FanNation - The Republic of Sport

... and Bruins fans everywhere can't stop smiling.

"We have Kessel coming next week, so we're just trying to figure out where Phil is going to fit in,"

Let me give you guys a hint. Put him on a line where there are 2 other forwards willing to throw a check. Kessel and his 6 hits for the entire 2008-2009 season need all the help they can get. Since the Leafs don't have a player like Lucic to protect Kessel, you'd better find one, quick.

Plus, you'd better shelter him from the media, because he doesn't like them and also doesn't like being recognized in public, so all you Leaf fans better not go near him, or he will start pouting.

Also, he will need his own gym, consisting of just a couch and television. He'll work out about as soon as John Daly will.

For the coaching staff, you'd better just talk nice to him, or he will start getting lazier on the ice. Remember all that talk about Kessel needing a tough coach? Yeah, right. They don't get much tougher than Claude Julien and Claude was sick of Kessel's games.

As far as the Leafs giving a lazy 23 year old player a 5 year deal worth about 5.5 mil a year, that will be the gift that keeps on giving. I'm gonna guess that someones work ethic won't improve after getting the big contract.

Boston hadn't stopped thanking Toronto for Rask in the trade for Raycroft, then you drop this gift on them. 2 #1 picks for Kessel, both probably being very high picks. Maybe Toronto is the gift that keeps on giving?

QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 06:44 AM ET  10.30 by Schadenfreude - Chitown bound.

"We have Kessel coming next week, so we're just trying to figure out where Phil is going to fit in,"Let me give you guys a hint. Put him on a line where there are 2 other forwards willing to throw a check. Kessel and his 6 hits for the entire 2008-2009 season need all the help they can get. Since the Leafs don't have a player like Lucic to protect Kessel, you'd better find one, quick.Plus, you'd better shelter him from the media, because he doesn't like them and also doesn't like being recognized in public, so all you Leaf fans better not go near him, or he will start pouting.Also, he will need his own gym, consisting of just a couch and television. He'll work out about as soon as John Daly will.For the coaching staff, you'd better just talk nice to him, or he will start getting lazier on the ice. Remember all that talk about Kessel needing a tough coach? Yeah, right. They don't get much tougher than Claude Julien and Claude was sick of Kessel's games.As far as the Leafs giving a lazy 23 year old player a 5 year deal worth about 5.5 mil a year, that will be the gift that keeps on giving. I'm gonna guess that someones work ethic won't improve after getting the big contract.Boston hadn't stopped thanking Toronto for Rask in the trade for Raycroft, then you drop this gift on them. 2 #1 picks for Kessel, both probably being very high picks. Maybe Toronto is the gift that keeps on giving?

I would be more ticked off if Burke trades Kaberle to Boston for a 1st round pick. Think about it, Burke would not trade Kaberle and a 1st for Kessel in June. However, trading two #1's and a #2 for Kessel than trading Kaberle to get a #1 back. I can see Chiarelli laughing his arse off if this were to happen.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 07:28 AM ET  10.30 by Save_Me_Jebus: 10-0.

I would be more ticked off if Burke trades Kaberle to Boston for a 1st round pick. Think about it, Burke would not trade Kaberle and a 1st for Kessel in June. However, trading two #1's and a #2 for Kessel than trading Kaberle to get a #1 back. I can see Chiarelli laughing his arse off if this were to happen.

Wasn't the original trade that was proposed around the draft have something to do with the B's getting a 1st and Kaberle for Kessel?

Still not going to make the playoffs, no matter how ya slice it - ditto Pre-dators, Panters, and uckfayed uckdays, and der Wildebeasty boyz. Wot the heck, everybody picked that way back in August, but, dead solid after 10 games - NOW that's ha-mazing.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 07:28 AM ET  10.30 by Save_Me_Jebus: 10-0.

I would be more ticked off if Burke trades Kaberle to Boston for a 1st round pick. Think about it, Burke would not trade Kaberle and a 1st for Kessel in June. However, trading two #1's and a #2 for Kessel than trading Kaberle to get a #1 back. I can see Chiarelli laughing his arse off if this were to happen.

Yea, and you know there is NO WAY Chiarelli would is trading Toronto's #1... not with a lottery pick on the line. Toronto could have our #1 back but not their own.

QUOTE(#4):

Originally posted 07:38 AM ET  10.30 by Schadenfreude - Chitown bound.

Wasn't the original trade that was proposed around the draft have something to do with the B's getting a 1st and Kaberle for Kessel?

Yes, that is what he said. He would be pissed if Kaberle were traded for a first only after not giving him up for what amounts to a 1st and a 2nd.

Well, Schadenfreude beat me to it, thankfully. I won't have to write a large passage on how awful Kessel is going to be in blue and white.

But my question is this: If he's been practicing with the team long enough to be ready to now play a game with them, why haven't they been able to figure out who he is going to be playing with yet? Does he have ZERO chemistry with the entire team (easy to believe) or have the coaches simply dropped the ball (again) and not properly planned his return? Or are they bringing him back too soon, another likely coaching mistake?

Mind you, they just brought Tlusty back up - maybe he and Kessel can find chemistry by taking pictures of themselves touching tongues in their underwear...

