Kessel downplays ironman record

The most amusing part of this past week’s Phil Kessel Appreciation Tour: He didn’t seem to care about any of it.

“It’s a cool thing,” he said before tying the NHL’s ironman record. “Means I played a lot of games, right? It’s neat, you know?”

Sure, Phil. Playing in 990 consecutive games, as he did, is neat. It had the hockey media noting Kessel’s prickly personality, diet, and training habits that have long had teammates shaking their heads — a younger Kessel “didn’t like the taste of water,” ex-Bruins teammate Blake Wheeler said recently, and only drank blue Powerade — and oh yes, explosive skating speed and shot power . . . all part of the Legend of Phil.

Kessel, the fifth overall pick by the Bruins in 2006, had a short stint here, culminating with a 36-goal season in 2008-09 and a trade to Toronto that helped bring the Stanley Cup and “Thank you, Kessel” chants to Boston.

He also was the last pick in the 2011 All-Star Game draft, a three-year idea that some of today’s media-savvy stars might enjoy resurrecting.

Kessel has a strong case to be called the greatest player from that draft class. He entered the weekend with 400 goals in 1,212 games, more than any of that group.

His 959 points rank second to Nicklas Backstrom (1,011). Only Jonathan Toews has more Cup titles (three) than Kessel’s two.

Those three, and perhaps Brad Marchand, will merit Hall of Fame consideration. Is there a slam-dunk HOFer there? Maybe not.

Kessel this past week scored his first goal for Bruce Cassidy’s Golden Knights and became the 12th American to hit 400 goals. That list is headlined by the Golden Generation, Mike Modano (561), Keith Tkachuk (538), and Jeremy Roenick (513). The torch has been carried by Patrick Kane (431), Joe Pavelski (425), Zach Parise (409), and Kessel these last 15 years.

Seems like a matter of time before Auston Matthews — already the 33rdhighest scoring American, with 261 goals — and the rest of the US-born stars from the draft classes of 2016 (Alex DeBrincat, Matthew Tkachuk), 2015 (Jack Eichel, Kyle Connor), 2013 (Jake Guentzel), and 2011 (Johnny Gaudreau) start shooting holes in that list.

Kessel, 35, might still be trucking along when they do. He hasn’t missed a game since Nov. 3, 2009.

“I like to play,” he said. “I like going out there and competing. It’s still fun to me.”