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Kessel calls out T.O. media for Phaneuf treatment


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Blame Nonis. That's all I get from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

That was another angle to what Kessel was implying. Suggesting that Phaneuf doesn't manage the club is an indirect shot at Nonis.

If his days there weren't already numbered, I think throwing his management under the bus will certainly help get a deal done.

He, however, is ironically one of the biggest mistakes in the history of the franchise, Not just a coach killer, but a GM killer.

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I do respect him coming out and supporting his guy. Love that he made the point that he was ''our'' best defenseman. An that he played hard every night!

Think all of that is fair and good on him! But...

:bigblush: Did anyone else catch the part where he said "Is it Dion's fault we're losing? No. He didn't put this team together! :shock:B):rolleyes:

I love that he threw more than a subtle hint of blame at management! As much as I like him sticking up for Phaneuf, that should not be missed. To me he wants out of town, bad! Nobody should be fooled that this is some great virtuous act.

And he took his pay raise last year, then showed up in great shape! Whatta leader!!! :towel:

:picard:

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Kessel: ‘I skated 10 times maybe all summer’

Mike Johnston September 18, 2014, 3:48 PM

While many NHLers go on strict off-season fitness programs, Toronto Maple Leafs sniper Phil Kessel takes a different route.

“Honestly, I skated maybe—I don’t want to tell you this—but I skated 10 times maybe all summer,” Kessel revealed to reporters Thursday in Toronto as training camp opened.

Kessel said he spends most of his summer “living a normal life” by relaxing, golfing, hanging out with family and friends and fishing. He added that one of the highlights of his off-season was catching an 11-foot, 450-pound shark.

When asked about the team’s fitness testing, Kessel said he’s not worried.

“I think I’ll be fine in that,” he said. “It’s easy.”

Kessel said he’ll use training camp and the pre-season as a means to get into hockey shape.

It’s pre-season, so it’s time to get used to the games and get more in shape and kind of get a feel for the game a little bit again,” Kessel said. “It’s been a while since I’ve played.”

“You know what? I love Toronto, to be honest. The city, the fans, the team, the guys are great here. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else and play for any other team.

“I want to win more than anyone,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to do.”

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Kessel: ‘I skated 10 times maybe all summer’

Mike Johnston September 18, 2014, 3:48 PM

While many NHLers go on strict off-season fitness programs, Toronto Maple Leafs sniper Phil Kessel takes a different route.

“Honestly, I skated maybe—I don’t want to tell you this—but I skated 10 times maybe all summer,” Kessel revealed to reporters Thursday in Toronto as training camp opened.

Kessel said he spends most of his summer “living a normal life” by relaxing, golfing, hanging out with family and friends and fishing. He added that one of the highlights of his off-season was catching an 11-foot, 450-pound shark.

When asked about the team’s fitness testing, Kessel said he’s not worried.

“I think I’ll be fine in that,” he said. “It’s easy.”

Kessel said he’ll use training camp and the pre-season as a means to get into hockey shape.

It’s pre-season, so it’s time to get used to the games and get more in shape and kind of get a feel for the game a little bit again,” Kessel said. “It’s been a while since I’ve played.”

“You know what? I love Toronto, to be honest. The city, the fans, the team, the guys are great here. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else and play for any other team.

“I want to win more than anyone,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to do.”

I don't know what Kessel's off season plan is but not every player skates a lot during the off season. With some of the older established players its more about resting up your body after a long season while doing other things to stay in shape. You don't have to skate to be stay in shape so I would consider that another quote that the media chose to blow up to create a story.

I don't remember where I read it, probably HF but Kessel was close to the top in fitness results at the camp. So if you think Kessel is out of shape pretty much the entire team is as well. I personally love to watch the guy play. He is never going to be a good two way player, his board play will never be a strong suit but his speed, shot and playmaking ability make him a top player in the league. They don't deserve him in Toronto, put him on a real team with a true #1 center (someone not named Tyler Bozak) and he can really shine. If the Hawks didn't already have a similar player in Kane then I would take him on my team hands down. I assume he would do quite well being sheltered from facing top lines.

