Kessel scores how many?

[Tigger]

Phil with a beauty winner tonight.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Mats Sundin didn't want to leave the team he'd played with for over a decade in the name of a rebuild, and was booed for it.

Phil Kessel accepted a trade so that the Leafs could kickstart their rebuild, and...was booed for it.

Welcome to life inside the centre of the hockey universe, where logic goes to die.

This isn't a new trend, sadly. Tomas Kaberle got boos for not leaving until he left as a pending free agent. Bryan McCabe accepted his trade and got boos when he returned for coming back.

Darcy Tucker and Tie Domi, not even remotely the same calibre of players as others mentioned in this article, orchestrated to block their trades away from Toronto, and yet avoided the same criticism. Doug Gilmour demanded a trade but also avoided any sort of repercussions from the fans.

On and on it goes....CNTD

 

[Frank E]

Mats Sundin didn't want to leave the team he'd played with for over a decade in the name of a rebuild, and was booed for it.

Phil Kessel accepted a trade so that the Leafs could kickstart their rebuild, and...was booed for it.

Welcome to life inside the centre of the hockey universe, where logic goes to die.

This isn't a new trend, sadly. Tomas Kaberle got boos for not leaving until he left as a pending free agent. Bryan McCabe accepted his trade and got boos when he returned for coming back.

Darcy Tucker and Tie Domi, not even remotely the same calibre of players as others mentioned in this article, orchestrated to block their trades away from Toronto, and yet avoided the same criticism. Doug Gilmour demanded a trade but also avoided any sort of repercussions from the fans.

On and on it goes....CNTD

For the record, as a Leaf fan, I was embarrassed that some booed Kessel on Saturday night. 

What a bunch of idiots.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The final line in that article really does sum things up well I think:

Best of luck this year with Pittsburgh, Phil. Maybe you'll finally be appreciated for what you are instead of hated for what you aren't.

 

[Bender]

The final line in that article really does sum things up well I think:

Best of luck this year with Pittsburgh, Phil. Maybe you'll finally be appreciated for what you are instead of hated for what you aren't.

This if my favourite part:

Maple Leafs fans have to answer for the fact that we have never been able to look a gift horse in the mouth without asking why its breath smells. About how we feel the right to glorify fourth-liners who represent the most selfish and destructive parts of the hockey enforcer role, yet run an elite scorer out of town because "he doesn't backcheck."

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

The final line in that article really does sum things up well I think:

Best of luck this year with Pittsburgh, Phil. Maybe you'll finally be appreciated for what you are instead of hated for what you aren't.

Like...he literally did the exact things he is known for while in Toronto - elite sniper, playmaker and points producer and did it while on some terrible teams.  I don't get the animosity from the fanbase towards that.  He said he enjoyed playing for the team, committed to the team, didn't block a trade when the team wanted to deal him, never complained about the team, was durable, produced in his only playoff appearance, was an All-Star, led the team in scoring by a wide margin.

It's so dumb.  Honestly, to me this is an example of the influence of some of the terrible TO media members and people like Healy actually still have.

 

[Kin]

Phil Kessel, the guy who shouldered the blame because Leafs management was too inept to figure out how to build around a top-5 scorer in the league.

Really? The Leafs were so inept that they didn't manage to figure out to build a team from scratch without high draft picks? That they didn't build a competitive team via free agency? They couldn't just snap their fingers and turn a pile of garbage into a Cup winner?

I agree with the general point that Phil was treated unfairly but let's not forget that the chief reason that the Leafs were so bad during Phil Kessel's time here was the approach the team took that was most typified by the Phil Kessel trade.

 

[Kin]

The final line in that article really does sum things up well I think:

Best of luck this year with Pittsburgh, Phil. Maybe you'll finally be appreciated for what you are instead of hated for what you aren't.

Like...he literally did the exact things he is known for while in Toronto - elite sniper, playmaker and points producer and did it while on some terrible teams.  I don't get the animosity from the fanbase towards that.  He said he enjoyed playing for the team, committed to the team, didn't block a trade when the team wanted to deal him, never complained about the team, was durable, produced in his only playoff appearance, was an All-Star, led the team in scoring by a wide margin.

It's so dumb.  Honestly, to me this is an example of the influence of some of the terrible TO media members and people like Healy actually still have.

