Juicy stories on Phil Kessel’s rebellious side come out ahead of free agency

Former NHL defenseman John-Michael Liles was the guest on the Spittin Chiclets podcast this week and revealed some juicy stories about his former teammate Phil Kessel.

I feel like everyone around the league loves a good Phil Kessel story and Liles had a few to share with the hosts and audience since he was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs with Kessel.

He first revealed how Kessel reacted to the Maple Leafs hiring Randy Carlyle as the new head coach in 2012. Kessel was pissed because the veteran head coach, who had won the Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks, was not a fan of soda being kept in the dressing room and Kessel only drinks Coca-Cola.

Kessel had signed a hefty contract in Toronto but didn’t care when he felt threatened to lose his soda.

“I’ll f***king quit hockey, I don’t care!”

This is hilarious:

Liles didn’t stop there with the funny anecdotes. He revealed that once Kessel was asked to be weighed in and refused. The strength coach informed Carlyle who told him Kessel had to check his weight.

Kessel started yelling at the coach that he could come weigh him himself, using some very colourful language towards his bench boss:

We all imagine that Kessel, who loves a good hot-dog, wouldn’t be thrilled about weigh in days, but I never imagine he would react this way. He has an attitude! Not sure how this is going to play for the veteran forward who is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 13.

After hitting the 20-goal plateau in 56 games in 2020-21, Kessel was limited to just eight goals this past season in a full 82 games with the Arizona Coyotes. He however led the team with 44 assists, and his 52 points put him third behind only Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, and his Iron Man streak is still alive!

There were rumours that Kessel could be moved to a Cup contender ahead of the trade deadline, but a deal never materialized. If Kessel wants another shot at the Cup, it won’t happen with the Coyotes and so he could test the free agency waters, and maybe put his consecutive games played in jeopardy.