Gotta See It: Kesler responds to Johansen's “friends and family” comments

So, this much we know after two games between the Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks: Ryan Johansen and Ryan Kesler don’t like each other. That was apparent if you’ve followed to play on the ice, but even more so if you followed the postgame briefing from each player. 

Kesler, one of the NHL’s premier checking forwards, has made life difficult for Johansen through two games, so much so that Johansen was in disbelief when asked to describe Kesler’s play. “It just blows my mind…I don’t know what’s going through his head out there. His family and his friends watching him, I don’t know how you can cheer for a guy like that.” Wow. 

When you see a player bring friends and family into the mix it usually means that they’re so frustrated that they’re grasping at straw to be critical. That certainly seems to be the case with Johansen, given his words and the disbelief in his voice. For his part, Kesler responded to Johansen’s criticism with, “I play the game hard and obviously he doesn’t like that.”