Which team do you associate Phil Kessel with

[Boreal01]

Best seasons and 2 Cups with Pittsburgh vs a longer stint with the Leafs as their best player and the accompanying endless Toronto media coverage/drama

 

[banks]

I live in the Toronto area. Phil Kessel will always be a Leaf first, in my mind.

 

[GlitchMarner]

He had one of his best four seasons with PIT and had three of his best four seasons as a Leaf.

But he was crucial to getting PIT over the hump. The Penguins went from being playoff disappointments to Cup winners with him. Since he left, the team hasn't won a series.

 

[End of Line]

 

[PamBallam]

He'll always be a Leaf in my mind, even though I'm a Pens fan and he was crucial in the back to back cups with us.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Pens
Bruins
Leafs

 

[JianYang]

Pittsburgh is the first team I think of, followed by Boston

 

[Montreal Shadow]

Surprised to see he only spent 3 seasons as a Bruin. In my head, he had spent 5-6 years there.

 

[hangman017]

I live in the Toronto area. Phil Kessel will always be a Leaf first, in my mind.

Phil is and always will be a legend in Toronto

 

[TMLegend]

Leafs
Bruins
Pens

 

[PainForShane]

Weirdly enough? Toronto.

But actually I associate him more with Toronto mismanagement if that makes sense. Like, they thought they'd be good so they traded two firsts and a second for him, but they ended up being terrible so those picks ended up being high picks in Seguin and Dougie Hamilton. One playoff series in however many years (that game 7 loss) then they eventually trade him again because apparently it was time for a rebuild.

And I just looked this up, the draft the season after the Leafs traded Kessel away was when they drafted Auston Matthews. So I guess the front office redeemed themselves eventually.

Either way my answer is Toronto. And team Hot Dog which imo should definitely be a poll option

 

[Nosferatu]

Lol I did not even remember that he played for Toronto. Should have won playoff mvp

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

He did play for the desert dogs for a reason. After all, the desert is hot, and their hockey team was a dog.

 

[olli]

Both Pittsburgh and Toronto but more so Pittsburgh because I started really getting into hockey around the time he was traded there so I watched him way more when he was a Penguin than a Leaf.

 

[Burt Macklin]

I totally forgot he played for the leafs

 

[hangman017]

 

[Beau Knows]

Toronto, he was top dog there for a long time.

Two Cups in Pittsburgh, but his stint there was too short.

 

[Trade]

Kessel was a key contributor in two Cup victories with the Pens, had a legit case for the Conn Smythe in 2016, and had his most productive years overall with us.

He did play about 120 more games in Toronto than Pittsburgh FWIW.

 

[AKL]

I don't even mean this to be a joke but after all the memes I genuinely associate him more with hot dogs than I do with any NHL team

Voted Leafs for the poll

 

[Ignatius]

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

The team he won the 2016 Conn Smythe with (in my world)

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Maybe beyond the scope of this thread but people are talking about his best season. He had 92 points but how does a player with 92 points on a really good team end up with a -4 on the season?

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

 

[Ignatius]