Kessel: A star on the rise
Article content
Phil Kessel won’t need a session with Dr. Phil to deal with his return to the all-star game.
Kessel, who dislikes the media spotlight, was put in the most stressful situation possible at last year’s game in Carolina under the NHL’s new selection format.
During a live broadcast he had to watch 41 other players chosen ahead of him by captains Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom. That made Kessel squirm even more as the token Leaf in the pool.
At the time, he was reviled by part of Leaf Nation which viewed him as a poor return in the 2009 trade with Boston.
To rub it in, Alexander Ovechkin took his cell phone and started to video Kessel sitting by his lonesome on a folding chair.
“I couldn’t care less,” Kessel says a year later. “I didn’t care then, I don’t care now. It’s always a good thing to get in your first all-star game and fortunately I got picked.”
Kessel did not register a point for Lidstrom’s team, who were 11-10 winners. Keith Yandle was the only other teammate blanked, while Ryan Kesler, Marc Staal and Erik Karlsson failed to get on the board for the opposition.
“It was fun just to be on the ice with great players like that and get the chance to enjoy yourself,” Kessel said.
“I knew some of the guys from playing them before and then you meet new guys. It was a good time.”
Kessel isn’t quite sold on this new draft concept, not wishing to put someone else in that unwanted position.
But not everyone gets $20,000 US and a new Honda CR-Z as a consolation prize. Kessel had no idea the league had lined that up for the last man.
“I think the fans like the process,” he said. “But I think guys who go to the all-star game would rather not have the draft. I couldn’t care less, but I did get a car out of it.”
This year, there is no question he belongs. Kessel led the fan voting for much of the autumn and was passed at the end by a surge in Ottawa ballots. He was the NHL scoring leader for much of the first two months of the season and was two points behind Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin when the reserve players were named Jan. 12.
There is the added incentive of playing the all-star game in the home arena of one of Toronto’s biggest rivals, where he’s sure to get a hostile reception when his name is announced.
“That’s fine with me,” Kessel insisted. “And it will be a good time for whoever goes.”
lance.hornby@sunmedia.ca
tap here to see other videos from our team.
