PITTSBURGH — Phil Kessel said it has not been easy to change the way he plays. Even harder is changing how others view the way he plays.
The Pittsburgh Penguins forward enters the Stanley Cup final ranked fifth in playoff scoring with 18 points in 18 games. He had two goals and set up the overtime winner in a series-clinching win against Washington in the Eastern Conference semi-final and then scored four times in seven games against Tampa Bay in the conference final.
But as reporters waited to talk to the player who would be a contender to win the Conn Smyth Trophy if the voting were held now, the question on everyone’s mind was why Team USA management did not name Kessel to its final roster for the World Cup of Hockey?
“I’m trying to decide whether I’m going to give you a long answer or a short one,” Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford wondered when he was asked the question. He settled on the short answer: “I’m surprised.”
Kessel led the 2014 Olympics in scoring, so it might have been a surprise when he did not make the initial 16-man roster in March. But to snub him completely is baffling decision considering how well he has played in the three months since the initial roster came out.
Kessel, said Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan, “is a bit of a misunderstood guy.”
As many fans have come to observe, Kessel is the walking contradiction. He’s the ultra-talented scorer who gets criticized for not back-checking. He’s fast but looks fat. He has a blazing snapshot that can win you games, but many believe you cannot win with him on your team.
That last part might be why he was snubbed in favour of role players such as Ryan Callahan, Justin Abdelkader and Brandon Dubinsky. Kessel scored five goals and eight points in six games in the 2014 Olympics, but made no impact on the scoresheet in the 1-0 semi-final loss to Canada and the 5-0 loss to Finland in the bronze-medal game.
The entire U.S. roster was blanked in those games but Kessel seemed to should most of the blame.
“Obviously you’re a little disappointed, but it what it is,” Kessel said Sunday of not being selected. “I’ve had a pretty good playoffs and I’ve always done pretty well for them in all the tournaments I’ve played for them. But we’re in the Stanley Cup final, so I can’t be too disappointed.”
That last part was as close as Kessel would get to actually rubbing his success in his detractors’ faces. According to his teammates, it’s more than justified. Though he had a rocky start to the season, Kessel has been everything the Penguins had hoped for when they acquired him from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a trade last summer.
Sullivan said “we would not be playing in the Stanley Cup final without (Kessel’s) contribution.” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby added: “I definitely expected him to be on the (World Cup) team” based on “the playoffs that he’s had.”
Indeed, Kessel saved his best for last. After managing only six points in October and six points December, he finished with 19 points in the final 21 games of the season. Kessel, along with linemates Carl Hagelin and Nick Bonino on the third line, have given the Penguins the type of scoring depth that helped push them past the Rangers, Capitals and Lighting in the playoffs.
“I think Phil deserves all the credit for how his game has evolved over the course of the season,” Sullivan said. “We all have our definitions of competitiveness, and Phil is a very competitive player in his own way. I don’t think there’s another player in the game that likes to score as much as he does. And he has shown that competitiveness through his contributions throughout this post-season.
“We have asked him to, and challenged him to, improve aspects of his game away from the puck and along the boards and he’s embraced that.”
Kessel doesn’t believe he has changed his game that much. He has not suddenly become a two-way forward or even defensively responsible. His job is the same as it was in Toronto: score goals and put up points, which is what he has been doing in these playoffs.
“I’ve always put up decent numbers,” Kessel said. “Sometimes in the regular season, it doesn’t go well for stretches. That’s part of the game. In the playoffs, every game matters and you have to show up for every one.”