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I don't know what Kessel's off season plan is but not every player skates a lot during the off season. With the more older established players its more about resting up your body after a long season while doing other things to stay in shape. You don't have to skate to be stay in shape so I would consider that another quote that the media chose to blow up to create a story.

I don't remember where I read it, probably HF but Kessel was close to the top in fitness results at the camp. So if you think Kessel is out of shape pretty much the entire team is as well. I personally love to watch the guy play. He is never going to be a good two way player, his board play will never be a strong suit but his speed, shot and playmaking ability make him a top player in the league. They don't deserve him in Toronto, put him on a real team with a true #1 center (someone not named Tyler Bozak) and he can really shine. If the Hawks didn't already have a similar player in Kane then I would take him on my team hands down. I assume he would do quite well being sheltered from facing top lines.

Who could argue with the "I think I heard it on HF boards" source? Is there anything a little more credible? Because here, again, is what he himself said:

Kessel said he’ll use training camp and the pre-season as a means to get into hockey shape.

It’s pre-season, so it’s time to... get more in shape."

If people question his leadership, well, perhaps that's the kind of thing that precipitates it.

As for Bozak, I think that's one of the biggest fallacies surrounding Kessel - the myth that he doesn't need Bozak or is held back by Bozak. Kessel needs Bozak or the equivalent - an actual two way center who can subsidize Kessel's horrible puck possession game, and particularly his vacancy when not in possession of the puck..

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Who could argue with the "I think I heard it on HF boards" source? Is there anything a little more credible? Because here, again, is what he himself said:

Kessel said he’ll use training camp and the pre-season as a means to get into hockey shape.

It’s pre-season, so it’s time to... get more in shape."

If people question his leadership, well, perhaps that's the kind of thing that precipitates it.

As for Bozak, I think that's one of the biggest fallacies surrounding Kessel - the myth that he doesn't need Bozak or is held back by Bozak. Kessel needs Bozak or the equivalent - an actual two way center who can subsidize Kessel's horrible puck possession game, and particularly his vacancy when not in possession of the puck..

Well here is the link for what its worth.

http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=1738671

Kessel to me will never be a leader but not every player on the team has to be that. As far as Bozak is concerned I find his defensive play to be mediocre, better than his line mates but nothing to write home about.

Considering he is the center on that line, he should be doing most of the heavy lifting defensively and he does a poor job at that. That line as a whole is flawed, and Bozak does little to help the two way play or possession numbers. He gets most of his points on Kessel's production and generates little to no offense on his own. So what exactly does he bring to the team? He isn't good defensively nor his good offensively. He is similar to a guy like David Desharnais who also throughout his time with the Habs has been supported by the offensive production of his line mates. Neither of these guys should be a team's #1C.

Kessel deserves better than the crap show in Toronto, he deserves to play for a team with players that make up for the deficiencies in his game. He deserves a coach who recognizes his strengths and knows how to play the match up game.

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Well here is the link for what its worth.

http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=1738671

Kessel to me will never be a leader but not every player on the team has to be that. As far as Bozak is concerned I find his defensive play to be mediocre, better than his line mates but nothing to write home about.

Considering he is the center on that line, he should be doing most of the heavy lifting defensively and he does a poor job at that. That line as a whole is flawed, and Bozak does little to help the two way play or possession numbers. He gets most of his points on Kessel's production and generates little to no offense on his own. So what exactly does he bring to the team? He isn't good defensively nor his good offensively. He is similar to a guy like David Desharnais who also throughout his time with the Habs has been supported by the offensive production of his line mates. Neither of these guys should be a team's #1C.

Kessel deserves better than the crap show in Toronto, he deserves to play for a team with players that make up for the deficiencies in his game. He deserves a coach who recognizes his strengths and knows how to play the match up game.

Kessel doesn't deserve better - he is at the core of the why there is a crap show in Toronto.

I've heard that song regarding Bozak many times, so I've checked in different intervals to see if the story lines up.

Currently Bozak has better underlying numbers than Kessel - lower offensive zone starts (47.4% to ), higher offensive zone finishes (48.9%), stronger quality of competition - a better puck possession player than Phil Kessel - and that is the most fundamental flaw of the Leafs.

Bozak is over 50% in the faceoff circle (51.0%) with 57 takeaways (5th in the NHL) and 20 turnovers for a +37 (2nd in the NHL).

