Phil Kessel was famously lazy during his NHL career. Now, his former roommate Kris Versteeg has revealed just how far that laziness went during their time together on the road.
Kessel played 17 seasons in the NHL, making a name for himself not only as an elite scorer but also as one of the laziest player the league has ever seen.
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Phil Kessel Ironman streak
There are almost as many stories about Kessel’s shortcuts in practice and off-ice training as there are games he skated in. Yet he played 1,064 consecutive games and still holds the NHL’s Ironman record. Despite his reluctance to practice, he won three Stanley Cups: two with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017, and one with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023.
Kris Versteeg—a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010 and 2015—played with Kessel for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2010–2011 season. The two even roomed together on road trips. And during one trip to Pittsburgh, Versteeg discovered exactly how lazy Kessel could be.
”Oh, my God!”
Speaking on a Toronto Maple Leafs broadcast, Versteeg recalled an early morning incident.
“We’re in Pittsburgh at the time. He used to take the clothes hangers and pinch the screens together because the sun would come in, right? One morning, 7 AM, it falls off. He’s like, ‘Oh my God, Kris. Turn the lights off.’ The sun is coming in on his eyes and I’m like, ‘Phil, you’re four feet away from it.’ But he’s like, ‘No, you do it.’ It was constant stuff like this—so many great memories,” Versteeg said.
You can watch the interview below.
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