Breaking: Phil Kessel played through significant injury in playoffs, will need surgery.

Kessel going under the knife.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 7 years ago
Breaking: Phil Kessel played through significant injury in playoffs, will need surgery.
Keystone Press.

If you were writing the Phil Kessel story you probably couldn't have written a better redemption story than the reality of his most recent season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. After Kessel repeatedly had his character called into question in the Toronto media, Kessel made the jump to Pittsburgh via trade and never looked back, winning a Stanley Cup championship as a Penguin.

That alone would be enough for a redemption story, but information revealed today by Sportsnet insider John Shannon paints Kessel's incredible playoff performance in an even more favorable light. Shannon has revealed that Kessel suffered a significant injury in the first round of the playoffs against the Rangers, an injury so serious that he will be having his hand surgically repaired today, Friday July 8th.

It really puts Kessel's 22 points in the postseason, the most of any Penguin's player, into context, and all but dismisses the criticisms regarding his lack of character or lack of heart when it comes to competing in the National Hockey League.

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