QUOTE(#8):

Originally posted 08:50 AM ET  10.30 by goCanada!

why haven't they been able to figure out who he is going to be playing with yet? Does he have ZERO chemistry with the entire team (easy to believe) or have the coaches simply dropped the ball (again) and not properly planned his return?

I dunno... those are both pretty high-probability scenarios. My guess it is both... both Kessel and the coaching staff screwed the pooch.

All I know is he is this, he just turned 22 yrs old, put up 36 goals last year, 6 in 11 playoff games, including being a point per game man in his short playoff career. The team he is going to is in need of scoring, and the team who traded him is also in need of scoring. This might be a lopsided traded in a few years, but right now those picks aren't exactly helping Boston, you have no clue if they will in the future. Was he lazy, maybe, but he was also a young kid. He also has many years to mature and keep getting better. There aren't many 22 yr olds putting up 36 goals in a season.

QUOTE(#6):

Originally posted 08:45 AM ET  10.30 by BobbyOrrsBastahd

Yea, and you know there is NO WAY Chiarelli would is trading Toronto's #1... not with a lottery pick on the line. Toronto could have our #1 back but not their own.

Yeah he was on the radio the other day and he said no way. He is keeping that sucker. Can you say Taylor hall??

QUOTE(#10):

Originally posted 09:50 AM ET  10.30 by Vilgrain

All I know is he is this, he just turned 22 yrs old, put up 36 goals last year, 6 in 11 playoff games, including being a point per game man in his short playoff career. The team he is going to is in need of scoring, and the team who traded him is also in need of scoring. This might be a lopsided traded in a few years, but right now those picks aren't exactly helping Boston, you have no clue if they will in the future. Was he lazy, maybe, but he was also a young kid. He also has many years to mature and keep getting better. There aren't many 22 yr olds putting up 36 goals in a season.

Don't forget his being a healthy scratch for two playoff games...

And the fact his draft status dropped significantlt in his last year in College. He went from being the sure-fire #1 pick to falling far enough for Boston to pick him. He's had attitude problems all along because he has a sense of entitlement. And just because he scored some goals last year doesn't mean he's the answer for the Leafs either. I think if I played beside Savard even I could pot 20 in a year...

QUOTE(#10):

Originally posted 09:50 AM ET  10.30 by Vilgrain

All I know is he is this, he just turned 22 yrs old, put up 36 goals last year, 6 in 11 playoff games, including being a point per game man in his short playoff career. The team he is going to is in need of scoring, and the team who traded him is also in need of scoring. This might be a lopsided traded in a few years, but right now those picks aren't exactly helping Boston, you have no clue if they will in the future. Was he lazy, maybe, but he was also a young kid. He also has many years to mature and keep getting better. There aren't many 22 yr olds putting up 36 goals in a season.

Please show me a player who's work ethic improved and attitude improved after getting a huge contract.

I can, actually, Schad. There are a number of them, in fact. Jerome Iginla comes to mind, as does Pavel Datsyuk. Lots of these guys don't see a fat contract as a payday as much as they see it as a motivator: playing to prove they deserve the money. Not every guy looks at this way - in fact many don't as we well know - but there a good number of them that do. Mind you, the 2 guys I listed never really had BAD attitudes or habits to start with though.

QUOTE(#14):

Originally posted 10:15 AM ET  10.30 by Schadenfreude - Chitown bound.

Please show me a player who's work ethic improved and attitude improved after getting a huge contract.

I can show you a ton of them, in many sports. Zach Parise, Ovechkin, Richards, Iginla, etc.... I'm not saying Kessel will be better or play better, I am just saying, he is 22 yrs old, he will mature. He might not be great without Savard, but he just might. Savard is a great passer, but he also has played with some great stars (Iginla, Ilya) before hand, so maybe Kessel was helping Savard as well.
THis is just like the Crosby haters, they can't get over the fact that some guys aren't mature men the second they step on the ice. Kessel may never be as good as he was, but the picks the Bruins get may not amount to anything either.

crosby works hard and has a good attitude and his contract is pretty fat.
zetterberg, chara, parisse there are more but you get point

QUOTE(#12):

Originally posted 09:54 AM ET  10.30 by BobbyOrrsBastahd

Don't forget his being a healthy scratch for two playoff games...

That was a kick in the ass via Claude Julein would Ron Wilson do that???

QUOTE(#13):

Originally posted 10:14 AM ET  10.30 by goCanada!

And the fact his draft status dropped significantlt in his last year in College. He went from being the sure-fire #1 pick to falling far enough for Boston to pick him. He's had attitude problems all along because he has a sense of entitlement. And just because he scored some goals last year doesn't mean he's the answer for the Leafs either. I think if I played beside Savard even I could pot 20 in a year...

The year before being drafted, he was being compared favorably to Sydney Crosby... then he had a stinker at the Worlds and his ranking plummeted. He ended up falling to Boston at #5.

QUOTE(#16):

Originally posted 10:30 AM ET  10.30 by Vilgrain

so maybe Kessel was helping Savard as well.

No dice. For proof, just look at Savard's first year in Boston... put up 22-74-96 despite Boston only scoring 219 goals that year and having such impressive linemates as 45-pt Glen Murray and 34-pt Brad Boyes. Hell, Savard was involved in 43.8% of Boston's goals that year despite having no true scorers playing with him.

If anything, Savard made Kessel, not the other way around.