Blake Kessel (born April 13, 1989) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who most recently was coaching Ironbound Elite 16U Premier in the USA Hockey Women's 16U AA. He most recently played for the

Orlando Solar Bears The Orlando Solar Bears are a professional ice hockey team that plays their home games at Kia Center (formerly Amway Center) in Orlando, Florida. They play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference and are affiliated with the Tampa ...

in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. He was selected by the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

in the 6th round (166th overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Kessel has been described as an offensive minded defenseman, who likes to join the offensive rush, which has been attributed to his speed and skill. In Kessel's first season with the

Waterloo Black Hawks The Waterloo Black Hawks are a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL) under Head Coach Matt Smaby. The Black Hawks' home ice is the Young Arena in Waterloo, Iowa. History ...

, he played in 59 games, scoring 11 goals and accumulating 27 assists, for a total of 38 points. In his last season with the Black Hawks, Kessel led all defensemen in scoring with 57 points, scoring 19 goals and notching 38 assists in 59 games. Continuing the season to the playoffs, Kessel played in 11 games, adding 10 assists and 1 goal, for a total of 11 points. Kessel signed an entry-level contract with the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

on September 14, 2011. After spending two seasons playing for the team's minor league affiliates, the

Adirondack Phantoms The Adirondack Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), who began play in the 2009–10 AHL season. The Phantoms were based in Glens Falls, New York, playing home games at the Glens Falls Civic Center and ...

of the AHL and the

Trenton Titans The Trenton Titans were a professional minor league ice hockey team that played in the ECHL. The team last played in the Atlantic Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Titans played their home games at the Sun National Bank Center in Tren ...

of the ECHL, the Flyers did not give Kessel a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. On October 22, 2013, Kessel signed with the

Bakersfield Condors The Bakersfield Condors are a professional ice hockey team based in Bakersfield, California. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The Condors play their home games at Dignity Healt ...

. On September 28, 2014, the

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies are owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

announced that they had signed Kessel to an AHL contract. He was assigned to the

, the Leafs' ECHL affiliate, on October 12, 2014. Kessel then landed a job in Finland and finished the 2014–15 season with

Tampereen Ilves Tampereen Ilves, commonly known as Ilves, (; Finnish for "Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Nokia Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was the ...

. He remained on the Ilves team until February 2016 and then took up an offer from German top-tier club

Augsburger Panther The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, DEL. The team is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. They play their home games at the Curt Frenzel Stadion. Founded in 1878, the team's name was Augsburge ...

, signing a contract until the end of the 2015–16 season. In the following off-season, Kessel returned to North America to continue in the

, signing a one-year deal with the

Atlanta Gladiators The Atlanta Gladiators are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Duluth, Georgia. The Gladiators play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Gas South Arena, approximately northeast ...

on September 27, 2016. Tallying seven goals and 16 assists in 22 games for the Atlanta team, he was the league's top-scoring defenseman, when he was traded to the

Kalamazoo Wings The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Event Center. They are the affiliate ...

on November 28, 2016. On December 3, 2016 Kessel was signed to a professional tryout contract by the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team based in Milwaukee. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Nashville Predators. They play their homes games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther ...

of the AHL. He appeared in 8 games with the Admirals before he was returned to the Wings. In 2017, Kessel signed with

HC Košice Hockey Club Košice is a Slovak professional ice hockey club based in Košice that competes in the Slovak Extraliga, the top tier of Slovak ice hockey. It is the most successful hockey club in Slovakia and the former Czechoslovakia, having won the ...

of the Tipsort liga in Slovakia. After playing with the HC Košice for a season, Kessel joined the ECHL's

Jacksonville Icemen The Jacksonville Icemen are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL in Jacksonville, Florida, that began play in the 2017–18 season. The team is affiliated with the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL) and plays their home gam ...

for their 2018–19 training camp. On February 17, 2019 Kessel was traded from Jacksonville to the

Maine Mariners Maine Mariners may refer to: * Maine Mariners (AHL), an ice hockey team in Portland, Maine, which operated from 1977 to 1992 * Maine Mariners (ECHL) The Maine Mariners are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2018 ...

International play

Kessel landed a spot on the US roster for the 2009 U20 World Championships. In November 2015, he played for Team USA at the Deutschland-Cup in Augsburg.

Personal life

Kessel was born to Phil (Sr.) and Kathy Kessel in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. He attended the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

, where he majored in sports studies and played with the

New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey The New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of New Hampshire. The Wildcats are a member of Hockey East. They play at t ...

program. Kessel comes from a family of professional athletes. His father played football for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

and the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. His brother,

Phil Kessel Philip Joseph Kessel Jr. (born October 2, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey), winger who is an unrestricted free agent. Nicknamed "Phil the Thrill", he has previously played for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Lea ...

, is the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

"Ironman", having played over 1,000 consecutive regular season games, and is a three-time

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

champion. His sister,

Amanda Kessel Amanda Kessel (born August 28, 1991) is an American ice hockey executive and professional player, currently serving as manager of minor league operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and assistant general manager for ...

, plays for the

United States women's national ice hockey team The United States women's national ice hockey team is controlled by USA Hockey. The U.S. has been one of the most successful women's ice hockey teams in international play, having medaled in every major tournament. In 1998, the women's Olympic ...

and is a three-time Olympic medalist. His cousin, David Moss, previously played in the NHL for the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

and the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

. Kessel is married to

Courtney Birchard-Kessel Courtney Birchard-Kessel (; born July 14, 1989) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player, currently serving as the head coach of the Princeton Tigers women's ice hockey team. During her playing career, she was a member of the Canadian n ...

, a former star of the

New Hampshire Wildcats The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the College athletics in the United States, American intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of New Hampshire (UNH), located in Durham, New Hampshire, Durham. The Bobcat, wildcat is the ...

and

Brampton Thunder The Markham Thunder was a professional women's ice hockey team in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). From 1998 through 2017, the franchise was known as the Brampton Thunder and Brampton Canadettes-Thunder before relocating from Brampton, O ...

and a three-time

IIHF Women's World Championship The IIHF Women's World Championship is the premier international women's tournament in ice hockey. It is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The official world competition was first held in 1990, with four more champions ...

medallist as a member of the Canadian national ice hockey team. She currently is the head coach of the

Boston Fleet The Boston Fleet are a professional ice hockey team based in the Greater Boston area that competes in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They are one of the six charter franchises of the league. The team plays its home games at Tso ...

of the

PWHL The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL; , LPHF) is a women's professional ice hockey league in North America. The league comprises eight teams, four each from the United States and Canada. The teams play a regular season to earn one of f ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kessel, Blake 1989 births Living people Adirondack Phantoms players American men's ice hockey defensemen Atlanta Gladiators players Augsburger Panther players Bakersfield Condors (1998–2015) players Ice hockey players from Wisconsin Ilves players Jacksonville Icemen players Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) players Maine Mariners (ECHL) players Milwaukee Admirals players New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey players New York Islanders draft picks Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) players Rochester Americans players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Ice hockey people from Madison, Wisconsin Toronto Marlies players Trenton Titans players Waterloo Black Hawks players Sportspeople from Verona, Wisconsin AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American expatriate ice hockey players in Finland