Look out NHL: Elias Pettersson is on the warpath.
In a recent Swedish interview with Peter Ekholm for NHL.com, Pettersson took a break from talking about his offseason training and adding muscle to drop one of the coldest quotes of the offseason.
“For my part, I want revenge,” said Pettersson, via Google Translate.
And, to be clear, the word he used in Swedish is revanschlust, a compound word combining the word for revenge — revansch — and lust. He doesn’t just want revenge; he has a lust for revenge.
Damn. “Lust for Revenge” even sounds like a late-eighties action thriller, probably starring Steven Seagal before he went off the rails. Not since Daniel Sedin was out for blood has a Canuck entered a season sounding so intent on violence.
Okay, okay, the word “lust” in Swedish is a little bit softer than it is in English, meaning simply a desire or appetite. And, in context, it doesn’t sound quite as cold, as he precedes the line with, “I haven’t actually thought about it.”
“I know what I can do,” he said. “I haven't actually thought about it, but for my part, I want revenge. I'm not happy with the season that was. But it's done now. There's no point in dwelling on it. I'm learning from what happened last season to become a better and more mature player for next year.”
Even with the phrase couched in that context, there’s a reason the “I want revenge” quote is getting attention. “I want revenge” is a badass line, while also setting up all kinds of expectations for Pettersson’s season. If Pettersson struggles to start the season, you know his detractors will be saying, “I thought you wanted revenge?”
But what kind of revenge does Pettersson want, anyway? There are lots of different types of revenge. Let’s unpack this.
1 | Revenge on the doubters and haters
The first meaning of “I want revenge” that jumps to my mind is revenge on all those who doubted him. And, after a 45-point season, there are a lot of doubters.
Like Pa Cox saying, “The wrong kid died,” there have been plenty of Canucks fans saying the wrong centre got traded, suggesting the team should have moved Pettersson instead of sending J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers.
That lays out plenty of motivation for revenge for Pettersson. As George Herbert said, living well is the best revenge, but in this case, the best revenge is playing well.
If Pettersson can get back to the 100+ points he tallied a couple of seasons ago, or scores at a point-per-game pace while playing Selke-caliber defence, he’ll get his revenge.
2 | Revenge on himself
Perhaps Pettersson isn’t paying any attention to what anyone else has to say. He’s often said that he’s his own worst critic, so the person he wants vengeance against the most might be his past self.
It’s even in the quote: “I’m not happy with the season that was…I'm learning from what happened last season to become a better and more mature player for next year.”
To extrapolate, that means last season’s Pettersson was bad and immature, the exact type of person for whom Pettersson has no patience. It’s time to get revenge on past Pettersson by being a better Pettersson than the Pettersson he used to be.
Some might even say that the only victim of vengeance is yourself; Pettersson is just literalizing it.
3 | Revenge on J.T. Miller
Some claim that the rift last season between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson was overblown. That includes Miller and Pettersson.
But I say the NHL needs more soap operas, so let's lean into the drama. So yeah, sure, let's pretend Pettersson was talking about Miller when he said, "I want revenge."
If Pettersson wants his revenge, he won’t have to wait long. On October 28, Miller will make his return to Vancouver for the first time since the trade.
What form will the vengeance take? A hat trick? A dirty hit? A fight? No stick tap on the ice when the inevitable J.T. Miller tribute video plays on the jumbotron? The possibilities are endless!
3 | Petty revenge
Okay, fine, the odds of Pettersson actually seeking vengeance on Miller are slim to none. Maybe he’ll be looking for a slightly smaller form of revenge.
One of the more popular subreddits out there is r/pettyrevenge, where Redditors share their stories of getting back at the antagonists in their lives in small ways for the most minor and trivial of offences.
Maybe that’s the type of revenge Pettersson was talking about. “Petey revenge” is just one letter away from “petty revenge,” after all.
My guess is that he had a messy roommate in the past — I’m looking at you, Nils Höglander — and he’s going to get his revenge by stealing all of the lids to his Tupperware.
Or maybe Pettersson's revenge is entirely unrelated to the Canucks. It could be that for the past several seasons, there’s been a guy who keeps parking his car in Pettersson’s driveway. After putting up with it for years, Pettersson is going to finally get his revenge by parking his car behind theirs in his own driveway, blocking them in just before the Canucks go on their six-game road trip in January.
4 | Revenge against the system
Sometimes, the system itself lets you down — typically, the criminal justice system in revenge movies, like in Law Abiding Citizen: “I’m going to bring the whole system down on your head.”
Now, I don’t think Pettersson is going to go on a horror movie rampage through the NHL like Gerard Butler in Law Abiding Citizen. At least, I hope he won't — that movie was terrible.
But maybe the system that Pettersson wants vengeance against isn’t some societal system; it’s Rick Tocchet’s system.
There are some who argue that the biggest reason for Pettersson’s struggles last season wasn’t the knee injury that hindered his off-season training, but a system that hindered his offensive creativity. They point to a guy like Clayton Keller, who struggled offensively under Tocchet with the Arizona Coyotes, then broke out as soon as Tocchet left.
What better revenge could Pettersson get than by erupting offensively right after Tocchet leaves town? He’s going to put the system on trial.
5 | John Wick
Here’s an important question that everyone in Vancouver needs to think about: did you, accidentally or otherwise, do something bad to Pettersson’s dog?
Because, if you did, look out.
