Phil Kessel

[Leafaholic99]

Nice purse! 

lmao, well I was at the Womens show in the pic!

Actually it is a bag from Real Sports Apparel

 

[maplesyrup]

This tweet shocked the hell out of me, and then made me smile;

GlobeKPD Kevin Paul Dupont
First five NHL seasons: Joe Thornton, 247 points; Phil Kessel, 245 points. Jumbo w/ 101 in 6th season. Kessel...???

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Not to sound negative, but I thought for sure Kessel would have slowed down by now. What he and Lupul are doing is absolutely nuts. A quarter of the way into the season and he'd probably be the favourite for the Hart trophy if it was given out right now.

 

[L K]

Not to sound negative, but I thought for sure Kessel would have slowed down by now. What he and Lupul are doing is absolutely nuts. A quarter of the way into the season and he'd probably be the favourite for the Hart trophy if it was given out right now.

Kessel got a heck of a lot better last year than he was when he was first a Leaf.  I hoped/expected more progress, but yeah, maybe like 70 points....which obviously could still be where he winds up but we are watching something really special.  I was at the game against Washington and it is just obscene how good he has gotten.  He skates so well with the puck and he does a lot of little drives to the net for rebounds, certainly more than I thought he did watching on TV.  That and he is coming back into the defensive zone and really did a good job of sticking to his man.

 

[Erndog]

Not to sound negative, but I thought for sure Kessel would have slowed down by now. What he and Lupul are doing is absolutely nuts. A quarter of the way into the season and he'd probably be the favourite for the Hart trophy if it was given out right now.

Kessel got a heck of a lot better last year than he was when he was first a Leaf.  I hoped/expected more progress, but yeah, maybe like 70 points....which obviously could still be where he winds up but we are watching something really special.  I was at the game against Washington and it is just obscene how good he has gotten.  He skates so well with the puck and he does a lot of little drives to the net for rebounds, certainly more than I thought he did watching on TV.  That and he is coming back into the defensive zone and really did a good job of sticking to his man.

He's turned into a 200 foot player.

They showed a clip last night of a 2 on 1-ish for Carolina and how Kessel was busting his ass backchecking to take out one of the guys.  And he caught up to him and 'fronted' him.

He's shown a lot more willingness to take a hit too.  He's in the corners, digs for pucks... he's also shown a consistent ability to drive the net.  Too often before when he struggled he played a more passive permiter game.  Not anymore.  He's all over.

It bothers me when people say things like, "he's on fire right now."  The guys been on fire for almost 30-40 games dating back to last season.  He's been on fire for a while.

 

[Zee]

I hear what you're saying.  So many fans (both Leafs and non Leafs fans) I've heard keep saying "sure Kessel is hot now, when is he gonna hit his slump?"  as if they're expecting him to go 15 games with no points.  Perhaps this is the season that Kessel has gone from a streaky player to a more consistent all around player.  He's maturing every season, people tend to forget he's still under 25 years of age.  After 3 straight 30 goal seasons, this could be the year he goes from "great player" to "superstar player" and ends up in the top 10 in scoring.  I hope so anyway.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

After Phil scored on Saturday, he should have taken out a camera, skated over to the Washington bench and taken a picture of Ovechkin.

 

[maplesyrup]

After Phil scored on Saturday, he should have taken out a camera, skated over to the Washington bench and taken a picture of Ovechkin.

haha... I was thinking the same.

 

[bustaheims]

After Phil scored on Saturday, he should have taken out a camera, skated over to the Washington bench and taken a picture of Ovechkin.

Well, it's not like Kessel has more goals than Ovechkin has points. Oh, wait . . .

 

[maplesyrup]

Tried to go this with a couple folks at work last night... Just for fun (and no explanation required)... The player (past or present) Phil Kessel reminds you most of at this point is ____________?

 

[Erndog]

After Phil scored on Saturday, he should have taken out a camera, skated over to the Washington bench and taken a picture of Ovechkin.

Well, it's not like Kessel has more goals than Ovechkin has points. Oh, wait . . .

At this rate Kessel may be the captain of the All-Star team and can have the last laugh on Ovechkin and Staal... ah who am I kidding, they won't be there anyways  ;D

 

[cw]

Not to sound negative, but I thought for sure Kessel would have slowed down by now. What he and Lupul are doing is absolutely nuts. A quarter of the way into the season and he'd probably be the favourite for the Hart trophy if it was given out right now.

Not wishing to continue to sound negative, I still believe there's a good chance Kessel and Lupul will go through a drop off sometime this season. I don't expect a 15 game goalless streak like last season (though it's possible) but I do expect it is likely they'll hit a dry spell.

As I went through in statistical detail last season, it is quite common for top goal scorers to experience a period of not scoring goals. Many of them experience 7 games or more goalless stretches in a season. And they might have a couple of those back to back.

Kessel is on pace to score 62 goals. Since the lockout, one player has exceeded 56 goals one time: Ovechkin with 65 in '08. The basic odds are that he won't be able to sustain his torrid pace for the next 61 games - because only one person has one time.

If he breaks 50, I think we should be ecstatic. Over 40, most should be delighted - I sure will be. But I'm sure some of the media will whine that he hasn't keep up that crazy pace and we might even see another thread suggesting "regression".

