SUNRISE, Fla. - Phil Kessel is mad as hell about how Dion Phaneuf is treated by the Toronto media, and he's not going to take it anymore.
Kessel offered a passionate defence of the Maple Leafs' captain on Tuesday and said he was fed up with how certain media members talk about the team's No. 1 defenceman.
"I think you guys unfairly criticize Dion," Kessel said after the team's morning skate at BB&T Center. "He's our best defenceman, and you guys act like he's not trying out there and this and that. It's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed for some people and things they've said about him."
Kessel said there was no one thing that set him off on the rant about Phaneuf and that he was just "tired of it." He said media members should be "ashamed" of what they've said to and about Phaneuf.
The star-right winger, who like Phaneuf is signed to a lucrative long-term contract, said there's an unfair amount of blame put on the captain for the Leafs' struggles.
"Is it his fault we're losing? No. Did he build this team? No," Kessel said. "It's not Dion Phaneuf. The stuff he takes, the crap he takes, the things people say, I'm just tired of it here. I think he's owed some apologies by some people. It's disgusting the way people treat him."