You can't just expect people to divorce Kessel from the process by which Kessel came to the club. It's unfair that Kessel is the focal point, sure, but at this point there's basically no getting around that the team would have been better if they'd never brought Kessel in. That doesn't make him a bad player but it absolutely will mar the positive aspects of his time here.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

The final line in that article really does sum things up well I think:

Best of luck this year with Pittsburgh, Phil. Maybe you'll finally be appreciated for what you are instead of hated for what you aren't.

This if my favourite part:

Maple Leafs fans have to answer for the fact that we have never been able to look a gift horse in the mouth without asking why its breath smells. About how we feel the right to glorify fourth-liners who represent the most selfish and destructive parts of the hockey enforcer role, yet run an elite scorer out of town because "he doesn't backcheck."

The two stand out segments in my opinion.

I wonder how much influence the media has in shaping the fan perception of these guys. A lot of times the knuckle draggers tend to be really good fun guys who have a lot of personality, they've had to bring that to get to where they are usually, be a character guy. I am sure these guys feed the media a lot more, just by virtue of being a better interview.

Perhaps the media market is just so big here that the guys who have skill and don't "have to" play nice with the media wind-up being given a harder time when all is not going well because they don't necessarily have friends in the media, because they haven't had to.

Kessel is probably an extreme example of this, but as the article points out, it's been a trend for a long time and I think a large chunk of it can be attributed to the media.

EDIT: Potvin basically said the same, infinitely more succinctly so.

 

[bustaheims]

The final line in that article really does sum things up well I think:

Best of luck this year with Pittsburgh, Phil. Maybe you'll finally be appreciated for what you are instead of hated for what you aren't.

That is basically the epitaph on the tombstone for Kessel's career as a Leaf.

 

[Kin]

"Not looking a gift horse in the mouth" refers to not overly scrutinizing something you get for free. Kessel was a lot of things but he sure as hell didn't come free.

"Don't look a horse in the mouth even if you're spending your life's savings on it" probably wouldn't have caught on in the horse trading world.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Mats Sundin didn't want to leave the team he'd played with for over a decade in the name of a rebuild, and was booed for it.

That's the part I wouldn't forgive idiotically - driven Leaf fans for.
After all that Mats did for the team, is that whatever deserved regardless of the situation?  Absolutely not!

(I have an authentic Leafs jersey given me as a birthday present many years ago, the one with the "TML" silver-outlined logo with name & number of Domi 28.  It was known that a family member was highly superstitious of the number 13.
Does it make like Tie better than Mats?  As a player?  No.).

If I had my choice,  I would have chosen Mats #13. 

 

[Highlander]

13 is actually a lucky number. Look at the back of a US one dollar bill. There are 13 steps in the pyramid, 13 stars, the eagle is holding 13 spears and 13 olive branches?. All Masonic imagery

 

[hockeyfan1]

13 is actually a lucky number. Look at the back of a US one dollar bill. There are 13 steps in the pyramid, 13 stars, the eagle is holding 13 spears and 13 olive branches?. All Masonic imagery

Exactly. 

 

[Highlander]

And who can forget the all important Bakers Dozen with and extra added for luck

 

[herman]

[tweet]663200474443743232[/tweet]

 

[L K]

2G 1A in his first 7 games.  4G 3A in his next 7 games.

 

[KGB]

I can't wait for the articles in our media when he's got 25 goals by Christmas.

"Leafs castoff has 25 goals, wasn't good enough for last place Leafs?"

"Kessel was always a great player and competitor"

I've been looking for these articles but so far I'm coming up dry.  Can somebody help me out here?

Actually, given Phil's output thus far this season he's on pace for, you guessed it, 25 goals.  You meant to write "Christmas" and not "Easter", right?

 

[Bender]

I can't wait for the articles in our media when he's got 25 goals by Christmas.

"Leafs castoff has 25 goals, wasn't good enough for last place Leafs?"

"Kessel was always a great player and competitor"

I've been looking for these articles but so far I'm coming up dry.  Can somebody help me out here?

Actually, given Phil's output thus far this season he's on pace for, you guessed it, 25 goals.  You meant to write "Christmas" and not "Easter", right?

To be fair I don't think anyone thought Pittsburgh would be this bad.

 

[bustaheims]

To be fair I don't think anyone thought Pittsburgh would be this bad.

Especially offensively. With all that talent, it's unfathomable that they're having this much trouble scoring goals.