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PHIL KESSEL WINS STANLEY CUP

I don't think I've rooted more for an ex-Leaf to win anything more than Kessel winning the cup. I can't believe we paid him to do that though.

Thank GOD Lou's here now.
 
now its time for Austin, Willy and Mitch's Mom's to drink some champagne from that silver chalice.
I am happy for Phil, perhaps he comes back in a few, we are already paying his salary to some extent.
 
Mirtle with a nice article on why Phil brought the Cup back to Toronto: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/low-key-stanley-cup-party-kessels-way-of-saying-thanks/article31183543/

According to those who attended, Kessel wanted his Stanley Cup party to be a thank you to the other friends he made in Toronto, many of them from the hospitality industry. He was a regular at some of the higher-end restaurants in the downtown, and it was there that he first met many close friends during his six years playing for the Leafs.

?A lot of people were there really just to hang out with him and catch up, and have that excitement again,? said Steven Salm, president of Chase Hospitality Group, which hosted Kessel?s Stanley Cup lunch at The Chase restaurant on the afternoon of July 18 and then catered the party at Kimel?s home that night. ?It was something that was so missed in Toronto. We always served as a great kind of creative outlet for him: A place to hang out and enjoy great atmosphere and good food. We got to know his dining habits and favourite likes and dislikes.?

...

?Phil?s not the type of person to bring the Cup to Toronto out of spite,? said Wojtek Wolski, a former NHLer who became close with Kessel during summer workouts in Toronto and who was at the Cup party. ?He brought it because his friends live here. His family came to Toronto to celebrate. It made a lot of sense.?

?He did this for the people who were good to him while he was here,? said another friend, who asked not to be named. ?He likes how regular Joes treated him around here. He?s a people guy.?

...

Those who attended Kessel?s Cup party don?t expect it will be the last they see of him in Toronto. While he grew up in Wisconsin and typically summers in Florida, he has talked a lot about buying a home and settling in the city, when the time comes.
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Also, here's Steve Dangle asking Sidney Crosby a very important question:

[tweet]758353225833598977[/tweet]

www.twitter.com/Steve_Dangle/status/758353225833598977
 
According to those who attended, Kessel wanted his Stanley Cup party to be a thank you to the other friends he made in Toronto, many of them from the hospitality industry. He was a regular at some of the higher-end restaurants in the downtown, and it was there that he first met many close friends during his six years playing for the Leafs.
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"See!"

- Steve Simmons

?Phil?s not the type of person to bring the Cup to Toronto out of spite,?
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You know, in some ways Phil and I are very different people.
 
Nik the Trik said:
According to those who attended, Kessel wanted his Stanley Cup party to be a thank you to the other friends he made in Toronto, many of them from the hospitality industry. He was a regular at some of the higher-end restaurants in the downtown, and it was there that he first met many close friends during his six years playing for the Leafs.
Click to expand...

"See!"

- Steve Simmons

?Phil?s not the type of person to bring the Cup to Toronto out of spite,?
Click to expand...

You know, in some ways Phil and I are very different people.
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As in one scores thirty goals a season on a regular basis in the NHL and the other doesn't?
 
Significantly Insignificant said:
As in one scores thirty goals a season on a regular basis in the NHL and the other doesn't?
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If you want to call that a difference, sure.
 
If Kessel decides to settle in Toronto one day, well he will be most welcome.

This shouldn't be too surprising, since Toronto has been a favourite of many well-known people from both the Hollywood crowd and beyond.  Not that many, if any have or live here -- the late Prince was one -- but it has always been (more so at one time) a favourite city for many.

At least, we finally have a Stanley Cup winner who calls Toronto 'home'.

And no, I highly doubt Phil did all of this to spite any of us by bringing the Cup here.  (Besides, even if he did, no apologies to the haters)!
 
Peter Holland was on @Cabbie's podcast the other day... Here's what he had to say about Phil Kessel's physique.
CqD8gd5WIAU1tQo.jpg:large


Holland on Kessel: "Maybe he's working out he just doesn't tell anybody."

Cabbie on Kessel "Lupul once told me he hates drinking water. He just drinks DietCoke or Coke."

Holland "Yeah, DietCoke I think. Loves it."
? Platinum Seat Ghosts (@3rdPeriodSuits) August 17, 2016
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Phil! Leg day, e'ryday.
 
https://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2016/09/22/trainer-gary-roberts-pushes-phil-kessel-to-walk-the-talk-feschuk.html

It's Feschuk, so if so inclined, just ignore the writing and read the quotes. Gary Roberts talks about Phil Kessel, training him, and what a gifted creature of power and grace he is.
 
We should love Kessel (even) more.

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jim-rutherford-what-you-dont-know-about-being-a-gm/

In July, when it became clear that we had a shot at bringing in Phil Kessel, we had to make a big decision. Acquiring Kessel would cost us not only young talent and draft picks, but it would also come with a significant salary-cap hit. There?s always a cost. In this case, we had to be sure that Phil would fit into our room, and into our system.

In times like that, you have to rely on your box. Inside your box is all the stuff you can?t look up on the Internet. During your travels in this game, from city to city, hotel to hotel, you talk to a lot of people. You hear things. You learn all kinds of things about players. And you file it all away in your box. Over my 30 years as a GM, my box has gotten pretty full.

It was always my understanding from my intel around the league that Phil was a good guy. If I have one defining management philosophy, it?s that I really believe in second chances. If a player is a good guy, and he?s got talent, and you give him a second chance, he?ll give you everything he?s got.

The Kessel decision ultimately came down to a simple fact about the NHL that never seems to change: It?s hard to score goals in this league. It?s just hard. But Phil was a guy who had scored them year after year. He had been in a fishbowl in Toronto and he still scored 30 every year. I felt if we gave him a second chance, he?d really thrive in Pittsburgh.

So Phil came into our locker room that fall and, after watching him for a few weeks, I filed a new note into my box:

Phil Kessel isn?t a good guy, after all. He?s a great guy.
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I am pro-Phil and wish him well but Jim Rutherford got a first-rate NHL wing for an incredible price so there's a limit to the extent that I care that he thinks Kessel is a swell fella to boot.

There's nothing to regret about the deal from the Leafs end but I don't think any of us should be happy about those circumstances either. Rutherford seems to have been willing to let the deal die if the Leafs wouldn't eat salary so it's not exactly an act of genius on his part either.
 
That article had some great stuff about Phil and all but everybody needs to read it for the story about Trevor Daley and the promise his mom made him.
 
CuF3RyiWAAAQXPR.jpg


I love the guy, but I don't think anybody would ever guess that Phil's one of the most gifted hockey players on the planet just by looking at him.

Also, you're seeing the President get your suit tailored man.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Also, you're seeing the President get your suit tailored man.
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I was just coming here to post the same thing. Rumpled collar, poorly fitting suit...never change Phil.
 
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