Absolutely nothing significant* happened in the NHL last night but our beloved Phil Kessel was still out there enjoying his offseason. Catch up on the latest Phil news with our weekly “Phil Friday’s” update.
In the comments of last week’s “Phil Friday’s” post, a reader mentioned a video featuring Marc Savard where the former NHL’er details the specific way Phil Kessel tapes his stick. After a brief YouTube search, we found the video from Savard and it provides good insight on the technique Phil uses for his tape jobs.
Savard goes into great detail on Phil’s tape job, going from the knob of the stick at the top all the way to his blade. He calls it a “candy cane” tape job because of the way Phil runs the tape all the way down the shaft of his stick before reaching the blade.
It is a very interesting video with a lot of great information from Savard on the different types of tape players use and why he prefers white tape over black. I recommend watching the entire video, which also includes a tape demonstration for Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn. There is also a bit of information before the Kessel demo where Savard explains the kind of stick Phil uses.
This video is just one in a whole slew of “Taping Twigs” videos where Savard details the different tape jobs around the league. Watch them all if you get a chance and maybe you’ll find a new tape job for your own stick.
More Phil News
If you recall last week’s Phil post, we featured Phil hanging out on a boat somewhere in Florida while tuning out all the noise around him and his future with the Penguins. Fast forward seven days and Phil Kessel is still on a boat, but this time he has a familiar face joining him.
Carl Hagelin has taken a break from family time to join Phil in Florida and share in some glorious boat time. You’ll also notice Carl included the infamous fish emoji that has become a trend among Penguins on the popular social media platform. Jake Guentzel even commented on the picture with the fish emoji.
Boating isn’t the only offseason activity Phil has been up to during his time in Florida, he’s been on dry land playing some tennis with friends as well.
From the looks of it, Phil should stick to his day job but at least he’s working on a back up plan in case the whole hockey thing doesn’t work out. Phil’s tennis skills caught the attention of teammate Matt Murray who challenged Phil to a showdown on the court and it appears Phil is ready to go whenever Murray is.
We can only hope Kessel and Murray follow through and give us the showdown we all deserve.
*Congratulations, Capitals