Kessel turns 30: The 5 best 'Phil being Phil' moments

Gandhi, Sting, Kelly Ripa, and Phil Kessel. What do those four have in common? All were born Oct. 2.

While all important figures, only Kessel has blessed the hockey world with amazing moments on and off the ice. Sit back and relive the five best "Phil being Phil" moments of Kessel's career.

Kessel trolls Team USA with outstanding subtweet

Since 2008-09, Kessel ranks second in points by American-born players with 583, trailing Patrick Kane. However, Kessel was left off USA's 2016 World Cup of Hockey roster in favor of players such as Justin Abdelkader, David Backes, and Brandon Dubinsky.

The night the Americans were eliminated from group play, Kessel dropped an absolute bomb for his third tweet of 2016:

Just sitting around the house tonight w my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn't put my finger on it.

- Phil Kessel (@PKessel81) September 21, 2016

Kessel eats hot dogs out of Stanley Cup

When Kessel was traded out of Toronto after a disastrous season, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun wrote a column that led with the following:

The hot dog vendor who parks daily at Front and John Sts. just lost his most reliable customer.

Almost every afternoon at 2:30 p.m., often wearing a toque, Phil Kessel would wander from his neighbourhood condominium to consume his daily snack.

Waiting until his second straight Stanley Cup victory, Kessel trolled Simmons big time via Instagram:

A post shared by Phil Kessel (@phil_kessel_81_) on Aug 14, 2017 at 2:08pm PDT

The bad breath interview

Best Pierre interview ever. pic.twitter.com/tMhWsnmSyg

- Doc Emrick (@DocInRealLife) May 19, 2016

There's so many great parts to this brief interview:

• Thinking McGuire asked about bad breath, not conditioning
• The laugh
• "I can't believe that."

Kessel runs for president

On Nov. 7, 2016, Kessel decided to run for President of the United States, with the help of an endorsement from teammate Kris Letang:

Everyone's vote is important!!!! Make sure you vote .... mine goes to the legend @phil_kessel_81_

A post shared by Kris Letang (@kletang_58) on Nov 7, 2016 at 11:25am PST

As a homage to Kessel's Twitter bio, the shirts read: "Phil for President. Nice guy. Tries hard. Loves the game."

Even the NHL got behind Phil:

On this Election Day there is only one clear choice. #ImWithPhil #MakeAmericaSkateAgain pic.twitter.com/DXGnvMX1Of

- NHL (@NHL) November 8, 2016

Unfortunately, it's only a pipe dream as to what the United States would be like with Kessel running the show.

Kessel shows personal side on HBO's '24/7'

Long before Kessel was a world-class troll or a two-time Stanley Cup champion, he was just a really good hockey player who wouldn't open up much to the media. This made sense, given that the Toronto media can be very unforgiving.

However, when HBO decided to feature Toronto and Detroit on HBO's "24/7: Road to the NHL Winter Classic" in 2013-14, Kessel's true personality was on full display:

HBO 24/7 Red Wings - Maple Leafs: Kessel & Bozak's Apartment from jyp on Vimeo.

Never change, Phil.

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