 

[maplesyrup]

Tried to go this with a couple folks at work last night... Just for fun (and no explanation required)... The player (past or present) Phil Kessel reminds you most of at this point is ____________?

I suppose I should throw what I came up with pout there... Big skates to fill but; Mike Gartner. - Same position, roughly the same size, both world class skills and wheels.

 

[Erndog]

Not to sound negative, but I thought for sure Kessel would have slowed down by now. What he and Lupul are doing is absolutely nuts. A quarter of the way into the season and he'd probably be the favourite for the Hart trophy if it was given out right now.

Not wishing to continue to sound negative, I still believe there's a good chance Kessel and Lupul will go through a drop off sometime this season. I don't expect a 15 game goalless streak like last season (though it's possible) but I do expect it is likely they'll hit a dry spell.

As I went through in statistical detail last season, it is quite common for top goal scorers to experience a period of not scoring goals. Many of them experience 7 games or more goalless stretches in a season. And they might have a couple of those back to back.

Kessel is on pace to score 62 goals. Since the lockout, one player has exceeded 56 goals one time: Ovechkin with 65 in '08. The basic odds are that he won't be able to sustain his torrid pace for the next 61 games - because only one person has one time.

If he breaks 50, I think we should be ecstatic. Over 40, most should be delighted - I sure will be. But I'm sure some of the media will whine that he hasn't keep up that crazy pace and we might even see another thread suggesting "regression".

CW, you don't happen to have that statistical detail about other top goal scorers experiencing similar goalless stretches do you?

 

[Bender]

Not to sound negative, but I thought for sure Kessel would have slowed down by now. What he and Lupul are doing is absolutely nuts. A quarter of the way into the season and he'd probably be the favourite for the Hart trophy if it was given out right now.

Not wishing to continue to sound negative, I still believe there's a good chance Kessel and Lupul will go through a drop off sometime this season. I don't expect a 15 game goalless streak like last season (though it's possible) but I do expect it is likely they'll hit a dry spell.

As I went through in statistical detail last season, it is quite common for top goal scorers to experience a period of not scoring goals. Many of them experience 7 games or more goalless stretches in a season. And they might have a couple of those back to back.

Kessel is on pace to score 62 goals. Since the lockout, one player has exceeded 56 goals one time: Ovechkin with 65 in '08. The basic odds are that he won't be able to sustain his torrid pace for the next 61 games - because only one person has one time.

If he breaks 50, I think we should be ecstatic. Over 40, most should be delighted - I sure will be. But I'm sure some of the media will whine that he hasn't keep up that crazy pace and we might even see another thread suggesting "regression".

He probably won't continue at this pace, but I think it's safe to say that he'll likely set career bests in most categories. How far along was he last year after 21 games?

 

[Kessel Run]

Not to sound negative, but I thought for sure Kessel would have slowed down by now. What he and Lupul are doing is absolutely nuts. A quarter of the way into the season and he'd probably be the favourite for the Hart trophy if it was given out right now.

Not wishing to continue to sound negative, I still believe there's a good chance Kessel and Lupul will go through a drop off sometime this season. I don't expect a 15 game goalless streak like last season (though it's possible) but I do expect it is likely they'll hit a dry spell.

As I went through in statistical detail last season, it is quite common for top goal scorers to experience a period of not scoring goals. Many of them experience 7 games or more goalless stretches in a season. And they might have a couple of those back to back.

Kessel is on pace to score 62 goals. Since the lockout, one player has exceeded 56 goals one time: Ovechkin with 65 in '08. The basic odds are that he won't be able to sustain his torrid pace for the next 61 games - because only one person has one time.

If he breaks 50, I think we should be ecstatic. Over 40, most should be delighted - I sure will be. But I'm sure some of the media will whine that he hasn't keep up that crazy pace and we might even see another thread suggesting "regression".

He probably won't continue at this pace, but I think it's safe to say that he'll likely set career bests in most categories. How far along was he last year after 21 games?

Last year after 21 games he had 10 goals and 4 assists for 14 points.

 

[Corn Flake]

Tried to go this with a couple folks at work last night... Just for fun (and no explanation required)... The player (past or present) Phil Kessel reminds you most of at this point is ____________?

Does it have to be a Leaf player?

 

[Bender]

Tried to go this with a couple folks at work last night... Just for fun (and no explanation required)... The player (past or present) Phil Kessel reminds you most of at this point is ____________?

Does it have to be a Leaf player?

I was too young to really watch much of Brett Hull but... Brett Hull?

 

[maplesyrup]

Tried to go this with a couple folks at work last night... Just for fun (and no explanation required)... The player (past or present) Phil Kessel reminds you most of at this point is ____________?

Does it have to be a Leaf player?

No.

 

[Corn Flake]

Tried to go this with a couple folks at work last night... Just for fun (and no explanation required)... The player (past or present) Phil Kessel reminds you most of at this point is ____________?

Does it have to be a Leaf player?

No.

This year, the player he is reminding me of the most is Martin St. Louis.

The speed, the lateral shiftiness, the extra gear and the nose for the net with willingness to take some abuse to get to dangerous places, and the fact he's now making his linemates as dangerous as he is, and last but not least - the shot, which Kessel's is quite a bit better, but they are comparable.