from Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun,
If there was a Toronto newspaper that headlined ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ on the day the Maple Leafs traded Phil Kessel — and who could resist such an opportunity? — it was only half right.
He was undeniably gone from Toronto, but the greatest time of his life was just about to start.
Now, with Kessel leading the Pittsburgh Penguins in playoff scoring and the Pens one win away from the Stanley Cup after their 3-1 win in Game 4 on Monday night, giving them a 3-1 series edge, The Thrill is the polar opposite of gone.
“He’s been so good,” raved Pens’ 39-year-old forward Matt Cullen. “He’s playing such a complete game right now. He’s just such a dynamic player. Whenever he touches the puck, something good happens, and it’s not just shooting the puck. He’s creating, things happen with his speed, he’s finding open guys. He’s such a challenge for defencemen to handle. He’s been awesome.”
Kessel assisted on both the first goal and the eventual game-winner Monday night, pushing his post-season totals to 10 goals and 11 assists in 22 games, and continued to warm his hands over the ashes of all the newsprint that ushered him out of Leaf Nation, convinced it was a case of addition by subtraction.
This is not to unduly criticize the critics. Kessel, sullen and often appearing indifferent in Maple Leaf silks, provided plenty of ammo.
Only now, with the benefit of hindsight, it seems an inescapable conclusion that Kessel’s shortcomings in Toronto had much to do with the general hopelessness of the Leafs (not the first good player to be thus stricken) and was exacerbated by a dearth of first-rate linemates.
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