If you don't know who Phil Kessel is by now, he is a right winger who arrived in Pittsburgh last season, gift wrapped by Toronto with a bow (and maybe even a hotdog) on his head.
Born the same year as hockey king, Sidney Crosby, Kessel was selected fifth overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2006 NHL Draft, alongside classmates like Erik Johnson, Jonathan Toews, Nick Backstrom, Kyle Okposo, Claude Giroux, and Nick Foligno. Many of these picks would go on to help rebuild their respective teams, however, only two of them would get to lift the Stanley Cup. Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks is one. Phil Kessel is the other.
While the cup is a peak point of any NHL player's career, one of the most amazing parts of Phil Kessel's story is actually not completely hockey-related. It's his battle with cancer. In December of his rookie year, Kessel was hospitalized and diagnosed with testicular cancer. He was pronounced cancer-free only five days later and was back on ice less than a month later. Kessel was recalled to the Bruins roster two days later and was back to playing at NHL level after missing only a mere eleven games. To honor his work towards a successful and quick recovery, Kessel was awarded the Masterson Memorial Trophy, which emulates a dedication and special perseverance in regards to hockey.
Image Credit: The Canadian Press / Frank Gunn
Now, Phil Kessel wasn't always a Pittsburgh Penguin. In fact, he spent the majority of his professional career in Toronto with the Maple Leafs. Inked into a hefty eight million a year, the rebuilding Leafs felt that Kessel was lazy, half-assing, and a poison on the team. Whether or not reports of his habits were true, the claims and the treatment directed as Kessel were absolutely disgusting. No team, no organization, and no town should ever treat a player -- or any human being -- the way they treated Phil Kessel.
By the end of the 2015-2016 season, however, Kessel was proving the Leafs very, very wrong. Ever hardworking, Kessel majorly contributed to regular season success, playing in every single regular season game and recording a total of fifty-nine points. Even in the post-season, Kessel and his line were a major force to be reckoned with. Without Kessel, the Pens may not be the reigning Stanley Cup Champions right now.
Conn Smythe Trophy
We're getting a little ahead of ourselves so let's backtrack a little. After the Blackhawks, I'd name my secondary team as the Washington Capitals. And as a Caps fan, one of my least favorite teams is probably the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's pure duty, alright? Of course, I appreciate the general sport of hockey more than anything and I follow certain players more than I really follow certain teams. That said, there aren't many teams that I truly have bad feelings for. But, there's always somebody around that I'll root for. So after the Penguins bounced the Capitals from the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, I begrudgingly decided to root Black and Yellow for the sake of a couple players.
Again, as a hockey fan, I watched all of the Stanley Cup Final games (and as many Playoff games in general as possible) despite the fact that I wasn't invested in either team. At that point, it was more about the hockey and the game itself than anything else. So even though I did not truly follow the Pittsburgh Penguins, one man definitely stood out throughout the entire postseason.
That man is Philip "Phil" Joseph Kessel Jr.
One third of the eventually legendary HBK line (Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino, Phil Kessel), Kessel recorded 10 goals and 22 points in 24 games throughout the postseason. Comparatively, Pens Captain Sidney Crosby recorded just 6 goals and 19 points in the same 24 games played. While Crosby is a phenomenal player and most definitely a legend, Kessel was essentially the hero of Pittsburgh's Cup run, especially when his history is brought into the light. Not only did he shine in the playoffs, but he was one of the league's most improved players throughout the season.
So here is where The Great One Syndrome comes into play. Wayne Gretzky was (and arguably still is) the king of professional hockey and specifically the NHL. Since his retirement, the hockey world has clung to players in an attempt to fill the void and name another Great One. Sidney Crosby is pretty much unanimously the Great One of his generation, flanked by newly captained Connor McDavid as his heir. However, no matter how deserving our modern Great Ones are, the NHL does this terrible thing where it awards them, deserving or not. Although Crosby's overall career is absolutely outstanding and his postseason immensely successful, it overshadows his teammate who very clearly outshone him in this particular set of twenty-four games.
Phil Kessel fell victim to The Great One Syndrome when Crosby was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy (awarded to the most valuable player of the playoffs) in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. Since Evgeni Malkin was awarded the trophy the last time the Pens won the Cup in 2009, the award rounds out Crosby's Hall of Fame resume.
