Phil Kessel has a bit of a routine during the pre-game warmups that has caught the eye of Don Cherry.
A former Bruin and Maple Leaf, Kessel has been keeping loose leaning against the boards alongside his team’s bench and joking around with a Penguins trainer. Cherry believes Kessel needs to get more serious in the warmup, if only to help set a tone for younger players on the team.
“I don’t know what’s going on here. I would not put up with this,” Cherry said on Coach’s Corner Thursday night. “I know he’s the third-leading scorer, but he’s fooling around. Now, to the older guys on the club it doesn’t mean a thing other than they think he’s a little nuts or something. But the younger players see the third-leading scorer…
“And this trainer? Maybe they think it’s funny or something. The seventh game. I don’t know.”
Kessel has been one of Pittsburgh’s most important players since coming over from Toronto last year. This season, the 29-year-old finished third in team scoring during the regular season with 70 points, the third-highest total of his career.
In the playoffs so far, Kessel is a point-per-game player and fourth in the league with 18 points, behind just Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Ryan Getzlaf. In their Stanley Cup run last season, Kessel was fourth in the NHL with 22 points.
Cherry acknowledged Kessel’s production, but pointed out the importance of showing leadership as well.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life before,” Cherry said. “A guy warmup like that, he takes one shot and leaves and you’re going to say he’s the third-leading scorer. I don’t know.
“I know one thing, Boston got rid of him when he was a 37-goal scorer and when Toronto got rid of him he was the leading goal-scorer. There must be something.
“That is not good as far as I’m concerned.”
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