Kessel Kicks into Gear Against Tampa Tuesday

By Louis “King of Roncesvalles” Pisano

All the speculation of what Phil Kessel will bring to a Toronto Maple Leafs team that badly needs a boost may be answered at least in part tomorrow night at the ACC when the Leafs host the Tampa Bay Lightning.

What line will he play on, how much ice-time he will get initially, and where he fits in on the power play, which is the only thing firing (1st overall) on all cylinders for this Leafs squad, are all good questions.

Hopefully, as most reports seem to indicate Phil will suit up against a Tampa team which will be playing in back-to-back games as they will be coming in after facing Philly tonight in Philadelphia.

He said in an interview today that he had one more test and if he passed that he would be cleared, though he wasn’t sure about what the test involved.

He’s been skating with Stajan and Blake in practice so that will most likely be where he starts in what will be a focal point for Leaf fans and media and other teams looking to keep this Toronto team back on their heels.

He also mentioned in the interview that it’s been six months since he’s played and is extremely excited to get back on the ice.

Toronto fans are most likely as, if not more excited to have this great young player take to the ice for their beloved blue and white.

I will be at the game tomorrow night and hopefully will get a firsthand look at this kid Kessel who GM Brian Burke gave away so much for, and as it seems at this point those draft picks going to the Bruins may be some high ones indeed.

As Leaf fans we have to trust that Brian Burke knows what he’s doing, though after such a rough start many have begun to doubt his decisions early in his tenure as general manger. Burke never said it would be a quick fix.

Leaf Nation is hoping that Kessel will be a shot of adrenaline injected into a team that truly needs it and with the boosts brought about by the return of Vesa Toskala and the "Monster" Jonas Gustavsson between the pipes this may be just enough to kick start a bit of momentum they can build off.