Meet The Leafs : Phil Kessel

Born October 2, 1987 (1987-10-02) (age 22),
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Height
Weight 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Right wing
Shoots Right
NHL team
F. teams Toronto Maple Leafs
Boston Bruins
Ntl. team United States
NHL Draft 5th overall, 2006
Boston Bruins
Playing career 2006–present


Kessel had an outstanding 2004–05 junior season, one in which many NHL scouts ranked him as a prospect comparable to Sidney Crosby[1] (and one of The Next Ones).[2] Born in October, Kessel missed the 2005 NHL Entry Draft cutoff by only one month. However, in 2005–06, Kessel experienced several setbacks that hurt his ranking as a prospect. Considered the most talented player on the favored United States team in the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, he scored only one goal and the team finished in fourth. His college performance was less spectacular than expected; by season's end he was playing third-line minutes for a loaded Minnesota Golden Gophers squad, though he did score 18 goals and finish with 51 total points, a solid season for a freshman forward. Boston Bruin forward Blake Wheeler was a teammate of Kessel at the University of Minnesota, during the 2005–06 collegiate ice hockey season.

Kessel was still viewed highly enough that he was drafted fifth overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. Prior to the draft he dropped in ranking from first to second place among the North American skaters and in the final ranking he was ranked fifth among the North American skaters. At one point during his draft year he was projected to be the number 1 overall pick but was ultimately surpassed by Erik Johnson and then continued to drop.


On August 17, 2006, the Bruins announced that they had signed Kessel to a 3 year entry-level contract worth the rookie maximum of $850,000.

On December 11, 2006, his family announced that Kessel was hospitalized for a reason unrelated to hockey. Later during the day, Bob Lobel, a sportscaster in the region of Boston, confirmed that Kessel was diagnosed with a form of testicular cancer.[3]

On December 16, 2006, Kessel was announced cancer-free. On January 5, 2007, he was assigned to Providence for conditioning purposes[4] and then recalled on January 7. Kessel returned to the Bruins line-up on January 9, against the Ottawa Senators, after missing only 11 regular season games following cancer surgery.

Kessel was named to the 2007 NHL YoungStars Game which took place in Dallas, Texas, on January 23, 2007. He recorded a hat trick (including a unique powerplay with a game winning goal) and an assist during this game in a 9-8 Eastern Conference victory.[5]

While Kessel was not among top rookies in goals or assists, he became second among rookies with four shootout goals (4 of 7). Each goal was a game-deciding one that brought his team a win.

On March 31, 2007, Boston Herald's author Stephen Harris reported that Kessel was voted by Boston writers as the team's candidate for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey).[6] Later, on June 14, at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, NHL announced that Kessel had been officially selected as the recipient of the 2007 Masterton award.

His first shootout goal of the 2007–08 NHL season came on October 20, 2007, playing in Boston against the New York Rangers, and was the only goal scored in that game. He repeated that feat against the Rangers in Boston on January 19, 2008, as a game-winning shootout goal. Once again, on February 8, 2008, Kessel scored the only shootout goal in an "away" game against the Buffalo Sabres, winning the game with a 3-2 "come-from-behind" score for the Bruins, totally became franchise leader for game-deciding shootout goals.

To start the Bruins' 2008–09 NHL season, Kessel scored the very first Bruins goal of the season on October 9, 2008, playing against the Colorado Avalanche during the first period of the Colorado team's home opener, that resulted in the Bruins 5-4 victory. Kessel closed out the regular season on a high note, scoring his second career hat trick in the April 12, 2009, 6-2 visitors' victory against the New York Islanders[7], and amassing the highest number of NHL regular season goals so far in his young career with 36, the most on the Bruins team for the season.

In the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Kessel would play an integral role in the team's playoff run, leading the team with 6 goals, before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference semi-finals in 7 games. After the playoffs, it was reported that Kessel would need off-season shoulder surgery, most likely caused during the March 10, 2009, 2-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The surgery was successfully performed[8] on May 21, 2009, with recuperation from the surgery causing Kessel to miss the start of the 2009–10 NHL season.[9]

On September 18, 2009, the Boston Bruins traded the talented sniper to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he quickly signed a five-year, $27 million contract. The Leafs gave Boston their first (Tyler Seguin) and second round (Jared Knight) Entry Draft selections in 2010, as well as a first round Entry Draft pick in 2011.[10]

On November 3, 2009, Kessel made his debut as a Leaf against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kessel had a total of 10 shots on goal in the game, a career high, however he was not able to record any assists or goals. Despite not recording any points, Kessel still received the third star of the game honor. During the game, he was the recipient of a clean, open ice hit from Lightning defenseman Mattias Öhlund; he left the ice for evaluation, but returned to action later that night as the Leafs fell to the Lightning 2–1 in overtime. Kessel scored his first goal as a Maple Leaf on November 7, 2009, in a 5–1 win over the Detroit Red Wings at the Air Canada Centre.

