Pettersson on Rakell's Sweden snub: 'He's deserving'
One of the more surprising omissions from the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters released on Wednesday ahead of the February tournament was Sweden leaving Rickard Rakell off its roster. Rakell's 10 goals are the fourth-most of any Swedish player this season, behind William Nylander (15), Adrian Kempe (12) and Jesper Bratt (12).
Rakell's countryman Marcus Pettersson said he was "very surprised" to see Rakell left off after the year he's having.
"He's having a great year," Pettersson said. "He's come a long way from last year, you see how hard he's worked for us in here. Even to make that team would have meant a lot to him."
Knowing Rakell, though, Pettersson thinks that the snub will only motivate him even more.
"You see how he thrives when things are going against him," Pettersson said. "He doesn't let it get to him, but he still keeps that in the back of his mind and pushes forward. I think it can go both ways -- you don't want to just discard it, you want that kind of fire. But you don't want it to weigh it down on you. He knows he's deserving of being on that team. But you see a lot of the teams, they're trying to build a team with roles and stuff like that. He knows he's deserving. I hope he does. If not, I'll tell him."
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Taylor Haase
7:34 pm - 12.05.2024Cranberry, Pa.Pettersson on Rakell's Sweden snub: 'He's deserving'
One of the more surprising omissions from the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters released on Wednesday ahead of the February tournament was Sweden leaving Rickard Rakell off its roster. Rakell's 10 goals are the fourth-most of any Swedish player this season, behind William Nylander (15), Adrian Kempe (12) and Jesper Bratt (12).
Rakell's countryman Marcus Pettersson said he was "very surprised" to see Rakell left off after the year he's having.
"He's having a great year," Pettersson said. "He's come a long way from last year, you see how hard he's worked for us in here. Even to make that team would have meant a lot to him."
Knowing Rakell, though, Pettersson thinks that the snub will only motivate him even more.
"You see how he thrives when things are going against him," Pettersson said. "He doesn't let it get to him, but he still keeps that in the back of his mind and pushes forward. I think it can go both ways -- you don't want to just discard it, you want that kind of fire. But you don't want it to weigh it down on you. He knows he's deserving of being on that team. But you see a lot of the teams, they're trying to build a team with roles and stuff like that. He knows he's deserving. I hope he does. If not, I'll tell him."
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Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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