– Hot dogs taste better than the Stanley Cup trophy!
That’s what he wrote Phil Kessel in August 2017 on Instagram as a caption to your image (you will switch to another service) from the golf course. One hodari is in Kessel’s hand, more can be found in the trophy dragged to the green.
The picture is part of the story that has followed the 35-year-old Yankee forward.
Last night, the Vegas Golden Knights’ Kessel broke the NHL’s steel man record, i.e. the most consecutive games, in the away bowl against the San Jose Sharks. He has now played in 990 consecutive NHL games.
Kessel succeeded in scoring in his celebration match. Kessel, who scored Vegas’ opening goal in the first period, celebrated a 4–2 victory over San Jose with the Nevada team.
When he posted his famous photo, Kessel was celebrating the second consecutive Stanley Cup he won with Pittsburgh. The hot dogs were immediately linked to a highly critical article in the Toronto Sun.
From the Toronto disaster to the Penguins super team
The 2014-15 season was terrible for Toronto. The team finished second last in the Eastern Conference, 30 points away from the last playoff spot. Kessel was his team’s best scorer of the season with 25+36=61.
Toronto had signed an eight-year, $64 million contract with Kessel in 2013, which was the most valuable in club history up to that point. However, after a disastrous season, Toronto was willing to change. It traded Kessel to Pittsburgh as part of a giant trade, where, among other things, someone who has since returned to the Penguins traveled in the other direction Kasperi Kapanen.
And at that time the Toronto Sun published its column (you will switch to another service)which got a lot of attention thanks to Kessel’s foxiness even later.
– The hot dog sales cart, which visited Kessel’s home street every day, now lost its biggest regular customer, the column wrote.
According to the column, Kessel didn’t eat right, train right, and didn’t play right.
– Toronto doesn’t want to start a rebuild with their highest paid, most talented, but least dedicated player.
The writing got a new life after the picture published by Kessel. Fans, of course, enjoy Kessel’s humor. Among other things, there were jokes online that Kessel did not acknowledge the newspaper after his first Stanley Cup, but only after he had won the second one.
Born on October 2, 1987 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Played a total of 1,212 regular season matches and 96 playoff games.
“Mystery and legend” about a real sports family
The story has followed Kessel ever since. For example, in the winter of 2018, CBS Sports did the thing (you move to another service)where Kessel’s sister Amanda Kessel said that Phil is not a big fan of hot dogs.
Phil comes from a sporting family. The Amanda sister has won Olympic gold and three World Cup golds for the USA in ice hockey.
Phil has won Olympic silver in the national team in 2010. In the 2014 Olympics, Phil won the points exchange. Finland beat the USA in the bronze medal match. After the tournament, Kessel was voted the best striker, Teemu Selänne as the most valuable player.
Phil’s father Phil Kessel Sr. once signed a contract with the Washington team of the NFL league, but did not get a debut. Phil’s younger brother by a couple of years Blake Kessel also played ice hockey, among others in Ilves 53 matches in 2014–16.
When Pittsburgh won the Stanley Cup in 2016, Kessel was the Penguins’ leading scorer in the playoffs. In the following championship season, 2017, only teammates were ahead in the points market of the playoffs Yevgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.
Kessel has received praise for his attitude, relaxed attitude and even his appearance. His attitude and physical condition have often been questioned.
At the same time, Kessel’s natural attacking instincts, passing skills and shooting have been admired.
– A mystery to some, a legend to others, described by ESPN (you are switching to another service).
“Tell us the latest story about Kessel”
The Score (you switch to another service) and ESPN interviewed puck people who knew Kessel as the steelman record was about to go to this one.
A picture was drawn of a very competitive, but friendly and humorous player.
– He doesn’t try to be funny, but he is funny in the end. It got to the point that when my guys messaged me, they didn’t ask, “how are you doing?”, they asked for the latest story about Kessel, said the now-Philadelphia James van Riemsdyk.
In the Penguins, Kessel formed an effective, so-called HBK chain Nick Bonino and by Carl Hagelin with. Bonino praised Kessel as a guy who cheered everyone up in the locker room.
