Numbers may never lie, but that doesn’t mean the whole story is told in the stats.
Progress isn’t linear. There’s no roadmap and each journey is different.
For Emilio Pettersen, to grow his game it meant taking a real look at what had to change, putting in the work and trusting the rewards would come.
Boy, have they.
A cursory glance shows the second-year pro recently cracked Stockton’s top 10 in scoring, up to eight goals and 10 assists on the year. He’s four points north of where he completed his rookie season.
Ho-hum production? Not quite.
“(My confidence) is pretty high,” said Pettersen following Stockton’s 6-3 win Saturday in which he had two goals to help finish off a three-win week for the Heat. “My teammates are giving me the puck a lot. As a team, we’re gelling a bit offensively. We’re doing the right things.
“For me, I’ve had this confidence for a little while even without scoring. It feels good to see some go in, but it doesn’t really matter as long as we’re getting wins.”
There’s good reason for No. 46 to be feeling good about where his game is at. Of his eight goals on the year, seven have come in Stockton’s last 11 contests. Most recently, he notched his first professional multi-goal game, a strike to trim a two-goal deficit to one before the end of the second period and a penalty shot in the third to extend Stockton’s lead to three.
He rides a career-long, four-game scoring streak into Monday’s tilt against the visiting Bakersfield Condors to kick off a four-game week.
At just 21 years of age and coming off a shortened schedule to his rookie campaign, he’s in a grey area as far as development is concerned. Rookie? Not quite. But he didn’t start the year with the seasoning that typically comes with a full season under one’s belt, having skated in empty arenas in a 30-game slate in 2020-21.
Head coach Mitch Love has seen the prowess of Pettersen’s offensive skill, but the work has been focused on the play away from the puck. Are you in the right place? Are you checking the game, battling for every
Are you doing everything you need to do in order to be rewarded with scoring?
“That’s the name of the game,” said Love. “It’s 100-percent Emilio, his ability to mentally battle through some stuff that was an adjustment for him earlier in the year in terms of my expectation as a coach and how I felt his game needed to continue to evolve, no different from our whole team in terms of playing both sides of the puck and being diligent in that area.
“But that’s a credit to him. He’s put the work in, in video sessions, practice and games. He’s getting rewarded for it, and we need that. We need guys to step up this time of year, and he’s been a guy who’s been able to provide that for us these last few weeks.”
The sixth-round selection from the 2018 NHL Draft had always been a point-producer, showcasing plenty of offensive upside as Stockton’s top-scoring rookie a year ago and a Dallas Gaume Offensive Player of the Year nod at Denver in his final collegiate season.
He never questioned whether the points were come, knowing it was only a matter of time. A full embrace of a checking role helped round out his game. Now, he’s reaping the rewards.
“There’s a lot of things I’ve been working on,” said Pettersen. “I’ve been taking every day like it is. Things change very drastically in this league and in professional hockey. It’s taking everything day-by-day. Obviously I’ve grown, but I can still get better.
“I’m going to keep working every day and just looking forward to the next game.”
