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People Need to Admit Phil Kessel is a Hall-of-Famer Now. |
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Last night, Phil Kessel tied Keith Yandle with 989 straight games. For a while there it appeared he had scored his 400th goal, but unfortunately the play was overturned due to an offside. Kessel did get an assist last night however, and he has looked good with Vegas. While his scoring is down, his speed is still impressive and Vegas has really embraced their speed again.
Kessel has 958 points in 1,211 regular season games. 81 points in 96 playoff games. He won 2 Stanley Cups with the Penguins and in those playoff runs played a huge part. He is a three time All-Star. He overcame cancer as a rookie and remains the only rookie to win the Masterton. He won the Molson Award as best Maple Leaf for three years in a row from 2009-2012. As for international play, in 2014 he played for USA in the Olympics scoring 5 goals and 3 assists in 6 games…the most of any forward, which led to Kessel winning “The Best Olympic Forward” award for 2014. After Tuesday night he will become the NHL’s all-time Ron zmsn.
Kessel has also been the butt of many jokes, and always taken everything with class.
He is awkward with people and sometimes the media, but amazing with kids. I once watched him play knee hockey for almost an hour with some kids waiting to play their game at a DC area rink where the 2010 Olympic team was training.
Kessel could very easily surpass 1000 points and could see even more with Vegas.
I see him absolutely as a hall of famer…Do you?