Matt Petgrave's Former Coach Trashes Him For His Character

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Tyler Ball
November 16, 2023 (3:30 PM)

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The tragedy that led to the passing of Adam Johnson has brought about a lot of opinions. Many of those opinions include the intentions of Matt Petgrave. Today a former coach of Petgrave added his thoughts to the mix.

Former Coach Trashes Petgrave

Elmo Aittola was a former coach of Matt Petgrave when he played in the Slovak Extraliga. Petgrave played 34 games under Aittola in 2021-22. This was enough time for Aittola to develop strong feelings on Petgrave.

"I coached Matt for a very short stint. I wanted to get rid of him immediately."

"I had a very negative impression of him. He has no respect for himself or his opponents."

"He used to get into a bit of a mess. He is a very dirty player."

Aittola is adamant that Petgrave is a dirty player and a mess on the ice. This has been the opinion of many who believe the tragedy was not an accident. After speaking about Petgrave's conduct in Slovakia Aittola moved on to the incident that has been highly debated.

Former Coach Comments On Petgrave's Intentions

After talking in general about Petgrave he moved on to the Johnson tragedy. Aittola seems to firmly believe that there is a possibility the actions were done on purpose.

"But if there's a player I'm willing to believe could use a skate to stop an opponent, I believe Matt Petgrave could do it. He's an extremely reckless player."

While his current teammates have said that the actions were a complete accident Aittola is not so convinced.

It's time to break the silence. Elmo Aittola, who coached Matt Petgrave in the second season, says that he is a very dirty and reckless player. Aittola is ready to believe that the kick towards Adam Johnson was not an accident.

He is the first person with a personal relationship with Petgrave to believe foul play could be the cause of the tragedy.

As Read On - Hockey Patrol - Former Coach Calls Matt Petgrave a Dirty and Reckless Player