Yeah, I think Kessel was huge in Pittsburgh's last two cups. Very likely they don't win in either year without that third scoring threat.
Is Phil Kessel's whole career underrated?
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vadim sharifijanov
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vadim sharifijanov
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ooh, so close
(but i don't think the threshold he gave was that kessel had to be the only first line-calibre forward on his team, unless you think any legit first line center is automatically as good as or better than kessel?
pat kane was the clear best forward on at least two cup winning teams. martin st louis and patrik elias are two others, though yes cup-winning winger-led offenses are rare.)
always been a superstar offensive winger, of course you get more love if you win, and its easier to win when you got the 1st and 2nd best centers of last 10 years on your team
Johnny Engine
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It's funny, I haven't watched that in a while, and I realize now that I've always remembered it going off Khabibulin's left pad, not his right pad.
The human brain is fascinating.
I think he's underrated, but not by too much. Unfortunately, I think a lot of this originates from the Toronto media, not necessarily their fans.
Mr Jiggyfly
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Again I gotta ask, what winger has ever lead his team to a Stanley cup?
Every team I can think of since '90 on up has had a good- great #1 pivot, many of those teams had two.
Kane had Toews, St. Louis had Lecavalier. Kessel had a third line pivot in Toronto at best...
Kane most certainly isn't a guy that will do the dirty work for his team like Toews.
No elite winger has won a SC without the luxury of a very good to great pivot in over 30 years.
So I'm not sure why Kessel is held to an impossible standard other great wingers can't pull off either.
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stepdad gaary
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except he was literally pittsburgh's best forward for the majority of the two stanley cups and has been the best forward on the pens this year no question. so putting this nicely, what an awful post
they dont win it without kessel either wtf. its hockey. each team has a lot of players.
BrokenFace
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He's the second best playoff winger of the last decade and is consistently productive throughout the regular season. I'm not going to get into the Conne Smythe debate but the best team the Pens faced in the 16 playoffs was the Caps and Kessel is the reason they buried them.
Calling him a complimentary player because he can't win a cup by himself is a joke. Even when he was the only impact player on those Leafs teams he still performed like an all time great in the (short) playoffs he dragged that team to. If he's a complimentary player then so is every other winger in the league.
Put him on any team in this league and his is automatically a primary, core guy.
Calling him a complimentary player because he can't win a cup by himself is a joke. Even when he was the only impact player on those Leafs teams he still performed like an all time great in the (short) playoffs he dragged that team to. If he's a complimentary player then so is every other winger in the league.
Put him on any team in this league and his is automatically a primary, core guy.
Menzinger
Kessel4LadyByng
Eh, personally I think the number of players who can actually carry a team almost on their own can be counted on one hand.
Menzinger
Kessel4LadyByng
He led the team in scoring and had more icetime than Malkin during that playoff run.
I think his name certainly deserved to be in the debate for that award
Finlandia WOAT
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He looks like such a goober that people don't realize how good he is.
It's also not his fault Toronto asked him to be a franchise player when that's incredibly difficult for a winger to do. Not even Ovechkin- one of the best LW'ers of all time- has been able to make that work.
On a side note I learned recently that the Hot Dog column from the Toronto media was in fact complete bunk. Kessel didn't live or work anywhere near the reputed hot dog stand.
It's also not his fault Toronto asked him to be a franchise player when that's incredibly difficult for a winger to do. Not even Ovechkin- one of the best LW'ers of all time- has been able to make that work.
On a side note I learned recently that the Hot Dog column from the Toronto media was in fact complete bunk. Kessel didn't live or work anywhere near the reputed hot dog stand.
Mr Jiggyfly
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AO at least had Backstrom, a legit #1 center, almost his entire career, to help.
In Tor Kessel didn't even have a legit #2 caliber pivot.
If we put Patrick Kane on those Toronto teams in Kessel's place, I'm 100% sure the results would have been similar.
useless
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karnige
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Dr Pepper
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Definitely got a bad rap while in Toronto, all while being by far the best player in a dumpster fire of an organization for the duration of his time here.
Which was in no way a fault of his. Bad management, bad decisions and local media choosing him as the fall guy. Clowns like Simmons and Feschuk kept butting heads with him; I hope they enjoyed that second helping of crow this past June
Which was in no way a fault of his. Bad management, bad decisions and local media choosing him as the fall guy. Clowns like Simmons and Feschuk kept butting heads with him; I hope they enjoyed that second helping of crow this past June
BladeRunner66
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I remember Simmons keeping on bashing him AFTER he won a cup with the Pens (where he almost won the Conn Smythe), talk about keeping an agenda!
BladeRunner66
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Yeah but i don't remember Anderson ever being close to being bashed like Kessel was. Both can be described as money players and excellent PO performers though.
Good analogy.
aemoreira1981
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Now he's appreciated. If you had written this post when he was with the Leafs, I'd say yes. He was on some Toronto teams that were shit shows overall. Now, however, in a defined role, and playing with Carl Hagelin, his game truly shows.
