J.T. Miller finally confirmed this week what Vancouver Canucks fans have wondered for two years. He says he went to rehab.
The admission came on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast, released Thursday, recorded over the summer while Miller played golf with the hosts.
Host Paul Bissonnette needled Miller mid-swing about getting "bullied more than Petey on the Canucks."
Miller's response cut right through the small talk. "Petey in my backswing is crazy... I went to rehab for that."
He hit a clean drive right after saying it, then told producers not to edit any of it out. Miller wanted this on the record.
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Back in November 2024, the Canucks only ever called it a leave for personal reasons. Miller missed 10 games that stretch.
Then head coach Rick Tocchet called Miller the team's "emotional leader" and said he was his own worst critic.
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J.T. Miller drops very special rehab admission after years of Canucks mystery
Nobody in that dressing room ever named what actually broke between Miller and Elias Pettersson. Tocchet still won't.
"I don't know if there's a bad guy in the thing," Tocchet said at season's end. "It just didn't work out."
Pettersson posted 51 points in 74 games with Vancouver this past season, still a -30 rating on a team that finished 25-49-8.
Miller, now with the Rangers, put up 53 points in 68 games and also finished at minus-30, carrying an $8,000,000 cap hit.
Funny how two guys who couldn't coexist ended up with matching plus-minus numbers on opposite coasts.
Is it possible the Canucks locker room was simply too small for two stars who needed to be the guy? That question never got answered publicly.
What we do know is the fallout spread. Tocchet turned down a Canucks extension and left for Philadelphia.
Quinn Hughes was traded to Minnesota halfway through last season, a stunning move for a captain.
Vancouver hired Manny Malhotra as head coach this summer, a fresh voice after a season that fell apart.
Rangers fans, meanwhile, get a version of Miller who's finally saying the quiet part out loud, years after the fact.
That kind of honesty is rare in this league. Most players bury this stuff and move on without ever explaining themselves.
Miller chose otherwise, on a golf podcast, mid-backswing, with the tape rolling. Nobody made him say it.
Pettersson remains in Vancouver, still adjusting to a rebuild nobody saw coming when this all started. The next chapter of that story hasn't been written yet.
Source : Canucks: J.T. Miller finally admits he went to 'rehab'
Should the Canucks have traded J.T. Miller sooner once the Pettersson rift became public?
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