Eriksson Ek is one of the best at being a pest

Joel Eriksson Ek is so good at what he does even his teammates get annoyed with him sometimes. That’s according to Matt Dumba, who recently spoke to The Athletic about Eriksson Ek’s style of play stating he won’t even let up in practice.

“You just want to slash him across the head. He just plays hard. He’s strong. He’s physically imposing, and that just annoys the heck out of you. This guy’s just always over you, I feel. In practice sometimes, it’s like, ‘Come on, just leave me alone already.’”

Fellow teammate, and Eriksson’s Ek’s usual linemate Luke Kunin agrees, but says what Eriksson Ek does is almost like an artform.

“It’s a strength to piss off your opponent, and nobody pisses off opponents like Ekker. It’s just how hard he plays. He’s just a pest out there. That’s why you love playing with him out there. He gets under the opponent’s skin and is always doing the right things, and it’s almost funny to watch because guys hate him.”

Eriksson Ek himself seems nonchalant about the whole thing, telling The Athletic he has no idea why opponents hate him. He just likes to play hockey and go hard.

“To be honest with you, I’ve got no clue why. I just try to go into hard areas and try to battle for the puck. If I don’t have the puck, I want to get it back as soon as possible. Be tight to guys, don’t give them a lot of space and try to be a pain to play against.”

Zach Parise says he knows why, and it’s a pretty funny assessment of the situation.

"It’s that face. It’s just that look on his face. I think it drives players crazy. He just looks at you with that face, you know, kind of like a blank stare and a slight grin. He’s just got that look, like after he knocks the puck away from you, he kind of gives you that look, and opponents are like, ‘I don’t know whether to be pissed off at you or not,’ you know what I mean? It’s great, it’s awesome.”

Whatever Eriksson Ek is doing, it’s working, and he should never stop doing it. There’s nothing like having a player on your team that can make your opponents go blind with rage!