Bonino thought the best story was when NBC Pierre McGuire had asked: “How’s your breath?”. By this the reporter had referred to Kessel’s breathing – to whether he could handle the stress of the game well. Kessel thought his breath smelled and apologized.
– I had never seen anyone come along the wing and shoot in the same way. He is fast. When he gets a step ahead of you, that’s all he needs, Bonino raved about Kessel’s play.
Sportsnet wrote (you are switching to another service)that Kessel is the first player to leave practice and the one most likely to miss voluntary workouts.
– The only fun part is playing, Kessel has said of his former teammate Alex Goligoski by.
Relaxing at the casino and poker tables
– He is a gamer. That’s how I would describe him, announced van Riemsdyk.
Kessel is known as an avid golfer and, above all, a poker player. In Pittsburgh, Kessel spent his evenings playing poker at the local casino. At that time, he was the GM in Pittsburgh Jim Rutherford told The Athletic (You’re moving to another service)that everyone in the club knew about it.
– There is nothing wrong with that. He enjoyed playing poker with the locals. That was part of his popularity.
According to people interviewed by The Athletic, Kessel has lost a lot at the poker tables.
– We laughed at the table because he was so aggressive. We thought, “hey, dude, it’s still early.” He just shrugged his shoulders and put all in, one interviewee said.
Worked as assistant coach at Penguins Rick Tocchet admitted that Kessel was not a fan of morning workouts.
– I’m not going to tell you that Phil has never played poker until five in the morning. But he never did that before games, Tocchet noted, adding that the head coach Mike Sullivan is great at dealing with personalities.
Kessel’s good friend is a well-known Canadian poker star Daniel Negreanuwho has won, among other things, six World Series of Poker (WSOP) titles.
Negreanu and Kessel were also sitting out the WSOP when Kessel learned of his sale from Toronto to the Penguins.
– He likes to play Pot Limit Omaha. There is a lot of luck involved in that game, so in one session you can win or lose a lot at once, Negreanu said.
There is often artificiality in steel pipes
The night before Tuesday, against his former club Toronto, Kessel rose to share the NHL steel man record for a defenseman who retired after last season Keith Yandle with.
Now the record passed to Kessel alone. The 990-match streak began on November 3, 2009 in a Toronto shirt. A thousand matches will be exceeded in November.
It is, of course, unfathomable that Kessel has avoided injury and illness to play in every game for well over a decade.
Kessel’s record has also been kept alive with tricks. Last season, Kessel made one substitution in a game against Detroit. After that, he flew on a private plane back to Phoenix when his wife Sandra gave birth to the couple’s first child.
In the final moments of his streak, Yandle was more of a nuisance to his teams, first to Florida and then to Philadelphia, but in North American sports that love records and statistics, they wanted to keep the streak alive.
Of course, one of the reasons for Kessel’s streak is in his playing style. He has never liked to tackle, play underpowered or focus on blocking pucks.
– Once we scored, but Phil was on the ground and got up slowly. He shook his head and was angry. He came to the bench, looked at me and said, “I’ll never go in front of the goal again, so don’t ask for it again!”, coach Tocchet laughed.
Kessel, who left Toronto after being barked at, became a legend in Pittsburgh. In Arizona, he was called apprentice father and godfather. Now he wants to prove in Vegas that he came to town for a reason other than poker.
– As a person, Kessel is in many ways different from a poker player. He will see your bluff. He can be aggressive. In the end, he just wants to win, painted The Athletic.
At the beginning of his NHL career, Kessel recovered from testicular cancer and a few years later from shoulder surgery. Since then, no games have been missed.
1. Phil Kessel990
2. Keith Yandle989
3. Doug Jarvis964
4. Garry Unger914
5. Patrick Marleau910
Of the current pipelines, the closest to Kessel is the Carolina Hurricanes Brent Burns With 685 matches, the difference is more than 300 matches. Burns is 37 years old, i.e. a couple of years older than Kessel.
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