Team USA
Phil Kessel's involvement with the American national team began with his invitation and subsequent enrollment to the United States National Team Development Program during his high school years. While on the roster, he set two separate records for goals and points.
Kessel has a lengthy record of representing Team USA in international contests, beginning in 2005 on the American team for the IIHF World Juniors tournament. He returned the following year, as well. In his entire international juniors career, he recorded twenty-one goals and forty-three points in twenty-six games played.
Once aged out, Kessel went on to represent the States in IIHF Worlds, an international twenty-and-over tournament, for three more years. In 2006, he was the youngest player on the roster.
Asides from Worlds, Kessel was named to the American Olympic roster in both 2010 and 2014. The 2010 team received a silver medal whilst the 2014 team finished in fourth place and did not medal. Nonetheless, he had recorded one goal and two points in 2010 and a whopping five goals and eight points in 2014, proving himself as a major contribution to Team USA.
About time for another elite international competition, the World Cup of Hockey, an international tournament hosted by both the NHL and IIHF throughout September and October of 2016, was hyped up throughout the entire season leading up to it. In the postseason, around the same time as the 2016 Conn Smythe snub, the World Cup of Hockey rosters were finally released. Team USA featured the usual contenders -- Patrick Kane, Joe Pavelski, Jonathan Quick -- but lacked a recent Stanley Cup Champion.
Yup. They cut Phil Kessel, too.
Team USA was a train wreck on ice. The national team, coached by The Columbus Blue Jackets' John Tortorella, managed to lose all three games in the Round Robin portion of the tournament. In fact, the team did so terribly in its final game that Phil Kessel, the legend himself, had some shade to throw:
Just sitting around the house tonight w my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn't put my finger on it.— Phil Kessel (@PKessel81) September 21, 2016
Maybe USA could've succeeded if they had Phil the Thrill, reigning Stanley Cup Champion, dressed and on ice... But most likely not, since other star players -- in this case, roster-named and dressed -- like TJ Oshie and Patrick Kane were not used to maximum advantage. As Team USA plummeted in the tournament, criticism fell mostly on Tortorella and his poor coaching choices in strategy and player-line usage.
Overall, Team USA was a mess during the World Cup and probably couldn't have been saved by Phil alone. However, representing your country in an elite international contest is a great honor, one that Kessel should have been included in. How could an elite tournament call for national teams to present their greatest players, the cream and pride of their nation, and exclude Phil Kessel, a legendary snapshooter, Conn Smythe contender, and Stanley Cup Champion? It's a disgrace.
The All Star Game
Oh, the dreaded NHL All Star Game... Every January, the hockey world gets turned upside down and ends up throttling each other over the All Star selections. Mostly a horse and pony show, the All Star game has a reputation of ulterior motives as a marketing ploy and an excuse for the NHL to sucker even more money out of fans.
Despite the politics of the All Star Game, the principle of being named as an All Star is an immense honor for any NHL player. It's a recognition of hard work, success, and respect. The Game is supposed to showcase the greatest talents throughout the League. Which is why we're raising our brow at the lack of Phil Kessel's invitation yet again.
Even further, the NHL allows the captain of each divisional team to be voted in by fans. They even included Phil Kessel as a preset choice on the online survey. At one point, Kessel was in the top five for most-chosen players in the Metropolitan division.
With the 2017 All Star Game coming up in a couple of weeks, the official rosters have been released and, once again, are lacking our favorite right winger.
While every NHL franchise must be represented, some teams, including the Chicago Blackhawks, have more than one (or two, or three) players headed to the All Star Game. Sidney Crosby, as the modern Great One, is a given. Malkin, his partner, is also a sensible and usual All Star. Despite this, Kessel deserves some type of credit for his successes, as well.
After an amazing season and a string of snubs, Kessel is due for some type of recognition. Perhaps the All Star Game isn't the best way to honor him, especially when only the best of the best can be sent to the trick show. The build up of snubs just makes the exclusion that much worse.
It might be common knowledge that Phil Kessel is an underrated player with a great story of showing up the team that turned their back on him. It might be a common practice to talk about, to talk about Phil and his successes. But it seems to be common to exclude him from the respect and acknowledgement that he has rightfully earned.
Perhaps it's just Phil Kessel versus the NHL.
