“Help Me”: NHL Broadcaster John Shorthouse Left Confused as Canucks Line-Up Triple Pettersson Against Avalanche

It’s not unheard of when pro players in the same sport share their first or surnames. It’s even rarer for players sharing the same name to play on the ice together. However, only the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks have the unique distinction of having not, not two, but three players named Pettersson in their team. So when all three played against the Avalanche, John Shorthouse couldn’t help but crack a joke.

One-half of the iconic ‘John and John’ duo, Shorthouse or ‘Shorty’ as the fans call him, is known for his quick wit. So when the iconic play-by-play announcer took a look at the starting lineup, he couldn’t help but hilariously complain about the difficulty of commentating with three Petterssons on the team. “Mama said there’d be days like this,” Shorthouse told Dave Tomlinson.

“Elias Pedersen is in the lineup. Marcus Pedersen is in the lineup. And so too is Elias Pedersen. He’s also in the Vancouver lineup,” said Shorty as the camera switched between the three Petterssons of Vancouver. “Help me, Dave,” John Shorthand asked his NHL broadcast partner. Yet, jokes aside, the triple Pettersson situation does make things difficult.

Play-by-play broadcasters like Shorthouse can’t call them by their surnames, as it’ll confuse the fans about which Pettersson they’re addressing. While you may be thinking the problem would be solved by addressing the players playing positions, you’d be wrong. Thanks to Marcus Pettersson joining the squad, the Canucks now have two defensemen with the same surname.

Shorthouse couldn’t resort to nicknames, either, as all three NHL players answer to Petey. In fact, the defenseman Elias Pettersson has already earned the modified ‘D-Petey’ nickname. Once again, that won’t work now that former Pittsburgh Penguin Marcus Pettersson has joined the squad. What more? All three teammates are also Swedish.

However, it’s safe to say that a commentator of John Shorthouse’s caliber will soon come up with his unique solution. After all, The Athletic’s Thomas Drance called Shorthouse the best in the industry when it comes to incorporating ‘”on-ice chatter” in his commentary. Meanwhile, the three Pettersons had a successful outing on the ice.

The Vancouver Canucks shut down their NHL Western Conference rivals

The Canucks had a thrilling game with the Central Division team. The Colorado Avalanche had the odds in their favor coming into the clash, as they’d won their last two games, while the Canucks were on a two-game losing streak and the J.T. Miller transfer situation. The fact that the Avalanche has shut out victories in both their previous games only made it look better. However, the Canucks had the answer.

Meanwhile, to make things worse, Vancouver’s star defenseman Quinn Hughes sat on the sidelines due to an undisclosed injury. However, Marcus Petterson lived up to his words. “We’ve got great forwards here. So give them the puck as much as you can, but in good spots too,” the NHL veteran said as per The Province and that’s exactly what he and the rest of the defense did.

The result was Jake DeBrusk, Brock Boeser, and Drew O’Connor, each finding the back of the net. The Game ended with Vancouver getting the shoutout victory with 3-0 on the scoreboard. However, such a win wouldn’t be possible without Thatcher Demko’s brilliant goaltending. Demko stopped 25 shots on target to deny the Avalanche a single goal for the night. So there’s little doubt John Shorthouse had fun commenting during the match, despite the Pettersson dilemma.