Kessel traded to Toronto; Life in Boston will go on

In case you haven’t heard yet Phil “the thrill” Kessel has officially been traded from the Boston Bruins to the Toronto Maple Leafs. On September 18th the Bruins dealt Kessel to the leafs, where he was quick to sign a five year, 27 million dollar contract. In return the B’s received the Leafs two first round draft picks for 2010 and 2011, along with a 2010 second round pick. I’m pretty sure all Bruins fans knew this day was coming, it has been looming for quite some time.Kessel has been traded and life as a Boston Bruins hockey fan will go on.

Phil was definitely a “superstar” type of player , but in Boston that’s not necessarily the type of player that is adored. In the 2008-2009 season Kessel racked up a total of 42 goals, including the playoffs. He was a thrill to watch and his efforts were much appreciated, but I once heard his personality referred to as “a wet mop”. While Kessel was zipping up and down the ice scoring goals left and right Boston fans took more of a liking to players like Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara. Players who have a natural ability of leadership, who can also snipe some goals, but then drop the gloves and give the crowd a show. So as you can see Phil Kessel Never really gave Boston any of those essential qualities.

While on my home from the Bruins game against the Blue Jackets I tuned into a late night sports radio talk show, only to find that the topic of the night was the Kessel trade. One caller proceeded to tell his life story of how grew up with players like Johnny Bucyk and Phil Esposito, and then say that “the Phil Kessel trade will hurt the bruins. My beef is with the management, they don’t spend the money to get some leadership on the team, and now with the Kessel trade what are they going to do?”. First off I would like to say this guy made absolutely no sense at all. The Kessel trade will not hurt the Bruins. Simply because of players like Patrice Bergeron, Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic, Shawn Thornton, Mark Recchi and many more alike. Secondly, The Bruins management will not spend huge dollars on one player, like Kessel, when they could trade him away for a few first round picks, and that’s not even mentioning the salary cap issues Kessel would have caused. Lastly, what will the B’s do now that Kessel is gone? They’ll do what they do best. Play a hard hitting, nitty gritty, style of hockey that Boston fans have come to love.

The trade might have been different is Kessel wanted to stay in Boston, he didn’t. Kessel wanted to play for a city like Toronto where hockey is the only sport. Now we all know in Boston hockey is definitely not the only sport, I guess Phil couldn’t handle that. He wanted to be the player who people drooled over rather than be on the team that people loved. Toronto needed a goal scorer and with Phil Kessel that’s what you’re going to get. I’d like to think of the bruins as more of a family rather than a team. I don’t think Phil Kessel ever really wanted to be part of the family that is the Boston Bruins. All his life Phil was used to being the best and being credited with all kinds of awards, achieved by himself alone. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Kessel but I’m not about to cry over him being traded.

Phil scored a lot of goals for Boston and helped out a lot, but I think we’ll be perfectly fine without him. As the season progresses and the B’s play more and more games they will bond and form chemistry. Chemistry that is oh so crucial to becoming a Stanley Cup winning team. I have no doubt in my mind that the Bruins have what it takes, even without Kessel. In the end Phil got what he wanted, a hockey oriented town, money, and superstar status. I see the Bruins evolving and growing into a more and more powerful team, as where I see the Leafs going nowhere. As Phil Kessel ventures to Toronto I wish him all the best. Seeya later Philip.