Fragen und Antworten » the hottest player on the planet, the 26-year-ol

SOCHI, Russia – Not much has changed for Phil Kessel, other than the fact that hes stealing the Olympic hockey stage. "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil." An endlessly static personality, Kessel continued his 2014 domination on Sunday afternoon, racking up a hat trick in the Americans final preliminary round game against Slovenia, a thorough 5-1 victory at Shayba Arena. Currently the hottest player on the planet, the 26-year-old has already strung together four goals and seven points in three games on the Olympic stage. He entered Russian airspace in an absolute zone for the Toronto Maple Leafs, ringing up 11 goals and 27 points in the final 15 games (11 wins) before the Olympic break. In fact, no NHL player has more points since January 1 than the reluctant Madison, Wisconsin-born star. Kessel is the epitome of the never-high, never-low sports cliché, quiet and introverted in times both good and bad. Rooming during these Olympics with his Toronto linemate van Riemsdyk, Kessel has been consuming the Friday Night Lights TV series on his iPad during off-time from the rink. "We havent really had much dialogue in the room except when he wants to chirp me now and again," said van Riemsdyk with a laugh. "Its been fun though." American teammate Ryan Suter grew up in the same Wisconsin hometown as Kessel and said not much has changed. "Quiet," said Suter, whose father Bob coached Kessel as a kid. "The same as he is now. Doesnt talk much. Goal scorer. He was always scoring goals." But perhaps never like this. During his first test on the Olympic stage four years ago, Kessel had just a goal and an assist in six games. But from that point he has noticeably evolved into a more complete player and person. "Just more mature," Suter said. "I think hes more comfortable with himself. I think in 2010 he was kind of a little hesitant to talk or to try things and now hes comfortable with where he is and hes making a lot of good plays." "Obviously its a great honour to play for your country and its always exciting," said Kessel. "Im happy to be here." Silver medalists in Vancouver, Team USAs chances for gold in Sochi only rise higher with Kessel locked into this kind of zone. They wrapped up Group A with the win over Slovenia after beating the Russians in a shootout just a day earlier. Kessel played a large part in that, scoring his second hat trick in February (he had one for the Leafs on Feb. 1). The second of his three markers was a watch, rewind and watch again type of goal, the kind only a sniper with his natural gifts could score. Joe Pavelski, the third member of a highly productive third line trio for the Americans, was driving just right of the Slovenian goal when he flipped a pass from almost behind the net to his scorching linemate, charging hard left. Employing the hand-eye coordination of a baseball player, Kessel batted the puck – mid-air – behind helpless keeper Luka Gracnar. "Just get him the puck," said van Riemsdyk. "Thats pretty much it, get him the puck and let him do his thing." "Hes always been a good player," added Suter. "Hes always been a goal scorer. Hes always been quick, explosive. Hes doing all the things that he should do. He has all the tools. Hes putting them together." Terrence Ross Magic Jersey .Y. -- The New York Islanders were merely content with a lopsided victory. Grant Hill Jersey . Hernandez (3-0) struck out 11 and shut down Oakland for the second time in a week, becoming the first Mariners pitcher to win three times in the first nine games of a season. With the usual "Kings Court" for Hernandez home starts expanded to a "Supreme Court" encompassing the entire stadium with yellow shirts and "K" cards, Hernandez gave up four hits in the 28th double-digit strikeout game of his career. http://www.magicauthentic.com/kids-aaron-gordon-magic-jersey/ . Kansas City became the first team in baseball history to win four extra-inning games in a single postseason on Friday, as Alex Gordon crushed a leadoff homer in the 10th and Mike Moustakas added the deciding two-run blast in the Royals 8-6 win. Jerian Grant Magic Jersey . He was signed to help with depth to the receiving corps because of the loss of Shamawd Chambers to the 6-game injured list. Timofey Mozgov Jersey . Thats exactly what happened. And they enjoyed every moment. Durant remained sizzling with 33 points, Serge Ibaka added 22 and the Thunder roared back from an abysmal start -- they trailed 22-4 early -- to embarrass the Miami Heat 112-95 on Wednesday night, erasing that big deficit out of the gate by outscoring the two-time defending champions by 43 points over a 33-minute span.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, At 8:54 in the third period of Thursdays game between Pittsburgh and Detroit, James Neal was assessed an interference penalty on Luke Glendening for moving his stick towards the board after Glendening had lost it earlier. Glendening was not trying to retrieve it and Neals actions did not interfere with the play. According to rule 53.2 it would appear that the interference call is not justified. Is there something I am missing? Mathieu BenoitSaint John, NB Mathieu: Your question was selected from one of ten pertaining to the interference penalty called against James Neal for shooting Luke Glendenings stick to the side boards with the Penguins on the power play. A very tricky rule application was created after Glendening lost his stick at the top of the Wings end zone face-off circle following an attempted poke-check on James Neal. Glendening lost his one handed grip through the check motion which caused the stick to travel 15 feet to the bottom of the circle close to the goal line where teammate Kyle Quincey was positioned. Quincey then shot/slid Glendenings stick to a carefully placed location out into the high slot near where Glendening was attempting to defend without his stick. Herein lies the first potential rule violation on this play! Rule 10.3 states that a player who has lost or broken his stick may only receive a stick at his own players bench or be handed one from a teammate on the ice. A player will be penalized if he throws, tosses, slides or shoots a stick to a teammate on the ice. Fortunately for the Red Wings, Luke Glendening was fronting Matt Niskanen who had the puck near the point. As such, Glendening was unable to pick up the attempted helper from Quincey. If Luke Glendening had picked up his stick at that moment, Kyle Quincey shouldd receive a minor penalty placing the Wings two men short for a minute and forty seconds! James Neal, from the high slot position just behind Glendening, felt his skate contact the stick that had been illegally passed by Quincey.dddddddddddd I am quite certain that James Neal was unaware of the potential penalty to Quincey if Luke Glendening had picked up the twig. Instead, Neal jockeyed around Glendening with a cute series of deliberate skate drag maneuvers that moved the stick safely out of the reach of the Red Wing defender and effectively nullified the potential penalty to Quincey. Even though Glendening moved away from the immediate area of the stick to defend the opposite side point, it was incumbent upon James Neal to simply step away from the stick and leave it in the position it now rested. Once Neal shot Luke Glendenings stick 30 plus feet to the sidewall he violated rule 56.2 by effectively preventing Glendening from regaining possession of it. The inability Neal created for Glendening to retrieve his stick was further compounded by the fact that the Red Wings were already a man down by virtue of the penalty being served by Brendan Smith. The eventual outcome of this play highlights the need for players to clearly understand the rules. Just 20 seconds into a Penguins power play once Luke Glendening lost his hockey stick, things quickly transitioned from a potential penalty to Kyle Quincey that would have placed the Wings two men short; to additional freedom of end zone puck movement the Penguins enjoyed once Glendening lost his stick; to the creation of a four-on-four when James Neal was penalized for interference. I offer the following advice to players: If you encounter a stick lying on the ice that isnt broken, think twice before relocating it. It the stick is clearly broken, make sure any action taken to remove or discard the broken portion doesnt interfere with the movements of the puck or an opposing player! ' ' '