TSN SportsCentre Reporter Mark Masters reports on the Toronto Maple Leafs, who held an optional skate at T-Mobile Arena on Monday. The Golden Knights skated at City National Arena ahead of their game tonight in Las Vegas.
Phil Kessel will suit up in his 989th straight game on Monday, tying Keith Yandle for the National Hockey League record.
“It’s a cool thing,” the 35-year-old winger said. “It means I’ve played a lot of games, right. It’s neat.”
Any extra emotion around this game?
“No,” he said quickly with a smile.
Kessel has never been comfortable in the spotlight.
“I don’t like it,” he said. “You know that. I just kind of keep to myself and do my thing.”
There’s no doubt that Kessel’s approach is working for him even if it’s hard to define.
“I just try to play no matter what,” he said when asked about the secret to his durability. “I’ve been fortunate over the years. There’s obviously a lot of luck.”
The record run started in Toronto way back on Nov. 3, 2009 when he played for the Maple Leafs.
“I’ve never played 82 [games] In a season so for him to do it, whatever it is, 10, 11 in a row, it’s remarkable, really,” said Golden Knights captain Mark Stone.
Have there been close calls when he thought the streak would end?
“Oh yeah,” Kessel said. “There’s been plenty of those, but it just hasn’t and we’re here now.”
Kessel has played through plenty of ailments. He’s certainly not a heavy hitter or a defensive grinder, but you can’t question the toughness of the Madison, Wis., product.
“People forget that he had cancer at a young age,” said Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy. “He’s dealt with some stuff and obviously took care of his body. You don’t play this long without doing that. He just does that in his way. You got to give him credit for that.”
The Golden Knights will play again Tuesday in San Jose where Kessel is poised to establish a new benchmark.
“When you look at him, you wouldn’t think he’d be that guy, the ironman,” Leafs center Auston Matthews said with a smile, “but he’s had an incredible career. He’s a lot of fun to watch. A lot of fun to be around too.”
“He gets a reputation of being this slacking hockey player, but the guy comes into work every day,” stressed Stone. “He’s up in the gym with us every day with a smile on his face. Not everybody comes to the rink with a smile on his face every day, but he does.”
“You look at his body from a hockey standpoint and he’s a player,” insisted Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore. “He’s got the speed and he’s got the shot and he definitely goes to work.”
It’s not all about physical toughness. Sheldon Keefe points out it’s also a mental grind.
“There’s a physical wear and tear, but then there’s the mental part of it too,” the Leafs coach told reporters. “To be able to be consistently reliable and available for your team is a very difficult thing to do. It’s a skill in and of itself and Kessel has been the model for that.”
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Kessel admits he’s looking forward to the record-breaking hoopla ending. Teammates, however, are enjoying putting him front and center.
“We’ve been busting his chops all morning,” said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.
Kessel was asked to lead the stretch at the end of the morning skate and received loud stick taps. He doesn’t love the attention.
“He doesn’t like to stretch either,” Cassidy said to laughs. “He’s earned it so just enjoy it, Phil. That’s the simplest message. He’s a little bit in that ‘aw-shucks’ mood right now.”
Phil Kessel (eventually) leads Knights stretch & gets stick taps ahead of record-tying night @BarDown pic.twitter.com/1xAyHNZvTI
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 24, 2022
Kessel is just six games into his tenure with Vegas, but is already a popular figure in the room.
“He’s the one that’s always getting jabbed at the most,” Stone said. “The minute he walks in the door someone’s yapping at him and he’s yapping at someone so it’s pretty fun.”
“He came as advertised,” said Pietrangelo. “Legendary teammate. I’ll take that guy in the locker room any day of the week. It’s not easy to come in and fit into a locker room the way he has.”
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Kessel has just one assist so far, but Cassidy has no qualms.
“He’s low maintenance when it comes to a lot of the details,” the new Vegas bench boss said. “He really is. We’re not trying to change the way Phil plays, to be honest with you… We’re never going to ask Phil to go out there and lead us in hits, but he’s backchecked well. When we ‘ve asked him to return to D-zone, he goes to the right spot and tracks back and he’s broken up some plays. So that’s all we can ask … I don’t find him taking reps off in practice. He’s been one of the guys in my mind.”
After getting a look alongside Jack Eichel on the top line, Kessel skated on the third line with Michael Amadio and Brett Howden on Monday.
“We’ve moved some people around, but he has no complaints about that either,” Cassidy continued. “He understands Mark Stone’s a good player, plays right wing, [and Johnathan] Marchessault, he just wants to help us win.”
Kessel wants to win at everything.
“He doesn’t like losing,” Stone confirmed. “That’s for sure. We got games in here, ping pong, and he hates losing. The guys love when he loses. [because they can] let him hear about it.”
Kessel is one goal shy of 400 in his career so there could be a couple milestone moments on Monday night.
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Since entering the league in the 2016-17 season, Mitch Marner is fourth in takeaways while Matthews is sixth. Stone leads the way in that category. What does the 30-year-old Winnipeg product notice about Toronto’s dynamic duo?
“Smarts,” Stone said. “Just reading the game, they do it at a high level. They do it at a high speed which makes it dangerous. If you keep the puck in the right spots at the blue lines it makes it harder for them, but if you don ‘t they’re turning it and they’re jamming it down your throat. That’s just those guys being smart players with good anticipation and a ton of skill.”
Cassidy sees similarities between the Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche, who beat Vegas 3-2 on Saturday.
“They play fast and they want to get the puck moving,” Cassidy said of the Leafs. “We need to check well between the blue [lines]. Something we didn’t do early against Colorado, but we did later and it kept us in the game. We just need to do it from the first minute on.”
Another key will be discipline. The Leafs struck twice on the power play in Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Jets in Winnipeg.
“They find different looks,” said Cassidy, who knows the Leafs well courtesy of his time behind Boston’s bench. “They’re not predictable. That’s one of the biggest changes they’ve made in the last couple years. They move more and it’s tougher to see what’s coming. Our discipline has been good with the exception of one period in Calgary so that has to remain the same.”
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Projected Leafs lineup for Monday’s game:
Bunting – Matthews – Marner
Robertson – Tavares – Nylander
Engvall – Kerfoot – Jarnkrok
Clifford – Kampf – Simmonds
Rielly: Brodie
Sandin – Holl
Giordano – Mete
Samsonov starts
Golden Knights morning skate at Lines:
Stephenson – Eichel – Stone
Smith – Karlsson – Marchessault
Amadio – Howden – Kessel
Carrier – Roy – Kolesar
Martinez – Pietrangelo
McNabb: Theodore
Hague: Whitecloud
Thompson starts
Hill