Yardbarker: Phil Kessel

Kessel on board in Toronto as Leafs drub Wings

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:16:56 -0500

Phil Kessel scored his first goal with Toronto and Jonas Gustavsson made 35 saves to lead the Maple Leafs to a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

Kessel nabs first goal with Leafs in win over Wings

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:08:00 -0500

Phil Kessel scored his first goal with Toronto and Jonas Gustavsson made 35 saves to lead the Maple Leafs to a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

Kessel's first goal helps Leafs rout Wings

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:13:16 -0500

TORONTO (AP) -Phil Kessel scored his first goal with Toronto and Jonas Gustavsson made 35 saves to lead the Maple Leafs to a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

News and Views: Hope springs from Toronto's new wing

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:01:00 -0500

Toronto may be a lost cause this season, but its savior took the ice Tuesday. And Phil Kessel, the team's high-cost scoring sensation was as advertised, Wes Goldstein says in News and Views.

Michael Farber: Kessel's return adds spark to struggling Leafs, more notes

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:19:56 -0500

The Maple Leafs need scoring and spark. The return of Phil Kessel showed that he can be the man to provide them. Michael Farber also looks at why Detroit has faith in Jimmy Howard.

Bolts Beat Phil Kessel…Up

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:44:24 -0500

Last night the Tampa Bay Lightning snapped the four game OT loss slide, by winning in OT against the Leafs 2-1. Vinny Lecavalier and Ryan Malone had the 2 goals for our squad, which was enough to squeak by the slumping Leafs. According to the Twitter account of our General Managers wife, there was not [...]

Northeast: Kessel Shows Plenty In Leafs Debut

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:39:00 -0500

The result was one all too familiar to the Toronto Maple Leafs -- a loss. In this case a 2-1 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. But Phil Kessel's long-awaited debut with the Leafs was cause for optimism. Kessel, acquired in a ...

More on the goal drought in Boston.

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:34:00 -0500

This is more that I was talking about. The void that Kessel left when he went to Toronto has not been filled. Also, Marco Sturm has never scored more than 28 goals in a season and I don't see him coming close to scoring 30 goals in this line up. The aging Mark Recchi isn't going to score 20 goals at his current pace, he will be lucky to break 10 or 15 goals this season. Of course there is alway the bright side, the Bruins got a slew of draft choices they can use.

Nobody in Boston wants to hear this, but these Bruins sure could use Kessel. Somebody in the Bruins dressing room mentioned Kessel's stats from the Toronto game and it was met with an ugly look from one of the Boston players. The look was clear. Kessel is gone; nobody here wants to know how he's helping another team.

Julien said as much on Monday, even before his team turned in another zero.

"We made a deal and we've moved on," Julien said. "We've got guys who have moved in and done a pretty good job with (replacing Kessel). It is what it is. Phil Kessel has moved on and we've moved on."

If only the part about replacing Kessel were true. It's not easy to replace 36 goals. The hope was that a healthy Marco Sturm would help.

"We replaced one (30-goal scorer) with another," Mark Recchi said.

Sturm has two goals. Another potential 30-goal scorer, Michael Ryder, has three. David Krejci has one. Recchi has two.

Not the goal totals of players jumping in to pick up scoring production that left with Kessel.

"When you replace people, it takes a little time," Recchi said. "We've got guys who can do what he was doing. Right now, it's just not happening. Eventually it will." [Sporting News]

VIDEO: OHLUND DESTROYS KESSEL WITH OPEN-ICE HIT

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:11:41 -0500

Everybody was talking about Phil Kessel in the offseason. That’s because the former Boston Bruin’s salary demands got him traded to Toronto. Last night, Kessel made his debut for the Leafs and was on the wrong end of a highlight reel hit. Kessel hadn’t played since last [...]

Bruins missing opportunities — and Kessel's scoring

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:42:02 -0500

DETROIT — On the night Phil Kessel made his much-anticipated debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs, his former team was shut out. Again. The Boston Bruins lost 2-0 to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, and have now gone nearly 134 minutes without scoring. They're playing well enough to win, but they're not winning. They're creating enough opportunities to score, but they're not scoring. The Bruins are showing signs of emerging from an uninspiring start, jus...

Huzzah! It's finally Phil Kessel time for the Maple Leafs

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:55:54 -0500

Inexplicably continuing our tour of the worst hockey teams in existence this morning, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that the long-awaited debut of savior star special right winger Phil Kessel(notes) will occur at home on Tuesday night.From the Globe & Mail:The high-scoring forward, acquired by general manager Brian Burke from the Boston Bruins before the start of the 2009-10 NHL regular season, practised this morning on a line with Matt Stajan(notes) and Jason Blake(notes). Kessel, wh...

Breaking News: Leafs and Bruins reach agreement on Kessel

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:38:25 -0500

From TSN’s Darren Dreger: Sources tell TSN the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins have reached an agreement on a trade that will deliver Phil Kessel to the Leafs. The trade is pending Kessel agreeing to a contract with Toronto. It’s a process the Leafs are working on right now. If the contract gets done, the deal is finalized and [...]