



We skipped over yesterday’s USA-Russia game, for two reasons. One, I overslept and missed it. Two, everybody was screaming T.J. Oshie’s name and trying to talk about the Leafs players would have just been like trying to yell for undivided attention in a downtown Tokyo intersection.

That doesn’t mean they didn’t play well yesterday. Kessel and van Riemsdyk both got assists on Cam Fowler’s 1-1 goal, and combined for 11 shots. Kulemin was part of a shutdown line once again, and they didn’t let anybody score on them. Heck, Kulemin won a faceoff! But today we were expecting more, and man oh man…

Kulemin’s morning was one without productivity once again, with him still striving for his first point of the tournament. But he represented his team for a bit over 14 minutes and took twenty shifts. But that’s not why we’re here.

van Reimsdyk picked up an assist, a shot, and a penalty, but that’s not why we’re here either.

No, we’re here because Phil Kessel is not a human being. Four shots are cool. 12:56 is a low amount of ice time. But as the Phil showed, it’s what you do with it that counts.

Praise be.

PS: I put a Kessel USA shirt up on Teespring, if anybody is interested.





