the playoffs and Pettersson must pull on the rope every night, not just some nights. And no matter what theory you want to adopt — lingering knee tendinitis from last season, pressure to produce with a US$11.6 million salary cap that’s the fifth highest among his NHL peers, or the fishbowl existence that comes with playing in Vancouver — the bottom line is it’s up to Pettersson to see this play out in a positive way.

The message is simple: Don’t tease of what you can be, be what you should be.

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Here are some servings to sip on this morning. So sit back and pour a cup or two.

FIRST SERVING: Garland on Suter: ‘Easy to play with. Smart, goes to right areas, not fastest but can bury it.’

Pius Suter has been called a lot of things. Driven, dependable, smart, sharp, sensible come to mind.

However, the best label affixed to the Swiss forward is ‘Super Glue’.

He’s a natural centre, but an adaptable ability to play left wing and provide a level of heightened intelligence, support and puck pursuit to keep everything in place is playing out once again. He has FOUR goals in the last FIVE games because he reads the game well, he gets into open areas and releases an underrated shot.

His latest sighting on the left side with Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland shouldn’t be surprising. He didn’t look out of place in that assignment with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser last season, and now he might be the catalyst to get Pettersson going.

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After all, it’s hard not to pick up your pace and level of engagement with Suter.

“He’s easy to play with,” said Garland. “Him and Dak (Dakota Joshua) have a lot of similarities with how smart they are and going to the right areas. Not the fastest players, but they’re above the puck at all times and when they get their chances, they can bury it.

“I love playing with Sutes. Played a bunch with him last year and then he got hurt. I think we’ll be a good line.”

Suter missed 14 games in 2023-24 after suffering an undisclosed injury in a 5-2 win at Montreal. That didn’t stop him from what he has always done — finding a way to chalk up another 14-goal campaign. In his last four seasons, he has 14, 14, 15 and 14 goals. That’s consistency in measured minutes, but you’d like to think there’s more potential in the Zurich native.

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His biggest effort was the decisive goal with 1:39 remaining in regulation that gave the Canucks a 1-0 victory to clinch their opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Predators on May 3 in Nashville.

“Hockey I.Q.,” praised Tocchet. “That’s one thing he’s really good at and makes up for knowing he’s not the fastest player out there. It’s still early, and we’ve got to get some wingers going, but in the last 10 days he (Suter) deserves more ice time and I’m probably going to keep him on that (Pettersson) line.

“He deserves it and he’s still valuable as a centre for us.”

Suter, 28, is on final season of a two-year, US$3.20 million contract that carries a very palatable $1.60 million salary cap hit. His dependability and versatility may earn another deal here, which would say something. After all, he went undrafted and remains undaunted.

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Suter could have easily stayed home in Switzerland to continue a comfortable career with Zurich HC of the National League. It’s where he crossed paths with demanding former Canucks coach Marc Crawford and a 17-year-old whiz kid in Auston Matthews.

However, that was never the plan.

It was get to North America and get a leg up on proving NHL scouts wrong to eventually land a free-agent deal. And even though he had a solid rookie season with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020-21 — 27 points (14-13) in 55 games to earn Calder Trophy votes — he wasn’t qualified.

Suter then signed a two-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings, but was only offered a one-year extension. He has been quite the find because no matter the deployment, he really is ‘Super Glue.’

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“We know what the system is,” stressed Suter. “We try to get pucks back and find the man in the middle. We keep doing our stuff. We don’t cheat offensively and we stay above guys and get pucks out.”

SECOND SERVING: Election night 2016: ‘Definitely odd, a lot of noise in what was going to happen.’

On a normal Tuesday night in New York, the city that never sleeps is alive. Traffic is crazy. Horns honk. The streets are jammed. Tourists gawk. 

However, a memorable Tuesday in 2016 stunned and silenced the city and it will never be forgotten — especially by the Canucks in the famous Madison Square Garden — and you had to be there (I was) to grasp magnitude of the moment.

On a wild U.S. election night, the struggling Canucks fashioned an upset. Not nearly as big as Donald Trump’s shocking triumph on the political stage, but significant for the floundering club.

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The Canucks claimed an unlikely 5-3 upset of the high-octane Rangers to end a nine-game losing streak that was one short of the franchise record. It put the Willie Watch on beleaguered head coach Willie Desjardins on hold for another day.

The Rangers were the NHL’s highest-scoring club and averaging five goals per game. They were riding a five-game win streak and had won eight of their previous nine games. That was just one story.

An uneasy atmosphere was palpable. A terrorist threat level was high and notable venues, including the famous MSG entertainment mecca, were obvious targets amid bomb-threat rumours. That wasn’t expected to unnerve the Rangers, it was left to the Canucks.

“We needed a win because there was a lot going on around our team and a lot of rumours,” recalled retired Canucks winger Derek Dorsett. “It was definitely odd. As players, we’re not focused on what’s going on in the political world. But, obviously, there was a lot of noise in what was going to happen. 

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“It was definitely a different time. I was wondering how we were going to get to the airport that night. There was MSG, and one of the biggest train stations in the world (below), and there’s always a heightened security presence when events are going on there.

“Playing in New York, you get used to it. I took the train to home games. It was normal to get off and there would be 15 to 20 S.W.A.T. team members doing a walk-through to let people know they’re in the area.

“And it’s usually harder to get to the airport. I’ve been on rides from MSG that take hours. But we had no problems that night (flying to Detroit). Maybe it was because people were at home and staying tuned to what was going on with the election.”

Either sitting in stunned silence or jumping for joy. What a night.

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bkuzma@postmedia.com

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