I hear Leafs fans complaining about Bozak a lot, but I also don't think Leafs fans - or the franchise for that matter - have much of a concept of two way hockey. They've repeatedly ushered their best two way forwards out of town from Grabovski, Macarthur, and Santorelli to Winnik, and last summer sent their best defensive blueliner to St Louis.

Meanwhile the Phloater has the 2nd highest offensive zone starts on the Leafs, gives away territory, has a -10.73 corsi and and - 3.8 relative corsi - which says something imo, when he's the guy they spoon feed any and all offensive opportunity they can muster for him (whereas Bozak plays a dual role). Kessel has committed 52 giveaways (88 last year), -27 (-51 last year), consistently among the worst in the NHL.

Kessel, without a guy like Bozak, is an even bigger disaster.

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Not a single person in the NHL knew that the cap would be going down next year. Hell, at the start of the year, teams were planning on an increase. Nobody could have predicted a REDUCTION in cap.

In saying this, if the cap raised a few million, like it was supposed to, Kessel and Phaneuf would definitely not be considered overpaid. I love hating on Toronto and hate the Leafs with a passion, but you gotta give them some leeway...

take into account term. 36 yr old phaneuf making more than erik karlsson.

kessel makes as much as getzlaf - a 2 way p/g stanley cup and gold medal winning physically dominating center.

neither are leaders, both play selfish and self serving. phaneuf would rather blast a shot into an obvious block than pass, vessel wouldn't dare come back behind his own blue line unless they were pinned in long enough to circle a few times at the red line and glide in.

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Hes doing a noble thing... kind of.

Unfortunately the guy doesnt really gut it out on on the ice, doesnt go into the corners or finish checks, and likes to cherry pick. Maybe he would be better served sticking up for his teammates this way?

But no! The real battle the Kessels, Lupuls and Phaneufs must fight is leveled against the media and fans! Some 17 year old kid is on Twitter trying to destroy their lives! Lynch him!

Im becoming more convinced that it the media is not the real problem in Toronto. Not to say of course the Toronto media is not unfair, I just feel a different cast of players would handle media pressure much better.

The media scrutiny is comparable to Vancouver or Montreal, except the players here and there seem to consistently rise above it.

Meanwhile in Toronto every time a jersey gets tossed onto the ice, the player outrage is palpable and the incredulity ensues.

Maybe if they could own the fact that getting completely dominated at home game after game is completely unacceptable to a patron that has to pay that highest average ticket price in the league, and a Leaf jersey being tossed into the ice is actually a perfectly understandable consequence... nah... its gotta be those goddam tweeters.

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yeah , that stuck out for me too . not being a snob but its hard for me to respect a guy who doesn't speak so good . He proves his lack of intelligencer

I hope this is supposed to be ironic because someone who can't use proper capitalization, grammar, spacing, spelling, or sentence structure shouldn't be criticizing someone else's grammar.

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Im becoming more convinced that it the media is not the real problem in Toronto. Not to say of course the Toronto media is not unfair, I just feel a different cast of players would handle media pressure much better.

I agree. The Leafs media is actually fairly uncritical imo - one of the softer and less informed hockey markets in the country.

Kessel has actually has gotten a free pass for the most part. He'd have been taken to task a long time ago in most markets.

If there's anything wrong with the Toronto media it's their feeble attempts to troll other franchises - like this one - when they should be focusing on constructive criticism in their own back yard, and creating a better product in their own market - because their own team has sucked for a long time. Instead they dwell on trolling this team's management (Gillis/Luongo/Kesler, Benning/Kassian), but where their own team and bad management are concerned, have been in denial, even going so far as to make ridiculous koolaid claims like declaring the Leafs "Canada's Best Team" when they have a successful month of hockey.

Really, they just haven't done their jobs of holding their management accountable. They were silly cheerleaders when the Leafs made the obvious guffah of re-signing these guys to ridiculous contracts. They've let their best two way players (on a horrible puck possession team) be consistently ushered out of town. The Toronto media is arguably as incompetent as the Leafs management.

The other thing not mentioned here is that Kessel - when asked who or what media he was talking about - tried to slip out of his tirade by blaming it on a twitter teenager.

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