The dab is dead.
At least, it鈥檚 dead for Elias Pettersson, who says he won鈥檛 be dabbing after anymore goals. The Canucks top prospect for Timr氓 IK last year, tucking his head into the crook of his elbow with a wide grin on his face.
鈥淚t was my friends who pushed me to do it, but I鈥檝e stopped with that now,鈥� he said after on-ice sessions at UBC. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to see me do that again.鈥�
One of the big reasons why he stopped was his older brother, Nashville Predators prospect Emil Pettersson.
鈥淢y brother was ashamed when I did it,鈥� he says, confirming that Emil didn鈥檛 like the dab: 鈥淣o. No no no no no.鈥�
His older brother wasn鈥檛 the only one telling him to cut it out, however.
Jonathan Dahlen may have been Pettersson鈥檚 best friend in Sweden, but he was quick to deny any responsibility for Pettersson dabbing on the ice, making it clear that he wasn鈥檛 one of the friends pressuring him to do it.
鈥淚 was one of the friends who pressured him to stop,鈥� says Dahlen. 鈥淚t was a quick end to that.鈥�
Even if Dahlen wasn鈥檛 a fan of the dab, having another teenager on the top line for Timr氓 IK might have helped Pettersson feel confident enough to try such a young man鈥檚 move. It鈥檚 unusual for even one teenager to play a top line role in the Allsvenskan, let alone two. That鈥檚 partly because most teenaged players in the Allsvenskan are just on loan from their SHL clubs.
鈥淢ost teenagers play on a junior team with an SHL team,鈥� says Dahlen. 鈥淭hey go up to play 8 to 10 minutes per game on a third or fourth line, but we were playing 18-20 minutes in a pro league and getting power play time.鈥�
For Dahlen, he recommends that other young players take a similar route, signing with an Allsvenskan team to play more significant minutes against men rather than minimal minutes in the SHL.
Dahlen has a choice to make, whether to go back to Sweden to play in the SHL next season or come over to North America to play in the AHL and hope for an NHL opportunity. Pettersson, on the other hand, has already made his choice. Barring a crazy development at Canucks training camp in the Fall, Pettersson will return to Sweden.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to play in V盲xj枚,鈥� he says, then jokes, 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to pronounce for you guys.鈥�
The question is whether he鈥檒l get the same opportunity for V盲xj枚 that he did for Timr氓 IK, but he is optimistic about getting a top-six role.
鈥淚 hope so,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 say where I鈥檓 going to play now, but yes, I hope so.鈥�
听
