The Philip Joseph Kessel Jr Appreciation Thread

[JimmyTwoTimes]

I'm in a weird spot of 100% knowing Phil doesn't finish his contract here and also not wanting him traded. It's playing on my mind!

Question is can we win another cup the next few years with him? We could but that would recquire him to get back to playing the way he was when we got him. And we still dont know if his sudden decline(not in points but overall play...the turnovers..etc) is age just catching up to him or the fact hes the type that keeps needing a change of scenery to get motivated again

We lost the last two years...Im glad they are at least doing something to show they wont accept that. Theyll continue "try" to do what it takes to keep winning cups until this era is closed.

 

[KIRK]

 

[Tom Hanks]

Check out @Kessel_Mania twitter. The 2nd video (4hrs old)

Can’t post it due to language. Well I could but it would quickly come down

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I'll sincerely miss him and it pisses me off that this coaching staff has basically made it so we are going to lose him for a much lesser player.

 

[HuskerTornado]

I'm going to miss the hell out of the guy.

 

[Turin]

I'll sincerely miss him and it pisses me off that this coaching staff has basically made it so we are going to lose him for a much lesser player.

Phil’s NTC will do that if anything.

 

[Pengu]

I loved it when he 1st came with a chip on his shoulder. He was motivated and was excellent at driving his own "3rd" line. But it has become obvious that he has lost that motivation in the past season.
He wants to stick with Malkin which was an absolute disaster. He is even less engaged at even strength and simply is not the same player anymore and will never come back to that.
I thank him for the 4 years but it is time to move on.

 

[orby]

Kessel is a great player, and acquiring him was one of the smartest moves the Penguins ever made considering where the organization was at the time. There's no way they would have sniffed those 2 championships without Phil. I'll rock my Kessel shirsey til the day I get too fat for it.

On the other hand, I do think he's due for a decline, which we may have already started to see. Either lost the drive he had before winning the cups or simply lost interest in playing in Pittsburgh. The team needs to get younger fast if they want a realistic chance of winning another one, as Sid and Geno enter what is more than likely the last third of their NHL careers (for Geno, maybe even the last 3 years). Of all their tradeable assets, Phil is the most likely to return an impactful winger that will be in his prime in the correct time frame.

 

[JRS91]

I really like Kessel.

He's by far the most offensively talented winger we've had in the Crosby and Malkin era, it's not even close. Hossa was great, Neal was good, but I think from a pure offensive standpoint, he's definitely the best. That said, it was pretty obvious the Penguins were going to make a move. It was either Hornqvist or Kessel. He's not gone yet, but he most likely will be.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I still think there is a very good chance we all look back on this inevitable trade with regret. But they seem bound and determined so I guess we'll just have to hope they, uh... know what they're doing. Which... yeah.

One way or the other I have a large amount of respect for Kessel and what he's done, here. And I hope he lands somewhere where he is appreciated. Those last two Cups would have eluded the Penguins without him.

 

[BHD]

The HBK line was pretty, pretty, pretty good.

 

[KIRK]

The HBK line was pretty, pretty, pretty good.

And thankfully when it counted. At least for a time . . .

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Watching Phil in these videos really highlights just how far off his play has fallen the last two years. I don't think it's a matter of the guy physically being unable to do it, he's just so god damn lazy and temperamental.

 

[BeatenLikeRentedMule]

Except that he is, and has been exactly that . I can't wait for the trade to be done with and the season to start, thinking that this is somehow the solution is a joke to a contending team. Every trade gets this team further from the identity that won it the back to back championships and its only going to get worse. Pathetic scapegoating. You don't win championships off the safe players, you win them off the ones who have the ability to be spectacular.

Can't wait to see him on a team that has defenseman who can actually first pass like the Pens used to. No idea what games some of you have been watching, this guy hasn't gotten worse defensively at all, he's basically the exact same player he's always been (frankly a lot better than he ever was in Toronto defensively if you can believe that) but this team has been a shell of what made it tso great in 2016 and 2017, and when you can't play him to his strengths its probably better for HIM that the Pens want to move on. I've never seen Kessel get so few rush opportunities than I saw this past season, and that's nothing to do with his own speed and everything to do with how much worse their transition game has become.

This trade is only going to buy Sully time, but the inevitable is coming.

This team has a bigger chance of contending in the next trade lottery than contend for another championship.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

My favourite Kessel moment was when he produced at an elite level year-in and year-out for us, which is as much as anyone should have ever reasonably expected.

People who think that moving him will be addition by subtraction, or that we're better off with a Zucker-calibre winger, will be in for a rude awakening.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

You guys suck at "appreciating"

Anyway, 2 of my favorites. Classics!




Not good, eh? Still gets me.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Lettuce remember the good times

(what? you don't put lettuce on your hot dogs?)

f*** that.

Such an abomination ain’t gonna cut the mustard ‘round here.

 

[Turin]

My favourite Kessel moment was when he produced at an elite level year-in and year-out for us, which is as much as anyone should have ever reasonably expected.

People who think that moving him will be addition by subtraction, or that we're better off with a Zucker-calibre winger, will be in for a rude awakening.

First couple years I agree. Now, unless you think Crosby and Malkin need him to make a powerplay work, there’s not much to back that up.

 

[Turin]

I think that game in March against Philly in 2016 is up there. It was the first time I saw Phil forecheck that year, and it was maybe the first HBK game. Anyway, he forced a turnover in the corner and I think Hagelin scored on a slap shot. I remember being shocked to see Kessel physically try, and it was the first sign of things to come.

 

[PensPlz]

Lettuce remember the good times

(what? you don't put lettuce on your hot dogs?)

You don't put lettuce ON your hot dogs, you mad man. You put the hot dog ON the lettuce.

Bun > lettuce > dog > a bacon strip on both sides of the dog > tomato slices > Mayo or mustard or other condiments.

Also acceptable to put the condiments on the lettuce under the dog.

 

[ImporterExporter]

You guys suck at "appreciating"

Anyway, 2 of my favorites. Classics!




Not good, eh? Still gets me.

I remember watching that Pierre/Phil post game interview live and thinking "only Pierre f***ing McGuire could have asked a question in such a manner that would elicit such a response"

That was such a classic.

I'm going to miss Phil, warts be damned. He was a major, major reason this team won B2B titles.

 

[CallArnoldSlick]

Lettuce remember the good times

(what? you don't put lettuce on your hot dogs?)

Does kimchi (made with napa cabbage) count?

 

[Freedom]

This game was crazy and Phil delivered the great

 

[Tom Hanks]

Such a memorable Phil moment

*Check out Obama’s jersey number at the end. A current player took it on.

 

[K Fleur]

This game was crazy and Phil delivered the great

I think all things considered this game might be the best game Phil has played in his life.

That HBK magic was so much fun.