December 5, 2009 marked the first time that Kessel played against his former team, the Boston Bruins, at the TD Garden. Kessel's return to Boston was marked with thunderous taunting chants of his name by his former home crowd, along with a chorus of boos every time he had possession of the puck. Kessel was on the ice for the first three of the seven goals that Boston acquired in their 7-2 victory. He finished the game a -3 plus/minus with 2 shots on the night. After the game Kessel said in a post-game interview on NESN that the fans' reaction "did not affect [him]". However it was the "worst game [he] had played in a while" and that he needed to "play better".

On January 1, 2010, after NHL Winter Classic game, it was announced that Kessel, along with his Leaf team-mate Mike Komisarek, made the Olympic roster to represent Team USA at the 2010 Winter Olympics (Komisarek would miss the Olympics because of injury, however).[11]

Kessel would establish himself as the Leaf's most dangerous offensive player (not a big feat they are terrible) and finished his first season as a Maple Leaf with 30 goals, his second consecutive 30 goal season, 25 assists for 55 points.

Sens vs Leafs Tonight ... And you can watch for free!!

Here are the lineups ... look at bottom of blog ... How to watch for free.

Toronto

Forwards
Kadri Bozak Kessel
Caputi/MacArthur Grabovski Kulemin
Sjostrom Brent Armstrong
Orr Mitchell Rosehill

Defence
Beauchemin Phaneuf
Kaberle Komisarek
Gunnarsson Holzer

Goalies
Giguere
Reimer

Not Expected Tonight: Versteeg, Hanson, Caputi, Brown, Zigomanis, Finger, Schenn (not on the ice this morning) and Richmond.

Ottawa

Forwards
Milan Michalek – Jason Spezza – Daniel Alfredsson
Nick Foligno – Mike Fischer – Alex Kovalev
Peter Regin – Zack Smith – Bobby Butler
Ryan Keller – Cody Bass – Francis Lessard

Defence
Chris Campoli – Sergei Gonchar
Jared Cowan – Erik Karlsson
Patrick Wiercioch – Matt Carkner

Goalies
Pascal Leclaire
Robin Lehner


Should be a good game .... Watch at ourleafs.com , sign up and watch all 82 regular season games for free on good stream.

I'm Back : Thoughts On Pre-Season

So the mapleleafs preseason is well on the way and Ron Wilson has made a majority of his cuts for his final roster.

It has been a pretty decent exhibition, displaying some of our future in earlier games, and finding chemistry with the regular line-up. Coming out of the first five games we Ron Wilson has solidified all positions except for in his words the bottom two centers.

Bozak and Grabovski look fierce out there and have found themselves earning their respectful 1 and 2 top centers. Which leaves Brent, Mitchell, Kadri and Hanson fighting for the final two center positions.

With Hanson having a great preseason, he looks as if he is a lock for fourth line duties. Mitchell has been invisible and Kadri inconsistent. This leave Tim Brent a six year AHL veteran on the verge of earning a spot at the third line pivot.

There is no question Kadri is a better player, but clearly not ready to make the jump. Burke has stated that they are actively pursuing all options to find a bonifide third line center as well.

Some players that have been impressive in camp are Caputi for me the best impression thus far. Versteeg, Kessel , Macarthur , Kulemin , Grabovski , Richmond , and Brown.

The top line of Versteeg Bozak and Kessel is unreal, and a bonified top line, and secondary scoring should not be a problem with Grabs, Kulemin, Macarthur, who seem to have found some chemistry.

The roster looks like

Kessel - Bozak - Versteeg
Macarthur - Grabovski - Kulemin
Sjostrom - ??? - Armstrong
Orr - Hanson - Brown
Mitchell/Caputi

Phaneuf - Beauchamin
Kaberle - Komisarek
Gunnerson - Schenn
Lebda/Richmond/Finger

Giguerre - Monster

Not too bad ..... Opening night is Oct 5th against Montreal. Cant wait!