EHM The Blue Line

This was on Boston.com this morning, and I saw reports yesterday that he was in the hospital getting treatment for an "undisclosed medical condition." Channel 4 here reported that it was testicular cancer. The way his family released the press release and the way the team was responding, you could tell it was something pretty serious. As of right now this is still unconfirmed, so I hope it's not the case, but I don't have a good feeling about this.

I know it's beatable, Lance Armstrong did it, but it's not an easy path by any means. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family right now and I hope he's back playing hockey real soon.

Medical Issue for Kessel

I heard early reports yesterday and some folks were speculating he was going into rehab, because of his past reputation for partying. Then this morning I read about the possibility of testicular cancer. While I'm glad it's not something caused by drugs and alcohol, it's a shame that the poor kid has to go through something like this. Can you imagine being 19 years old and suddenly being stricken with something like this? Things like this make me thankful for my health.

Hopefully it's still not actually the case, but if it is testicular cancer he's such a young guy you can't help but think they've caught it early and if so it is certainly one of the least daunting forms of the terrible disease so hopefully he'll be back soon and see this as just "a scare" really in the long run Best wishes to him and his family though of course.

This is prime gossip material, so let's wait for confirmation. However, the way they're handling the issue kind of reminds me of Koivu's cancer scare.

Let's hope it's something less serious. Like 'just' a bad case of food poisoning.

This just in on the Boston Globe Bruins Blog:

December 12, 2006
Kessel undergoes surgery
By Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff

MONTREAL -- Wade Arnott, Phil Kessel's agent, confirmed this morning that his client underwent successful surgery yesterday at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Arnott said the procedure was cancer-related but did not confirm CBS4's report that Kessel was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

"He's resting in Boston and on the road to recovery," said Arnott.

Arnott said that Kessel had felt minor symptoms related to his condition leading up to the diagnosis. Arnott said Kessel's condition was determined "very recently."

"He got thrown a curveball," Arnott said, "but he's holding up pretty well."

Jesus...That just sucks. Best of luck Phil.

It sounds like whatever it was, it was diagnosed good and early. That's something to be thankful for. I'm hoping the kid makes a full recovery.

bruins72 wrote:It sounds like whatever it was, it was diagnosed good and early. That's something to be thankful for. I'm hoping the kid makes a full recovery.

Ditto It's good that he has great care because that makes all the difference. It doesn't make it any less scary or less trying on him and his family but his chances of full recovery/remission are excellent it would seem. Best wishes to Phil and his loved ones at a trying time.

darn! A cancer, so young... That sucks Hopefully, it was diagnosed early, which strongly increases the good issue possibilities, but it's still sad to see that kind of things happening

Lots of luck and courage Phil!

Here's a link for a "get well card" that I found posted on the Bruins usenet newsgroup.

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/PhilKessel

Get well soon Phil!

Well, really not a good week for the NHL. Bob Gainey daughter dying then Kessel suffering cancer...

Yeah, the moment of silence at the beginning of the game last night was touching. Not a good week in the NHL for sure.

Fortunately for Phil, it looks like they might have caught it early. He's also in one of the best cities in the world for treating cancer.

The doctors say the surgury was a success and they are considering him "cured". That's fantastic news.

Doctors consider Kessel cured

This story just shows what kind of warriors hockey players are. He still played all 16 shifts against New Jersey knowing he was just diagnosed with cancer. The article says it much better than I can, worth a read.

Not just the physical but the mental toughness of hockey players in general is remarkable and unique to other sports I think...

Thanks for the link, and good to hear that Phil will be back good as new Great news indeed, though he probably feels like he's aged about 10 years in the process

Get well soon Phil!!!!!

Kessel is back on the ice! He's not ready to play yet but this is a huge first step!

http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bru ... uins_blog/

Wow, that's great to hear

Can't wait to see him back. I hope his first game is a home game, so the fans can give him a big cheer when he steps on the ice.