Music: {allcanada} LEAFS GM NONIS DENIES RIFT BETWEEN KESSEL AND SPOTT

Thursday, September 18, 2014

{allcanada} LEAFS GM NONIS DENIES RIFT BETWEEN KESSEL AND SPOTT

The Godfather Part II: The Coppola Restoration

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis kicked off Day 1 of training camp on the defensive on Thursday, denying reports of a possible rift between star winger Phil Kessel and new assistant coach Steve Spott.

"It's not an issue in our dressing room," Nonis told reporters about the story in The Toronto Star. "I know Phil and Spotter are grinning about it."

The rift in question comes from a story by writer Dave Feschuk wrote Wednesday quoting sources from a coaching clinic Spott spoke at last month. According to Feschuk, Spott talked to minor league coaches about struggling to get Kessel to buy in on a new breakout play he was devising for the Maple Leafs this season.

"'Spotter' said that when he went to Phil (with the breakout play), Phil said, I'm not doing it," one of the clinic's attendees - a former pro player - told Feschuk.

The story adds that Spott's scheme called for Kessel - a right winger - to go across the blue line towards the left wing and push back the opposing defenceman who could stop the breakout by keeping the puck in. Spott then explained in his lecture that Kessel didn't like the idea and preferred to staying closer to his own wing and wait for a cross-ice pass that get him out of the gate against the opposing team's left defenceman.

"(Kessel) originally said no, and then he said he'd meet Spott halfway and come to the middle, but that he wouldn't go all the way across like Spott originally wanted," explained one of the attendees. "But it's Phil's show."

According to the coaches in attendance, Spott said he and Kessel eventually came to a compromise and added that despite being "15 pounds overweight," Kessel is an explosive skater and one of the smartest hockey minds he's worked with.

The story added that Spott told the clinic - in a 'tongue in cheek' manner - that when he brought the news to Randy Carlyle, the head coach told him that the team's hierarchy didn't want to deal with Kessel and all they want is for him to score goals.

"Spott said Carlyle's attitude was that we're fired before (Kessel is) out of here, the hierarchy doesn't want to deal with Phil," one of the attendees told The Star. "He scores 30 (goals) a year and that's all they want. (Spott said) Phil hates coaches. He hates Randy. He hates me and I don't even know him yet."

And Carlyle also addressed the story, downplaying the tone of the quotes. "Tongue in cheek, that was the key phrase for me," he said, adding that the team's focus is on now - not on things that happened a month ago.

Kessel, who scored 30 goals and tallied 80 points for the Leafs last season, signed an eight-year, $64 million contract extension with the team last fall.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark