Phil Kessel

The real name is Philip Joseph Kessel Jr. Phil Kessel is a professional ice hockey player from
America. His playing position is a right-winger. He is also the backup captain of Arizona
Coyotes which is one of the best team of National Hockey League (NHL). Before playing for
the Arizona Coyotes he played for several teams like Boston Bruins, the Maple Leafs and the
Pittsburgh Penguins. Phil was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the USA, on October 2, 1987.
Phil's from a generation of sports, especially hockey. Phil’s father Philip Joseph Kessel Sr.
was also a hockey player who played in the Washington Redskins National League. Phil's
brother Blake is an ice hockey player who was also picked for the 2007 draft NHL six rounds
by the New York Islanders. Currently, he is playing for ECHL's Orlando Solar Bears.

Career
United States National Hockey development program produces some of the best players who
are playing NHL and Kessel is one of them. He was playing as an established skilled talent
under 18. During college, he also played for the University of Minnesota under Western
Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). And in 2006 he was selected for Boston Bruins via
NHL Entry Draft. He was the fifth in the overall ranking of the NHL entry draft.
Phil is a cancer survivor. He was suffering from testicular cancer while continuing his
professional hockey career. He also won the Bill Masterton Memorial award during his
rookie season 2006–07 for winning the battle with testicular cancer. From 2009 Kessel
started playing for Toronto Maple Leaf’s because he was traded from Boston Bruins to Maple
leaves. He played for Toronto Maple Leaf’s six years after being traded off but after that in
2015 was again traded off to Pittsburgh Penguins. The beginning with the Pittsburgh
Penguins was historical. He won Stanley Cup one after another while playing against the San
Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators. Most people know Kessel as a prolific goal scorer.
Kessel has a big passion for playing internationally. He has already played at three World
Championships including the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. He won a silver medal in
2010 and people named him top forward in 2014.
Kessel was very passionate about playing hockey since his childhood. He also played youth
hockey in his hometown in Madison with AAA Madison. While playing youth hockey back
in 2001 -2002, Kessel’s performance was amazing. He scored 176 goals and 110 assists in
overall 86 matches at a very young age. Next year he was selected to play for under 18 teams
and while playing for Under 18 team he scored 113 goals and 45 assists which breaks the
record of his previous year matches. Kessel is very thankful to his coach Bob Suter, the
Olympian who makes him the player he is today.

Achievement and awards

Phil began his hockey career from being a college student in 2006. He was named the WCHA
rookie of the year in 2006 and received the All WCHA rookie team award and the
MacNaughton Cup the same year. He was subsequently drafted in the NHL and won several
awards during his NHL career, NHL Young Stars Game Award and Bill Masterton Memorial
Trophy in 2007. He also won all 2011, 2012, and 2015 star-game awards.
He earned a Stanley Cup award in 2016 and 2017. He is an award holder for the Prince of
Trophy, who has won many foreign awards too. He won the Bob Johnson award in 2005 and
won the Molson Cup in 2010, 2011, 2012. He also won the 2014 Olympic Best Award and
Team Award for Olympic Star.