Phil Kessel

[OldTimeHockey]

I don't think anyone was suggesting trading him because he wasn't a good hockey player. I believe the suggestion was being made because he could walk for free at the end of next year and even if he was to stay, he may command a really high salary.

And the suggestion was to trade him and, hopefully, win the deal. It wasn't to give him away.

People forget, when the Sens traded Alexei Yashin he was legitimately one of the best offensive players in the game. And before people jump in on that they should know that, yes, I am saying that Phil Kessel and Alexei Yashin are exactly the same.

Really? I mean really? The same?

Six 30+ goal seasons in his first 8 years(missing 30 only in the lockout season and a season where he was injured)

Two 40+ goal seasons in the same time frame.

I'd say goal scoring wise they're pretty similar.

Yashin did put up much better point totals though.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

I don't think anyone was suggesting trading him because he wasn't a good hockey player. I believe the suggestion was being made because he could walk for free at the end of next year and even if he was to stay, he may command a really high salary.

And the suggestion was to trade him and, hopefully, win the deal. It wasn't to give him away.

People forget, when the Sens traded Alexei Yashin he was legitimately one of the best offensive players in the game. And before people jump in on that they should know that, yes, I am saying that Phil Kessel and Alexei Yashin are exactly the same.

Really? I mean really? The same?

I'm pretty sure the "exactly the same" comment was tongue-in-cheek.

 

[Zee]

In terms of Seguin vs. Kessel, I'm pretty sure Phil doesn't do stuff like this:

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/23/seguins-no-homo-tweet-ignites-firestorm

 

[TML fan]

In terms of Seguin vs. Kessel, I'm pretty sure Phil doesn't do stuff like this:

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/23/seguins-no-homo-tweet-ignites-firestorm

Stuff like that pretty much confirms what I already knew about him. He's a giant douche. Good hockey player. Terrible personality.

 

[Deebo]

In terms of Seguin vs. Kessel, I'm pretty sure Phil doesn't do stuff like this:

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/23/seguins-no-homo-tweet-ignites-firestorm

He's 21.

I'm willing to cut him some slack, I did/said some pretty stupid things at that age.

 

[Zee]

In terms of Seguin vs. Kessel, I'm pretty sure Phil doesn't do stuff like this:

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/23/seguins-no-homo-tweet-ignites-firestorm

He's 21.

I'm willing to cut him some slack, I did/said some pretty stupid things at that age.

As TML Fan said above, there's been background talk about Seguin's personality being a spoiled jerk off the ice.  I'm starting to believe it.

 

[TML fan]

In terms of Seguin vs. Kessel, I'm pretty sure Phil doesn't do stuff like this:

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/23/seguins-no-homo-tweet-ignites-firestorm

He's 21.

I'm willing to cut him some slack, I did/said some pretty stupid things at that age.

I could believe that his personality flaws are the result of being completely immature, but being immature doesn't make him any less of a douche in my mind.

 

[Britishbulldog]

In terms of Seguin vs. Kessel, I'm pretty sure Phil doesn't do stuff like this:

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/23/seguins-no-homo-tweet-ignites-firestorm

He's 21.

I'm willing to cut him some slack, I did/said some pretty stupid things at that age.

As TML Fan said above, there's been background talk about Seguin's personality being a spoiled jerk off the ice.  I'm starting to believe it.

I`m a 2% guy myself if that's any help.....

 

[Corn Flake]

In terms of Seguin vs. Kessel, I'm pretty sure Phil doesn't do stuff like this:

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/23/seguins-no-homo-tweet-ignites-firestorm

He's 21.

I'm willing to cut him some slack, I did/said some pretty stupid things at that age.

I could believe that his personality flaws are the result of being completely immature, but being immature doesn't make him any less of a douche in my mind.

he is absolutely a massive douche.

one example: was caught at a Blue Jays game last summer shouting "Thank you Kessel" when a "Let's go Blue Jays" chant was on.

 

[Zee]

In terms of Seguin vs. Kessel, I'm pretty sure Phil doesn't do stuff like this:

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/23/seguins-no-homo-tweet-ignites-firestorm

He's 21.

