Phil Kessel is Ready for Leafs debut

Those Toronto Maple Leaf fans who are anticipating a sudden impact from 22 year-old forward Phil Kessel might be in for a grave disappointment. Approximately a month ago Leafs general manager Brian Burke rolled the dice by trading away Toronto’s first round picks in 2010 and 2011 along with their 2010 second rounder to the Boston Bruins in exchange for the speedy Kessel. After a dozen games this year the Leafs have only one win and badly need scoring up front if they have any chance at all of getting back into the playoff race. This past weekend excitement and anticipation of Kessel’s near return reached a fever pitch when several fans called into the Toronto all sports radio station talking about what he will bring to the team.  While Toronto fans have reason to be excited at what he can bring it’s essential for them to remember that this former 2006 Bruins first rounder had no training camp and hasn’t been playing for about six months due to rehabbing from a badly torn rotator cuff. There is a strong buzz in Toronto as the Leafs who are averaging under three goals per game this season is targeting Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning for Kessel’s Leafs debut. On Monday Kessel who has been practising on a line with Jason Blake and Matt Stajan underwent an extensive battery of tests for the shoulder and results won’t be known until Tuesday. Coming off a 60 point season Kessel has improved every year since entering the league and has scored 60 goals and 66 assists in only 222 NHL games. Despite all this potential fans have to stand back and remember that Kessel who hasn’t even reached his prime is just one player and won’t be able to fix all the Leaf’s problems. It will take weeks to months before this talented forward will be in game shape after missing so much time in rehabbing.