Phil Kessel forced to change his jersey number in Vegas
The Vegas Golden Knights surprised a lot of people this week when they announced that they had signed iron man and 2-time Stanley Cup Champion Phil Kessel to a 1-year deal worth $1.5M.
Kessel, throughout his 1,200+ game NHL career, has always worn the number 81. However, since #81 has belonged to Golden Knights winger Jonathan Marchessault since day one, Kessel had already announced that he would be changing his number this season. Now we know what number he'll wear.
The Golden Knights made the official announcement via Twitter on Friday evening, revealing that Kessel will don the number 8, instead of 81.
Kessel stated on Thursday that he was excited to join a team who is motivated to win, seemingly taking a bit of a parting shot at the Arizona Coyotes, who were in a rebuild during Kessel's entire time with the team.
Obviously, Kessel missed the memo from Max Pacioretty earlier this summer when Pacioretty revealed that the Golden Knights have no accountability and nobody in Vegas is pushing anyone to win anything.