I'm willing to cut him some slack, I did/said some pretty stupid things at that age.

I could believe that his personality flaws are the result of being completely immature, but being immature doesn't make him any less of a douche in my mind.

he is absolutely a massive douche.

one example: was caught at a Blue Jays game last summer shouting "Thank you Kessel" when a "Let's go Blue Jays" chant was on.

This is why I want the Leafs to eliminate the Bruins in the playoffs, however unrealistic that wish may be.  Nothing would be more exciting than to have Kessel scoring the OT winning goal IN BOSTON to wrap up the series.  Thank you Kessel.  Ok, it'll probably never happen.

 

[Kin]

Really? I mean really? The same?

I'm pretty sure the "exactly the same" comment was tongue-in-cheek.

No! EXACTLY THE SAME!

 

[Corn Flake]

This is why I want the Leafs to eliminate the Bruins in the playoffs, however unrealistic that wish may be.  Nothing would be more exciting than to have Kessel scoring the OT winning goal IN BOSTON to wrap up the series.  Thank you Kessel.  Ok, it'll probably never happen.

No it probably won't happen but I agree what a moment it would be.

I do however think the Bruins are one of the teams the Leafs could beat. They aren't the same animal they have been. They look a bit off this year, without the same snarl as they have had in the past.  The Leafs are not intimidated by them as they have been, plus with Bergeron dealing with concussion issues, their best forward is missing.

I want to avoid the Caps and Pens at all costs... especially the Caps right now.  Any other team I'm game for the Leafs having a chance to beat.

 

[Zee]

This is why I want the Leafs to eliminate the Bruins in the playoffs, however unrealistic that wish may be.  Nothing would be more exciting than to have Kessel scoring the OT winning goal IN BOSTON to wrap up the series.  Thank you Kessel.  Ok, it'll probably never happen.

No it probably won't happen but I agree what a moment it would be.

I do however think the Bruins are one of the teams the Leafs could beat. They aren't the same animal they have been. They look a bit off this year, without the same snarl as they have had in the past.  The Leafs are not intimidated by them as they have been, plus with Bergeron dealing with concussion issues, their best forward is missing.

I want to avoid the Caps and Pens at all costs... especially the Caps right now.  Any other team I'm game for the Leafs having a chance to beat.

I have to take back my hyperbole about "nothing being more exciting".  Just beating the Bruins would be exciting enough whether Kessel does anything in the series or not.  Having Kessel play a huge factor would give it that little extra though. 

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Really? I mean really? The same?

I'm pretty sure the "exactly the same" comment was tongue-in-cheek.

No! EXACTLY THE SAME!

How many tongues do you have, anyway?

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=421470
Only three players have accumulated more points in the past two seasons than Phil Kessel, the Maple Leafs 25-year-old reluctant star. One is the reigning Hart Trophy winner (Evgeni Malkin), another the reigning Rocket Richard winner (Steven Stamkos) and the third a rising star in Philadelphia (Claude Giroux).
...
That production in a lockout-shortened year includes 32 assists, the second-best number by any winger this season (Martin St. Louis) and a number he's bested only once before, totaling 45 helpers a year ago in what proved to be a career season. He's also done so without Joffrey Lupul, his all-star running mate, and a big, space-creating number one centre. Kessel has additionally embraced the detailed demands of his third NHL coach, demonstrating growth in a long lacking area of the game. "Offensively I think he's been great the whole time," said Gunnarsson, "[but in the] last year I think he's been way better defensively, just back-checking and doing all the right stuff. I think he's been way better at that."

He has, in essence, added dimensions to a game that was once thought to have been defined by goal-scoring and goal-scoring alone.

Nice little piece.  I'm surprised Siegel didn't draw some fair conclusion that the rounding out of Kessel's overall game may well be in no small part because of his early season struggles.  He was shooting so much, and had so many near goals that resulted in so few actual goals, it now seems as often as not that Kessel is more than willing to make the great pass as to take the great shot.  Kessel seems to be shooting far less now than he did in the early season, but is overall putting up more points courtesy of his many assists.

