Bourne: Kessel's real punishment is getting his name on the NHL's rap sheet

Phil Kessel received a three game pre-season suspension, which carries with it the weight of a third-grader being sentenced to eating cupcakes for punching his bully. Be that as it may, the punishment is still entirely fair because it makes him an “offender,” which means he’s now at risk of being a “repeat offender,” which means that the next time he crosses the long arm of the NHL law, he could find himself in some real, actual trouble. Best-case scenario: maybe he’ll think twice next time he envisions someone’s ankle as a Titleist.

Kessel’s pre-season stick work has been the stuff legends are made of (he really needs to put Colton Orr on a leash for Halloween, call him his Big Blue Ox, and chuck on some overalls), which is neither meant as a compliment to the Leafs’ star nor an insult. Truly, they’ve just been remarkable. And for as violent as they’ve appeared, credit to him for landing them places (pants, back of legs) that send the “quit annoying me” message without risking too much damage to his opponents.

It’s no secret that established players have next to no use for pre-season hockey games, and since teams use the contests to evaluate and develop their youth, it’s unlikely that Kessel or the Leafs miss each other much over the next week. But he is on a watch list of sorts now, which seems to me a pretty just punishment for the second whack he took big John Scott’s legs.