For starters, junior Tim Pettit would like to set the record straight—he does not love slapshots.

“That was a terrible quote I threw out there,” Pettit said.

After breaking free of a season-opening slump in this weekend’s North Country sweep, Pettit, flushed with victory, may have revealed a little too much.

“I really enjoy taking slapshots,” Pettit was quoted as saying in Monday’s issue of The Crimson.

“I read that, I almost died,” he admitted sheepishly.

He should have no reason to be embarrassed—slapshots are in fact his forte. Despite his self-conscious retraction, Pettit’s team-leading 16 goals last year seem to show that he not only enjoys the shot but excels at its execution.

“I always took a lot of pride in shooting,” Pettit acknowledged.

Growing up in Seattle, Wash., Pettit spent his weekends driving the two and a half hours up to Vancouver, B.C., where his league games took place. He eventually left the West Coast for four years of hockey at Taft, a Connecticut prep school.

Pettit’s summers provided no respite from training, as he would spend the hours after practice shooting dozens of pucks in his backyard.

“I think I’ve put a lot of emphasis into my shot, and over the years it’s just gotten a lot better,” Pettit said.

However, during Harvard’s first two weekends of play this year it appeared the Shot had gone on sabbatical and taken Pettit along with it.

In the initial three games of the season, Pettit’s typical offensive presence was markedly absent. He had no goals in the first three contests as he struggled to find his comfort zone.

“I just wasn’t finishing the opportunities I was getting,” Pettit said.

Then, this past weekend against St. Lawrence, he underwent a resurgence. In the Crimson’s emphatic 6-1 win over the Saints, Pettit came roaring back to life with two goals and a pair of assists. Against Clarkson the following night, he notched the game’s opening score on an unassisted, shorthanded goal. Pettit’s overall resurgence earned him ECAC Player of the Week honors.

So what was ailing the shooter before his North Country knock-around? Pettit cites an absence of self-assurance.