Anybody that's watched him the past few years should have already known that Kessel is an excellent passer, but now he's really made his passing to be equally deadly and called upon as his shooting.  I think we can maybe actually thank his early season struggles for some of the rounding out of his overall offensive game.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Nice little piece.  I'm surprised Siegel didn't draw some fair conclusion that the rounding out of Kessel's overall game may well be in no small part because of his early season struggles.  He was shooting so much, and had so many near goals that resulted in so few actual goals, it now seems as often as not that Kessel is more than willing to make the great pass as to take the great shot.  Kessel seems to be shooting far less now than he did in the early season, but is overall putting up more points courtesy of his many assists.

I haven't added them up and averaged it out or anything, but just from a quick look at his game log he doesn't really seem to be shooting less (or at least not significantly/noticeably less) than earlier in the season: http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8473548&season=20122013&view=gamelog

Also, has anybody read Kessel's twitter bio lately?  It's pretty funny (spelling mistakes and all):

Nice guy, trys hard,loves the game. Play for the Toronto Maple Leafs

 

[ZBBM]

His play this year has pretty well shut up haters like me.  It seems like he assists on every other goal we get, and he actually does backcheck fairly regularly.  Even I never expected him to take hits (which he avoids like the plague).  He does go into dirty areas a bit more frequently. 

The last piece of the puzzle is how he does in the playoffs when the checking gets much closer and the intensity is way up.  If he disappears like he does against Boston, then, well, he'll not really have a claim to elite status.  I guess he did OK when he was with the Bruins, but didn't he also get benched?  Can't remember the details.  Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how he does.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

His play this year has pretty well shut up haters like me.  It seems like he assists on every other goal we get, and he actually does backcheck fairly regularly.  Even I never expected him to take hits (which he avoids like the plague).  He does go into dirty areas a bit more frequently. 

The last piece of the puzzle is how he does in the playoffs when the checking gets much closer and the intensity is way up.  If he disappears like he does against Boston, then, well, he'll not really have a claim to elite status.  I guess he did OK when he was with the Bruins, but didn't he also get benched?  Can't remember the details.  Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how he does.

I love that you now see him fill in for the defense when they pinch. His mindset has changed this year and that's great.

As for the playoffs. Yes he was benched for 3 games I believe. I also believe he came back the next game and scored a hat trick. He has 9 goals in 15 playoff games and a ppg player in the playoffs so far.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Nice little piece.  I'm surprised Siegel didn't draw some fair conclusion that the rounding out of Kessel's overall game may well be in no small part because of his early season struggles.  He was shooting so much, and had so many near goals that resulted in so few actual goals, it now seems as often as not that Kessel is more than willing to make the great pass as to take the great shot.  Kessel seems to be shooting far less now than he did in the early season, but is overall putting up more points courtesy of his many assists.

I haven't added them up and averaged it out or anything, but just from a quick look at his game log he doesn't really seem to be shooting less (or at least not significantly/noticeably less) than earlier in the season: http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8473548&season=20122013&view=gamelog

Stop bothering me with facts!  I guess I was considering how in the very early going he was averaging around 5 shots a game and was leading the league in shots with nary a goal.  He's now 9th in shots and 3.4 shots/game, including about 3.1 shots/game after his first 7 games.

 

[Jalili]

This is why I want the Leafs to eliminate the Bruins in the playoffs, however unrealistic that wish may be.  Nothing would be more exciting than to have Kessel scoring the OT winning goal IN BOSTON to wrap up the series.  Thank you Kessel.  Ok, it'll probably never happen.

No it probably won't happen but I agree what a moment it would be.

I do however think the Bruins are one of the teams the Leafs could beat. They aren't the same animal they have been. They look a bit off this year, without the same snarl as they have had in the past.  The Leafs are not intimidated by them as they have been, plus with Bergeron dealing with concussion issues, their best forward is missing.

I want to avoid the Caps and Pens at all costs... especially the Caps right now.  Any other team I'm game for the Leafs having a chance to beat.

Even the Pens... if those lingering health issues continue, and their goaltending turns into a fireshow again... who knows?

The East isn't really that strong this year.