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.

It's not you, actually, it's the Draft.

As the 2008-2009 NHL season comes to a close it’s time to look to the future. All those young stars just waiting to get there chance to play in the National Hockey League. There are three times during the NHL season that a hockey fan can really get excited. First, the beginning of your favorite teams season, there always hope that maybe somehow someway lord Stanley will be hoisted into the air by your favorite players. Next, right before the playoffs start, you know that feeling of gearing up to watch the most intense games a hockey fan could ever experience, when it really counts and stakes are high. Lastly, if you’re lucky enough to have your team in the cup finals, well there’s no real need to explain this one, you’re simply excited. But before you can experience these joys of being a hockey fan there’s some things that have to happen. Trades, cuts, and the Entry Draft that is.

This is the time to get rid of any dead weight and add some new weapons to your roster. As only one team can win the Stanley Cup each year many players have desires to have some new scenery in their own personal pursuit for the cup. Or some players see into the future and see some potential in their current team and decide to stick around. This years top 10 prospects are all Canadian except for two. The number 5 and 6 spots are currently held by two American prospects. My selection for this years jackpot pick is 19 year old Canadian native John Tavares.

John is a center man currently playing for the London Knights. Tavares began playing in the OHL at the young age of 14, after gaining “exceptional player” status. He was then selected by the Oshawa Generals in the 2005 OHL Priority Draft, as an under aged player. He then went on to be named CHL rookie of the year in 2006 and CHL Player Of the Year in 2007. When John was only 16 years old he broke the one and only Wayne Gretzky’s record for goals in a season by a 16 year old, with 72 goals. In 2009 he set a new record for most career goals with 215, two more than previous holder Peter Lee. Tavares is now eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He is the top prospect according to the NHL, The Central Scouting, and the International Scouting Services.

With the first overall pick I believe the New York Islanders should snatch up Tavares before any other team can claim him. But you never know for sure what’s really going to happen. I predict that the team that selects Mr. John Tavares will be looking for one thing, a goal scorer. And with this kid that’s exactly what you’re going to get. But not to be overlooked is that throughout his hockey career, so far, Tavares has set many records and received many awards not only for his goal scoring ability but for his loyalty and leadership abilities. This is exactly why I predict Tavares to go first overall Friday night. The combination of both a lethal goal scorer, and a loyal leader is something I’m pretty sure any team would like to have. The Islanders desperately need someone like Tavares to boost team expectations. Not picking Tavares would be a hugely stupid decision, I mean come on if you have the opportunity take it.