In short — he didn't want to have to quarantine again when he returned to Canada before the next training camp.
He also mentioned that there wouldn't be much for him to do if he was back home right now. His hockey friends are playing, and his non-hockey friends are in school. So, Vancouver it is.
The interview is Petey's first-ever podcast appearance. I suspect he has taken his time with that because he has set such a high standard for himself with his English. The interview was conducted over Zoom, which also helps a bit with visual cues. Speaking from experience, audio-only interviews pose their challenges, even for native English speakers.
Pettersson mentioned that at his first development camp after he was drafted, he was reluctant to say much at all, because he didn't feel confident with the language. Apparently that led to Brock Boeser — hardly a chatterbox himself — mistakenly thinking that Petey was blowing him off.
Now, of course, the two are tight. And while Pettersson got quite enthusiastic when talking about his interest in fashion and how disappointed he was that Canucks players weren't able to pick their own outfits while they were in the bubble — where suits weren't required — he couldn't argue that Brock has the better hair.
The fashion is part of what he has been working through lately on his social media channels, where he has been building visibility with entertaining posts. He also mentioned that he wants to get into streaming — and that he plays videogames on both PS4 and XBox in order to be compatible with both his teammates and his friends back in Sweden.
Earlier this week, he also dropped his YouTube video with the 'On The Bench' guys — a full 22 minutes.
It's really impressive to see him committing so enthusiastically to putting himself out on different platforms. He relaxes nicely into the podcast, sharing stories, and smartly declines to reveal which local haunts are his favourites when he and his teammates go out.
It's well worth a listen. If you want to cut to the chase, the interview starts at around the 51-minute mark on the podcast.
The other big topic going around in Canucks-land today stemmed from this Tweet, asking for thoughts on the top five players of all time.
For me, I'm happy that now that we're at the 50-year mark, there's some real debate here!
I think the question is tougher when it's a free-for-all in terms of position. In some ways, a starting lineup is easier to assemble.
I am also going to give myself a little extra wiggle room and count the Sedins as one player. That's fair, isn't it?
So, here are my five, in alphabetical order:
1. Pavel Bure - He wasn't here long, but his explosiveness was franchise-changing. So exciting to watch.
2. Roberto Luongo - Perhaps his defining moment was his Olympic gold medal, but when he was at the top of his game, he was a monster for the Canucks as well.
3. Markus Naslund - Watching him go from trade-deadline castoff to Ted Lindsay Award winner was incredible. Gets bonus points for being one of the nicest, most down-to-earth people I've ever met.
4. Elias Pettersson - Both on and off the ice, Petey is already in rarified air, and still has room to grow. I'm excited to see just how far the combination of his elite skillset, steely will and confident determination can take him.
5. Daniel and Henrik Sedin - Franchise leaders in practically everything. Scoring champs. MVPs. And once again, tremendous people off the ice.
If you were to force me to separate the Sedins and drop a name — that's where it would get very difficult. I guess I would very reluctantly drop Pettersson, knowing full well that one more year's worth of goals and highlights could shuffle the deck in his favour if we were to revisit this question whenever our next season wraps up.
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