Phil Kessel is a 3x Stanley Cup champion

Kessel gets third Cup title as Golden Knights net their first in franchise history.

There wasn’t a ton of Penguins connections to this year’s Stanley Cup Final but there was one significant one, the presence of former Penguin Phil Kessel who was on the Vegas Golden Knights roster.

Despite only playing in four playoff games for the Golden Knights this playoff season, Phil Kessel was on the ice last night to lift the Stanley Cup with his teammates after defeating the Florida Panthers in five games to claim the crown.

That now gives Kessel not one, not two, but three Stanley Cup rings after winning a pair in 2016 and 2017 as a member of the Penguins. His role this time around may have been far less that it was during his time with the Penguins, but Kessel did complete another full 82 game slate without missing a game before injuries kept him out of the Golden Knights playoff lineup for most of their run.

After being maligned for most of his career by the Toronto media as a guy who couldn’t win, Kessel has now won three Stanley Cup titles in eight seasons and he certainly hasn’t forgotten what was said about him in the past.

It says a lot about Kessel and his legacy in Pittsburgh when social media lit up with Penguins fans celebrating another Kessel Stanley Cup triumph across social media. Even one former teammate got in on the action with a Louvre worthy photoshop.

Not too bad for a guy who supposedly never had what it takes to be a winner. It must feel pretty good for Kessel to get the last laugh not once, not twice, but three separate times. Here’s to a few hot dogs to celebrate the occasion once again.

Congrats to Kessel and all the Golden Knights on their accomplishment this season. It was a well earned Stanley Cup title and brings full circle one perhaps the best expansion team in hockey history, needing only six seasons to reach the pinnacle of the sport.