In the midst of a disheartening stretch in the 2025-26 NHL season, Quinn Hughes voiced a clear message to Elias Pettersson and the rest of the Vancouver Canucks. With a lot to prove, the āNucks are feeling the weight on their shoulders as the fanbase demands results.
However, instead of crumbling under pressure, the Canucks must remain together and stay the course. Hughes is making sure his team is aware of that, voicing a confident message for Pettersson and company to listen to in a challenging NHL season.
āYou can always find a way to be negative. Always. But you can always find a way to be positive, too,ā Hughes commented per Sportsnet. āBut itās obviously really hard to do because youāre frustrated, and itās hard to flip a switch where nothingās going to bother me today and Iām going to be completely positive.ā
Hughes speaks from experience
Though much easier said than done, Vancouver canāt afford to dwell on its defeats for too long. Instead, the Canucks must turn the tide as they are approaching the bottom of the Pacific Divisionāfar from their objective coming into the 2025-26 NHL season.
Elias Pettersson at Capital One Arena on October 19, 2025 in Washington, DC.
āIāve been there at times this year where youāre on the negative side a bit, and youāve just got to flip it and control what you can control. I mean, itād be nice if we started 7-3, but we didnāt. Now weāre at where weāre at and just have to move on from here,ā Hughes concluded. āObviously, Iām never happy losing.ā
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For an organization still in search of its first Stanley Cup, languishing near the bottom of the standings after losing four of its last five games is far from what the Canucks expected. Somethingās got to change for Hughes, Pettersson, and company, or the buzz in Vancity will grow uncontrollably.
