Leafs fans are peeved that Phil Kessel just won back-to-back Stanley Cups—on Toronto’s dime

Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins won their second straight Stanley Cup. Oddly, it was also about the closest the Toronto Maple Leafs have come to Lord Stanley’s Mug in the past 50 years, since the franchise is still paying part of the salary of one Penguins player: Phil Kessel. When Toronto traded Kessel to Pittsburgh, the Leafs agreed to pay him $1.2 million in each of the next seven seasons. He’s played just two of those seasons so far, and has two Stanley Cup rings to show for it (and a full five more chances to do it again on Hogtown’s payroll). Here’s what the hockey world had to say about Kessel’s extra pocket change.

An unofficial Penguins account was quick to offer up a reminder:

So far Toronto has paid Phil Kessel $2.4 million to win two cups in Pittsburgh

— ㅤ (@PenguinsWorId) June 12, 2017

An opportunistic Habs fan helped rub it in:

Congratulations to the @MapleLeafs for paying part of Phil Kessel's salary while he wins a 2nd Cup with the Penguins #Leafs #NHL

— Nick In ParkEx (@NickInParkEx) June 12, 2017

Pittsburgh supports paid their dues:

Appreciation tweet to the Maple Leafs for allowing us to have Phil Kessel.

— BRiAN (@ToonsBrian) May 21, 2017

Others laughed it off and showed Kessel some love:

Lol, Phil Kessel man. From a complete misery in Toronto goes back-to-back w/ Pittsburgh. Congrats to the @Penguins. #StanleyCup

— Zach (@ZachKearns) June 12, 2017

A few tweeters shared some embarrassing stats:

Phil Kessel has 2 more rings than the Toronto maple leafs over the last 50 years #Penguins #Leafs #StanleyCup

— Askthecoach (@Askthecoach2) June 12, 2017

There is one bright spot though

……NUMBER OF STANLEY CUPS IN THE EXPANSION ERA
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS- 0
PHIL KESSEL- 2 pic.twitter.com/zBtO6utUG0

— Ryan McDonnell (@RyanMcD29) June 12, 2017

One got particularly granular:

Playoff goals since the trade:
Phil Kessel 17
Maple Leafs 16

— Taylor Nigrelli (@Nigrelli93) May 21, 2017

Some lamented the Toronto media’s treatment of Kessel:

Phil Kessel has won two straight Stanley Cups since the Toronto media basically ran him out of town. ? #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/PvWmh8fMLS

— Jay Sarkar (@JayDSarkar) June 12, 2017

Including an anecdote about Kessel’s infamous/probably fictional daily habit of eating street meat:

phil kessel is a nearly PPG playoff performer and two time stanley cup champion that hasn't missed a single game in 8 years pic.twitter.com/f5V10Nr8W1

— playoff bobby (@bobbycappucino) June 12, 2017

Seriously, though, people are not ready to let go of the hot dogs:

Great, another year of this "Phil Kessel is a Stanley Cup Champion" bullshit. Guys gonna eat his weight in hot dogs tonight, book it

— Savage Matthews (@SavageAuston34) June 12, 2017

We’re not kidding:

On the day Phil Kessel gets the Cup, he should drive in an open car through the streets of Toronto, eating meat out of it.

— Chris Jones (@EnswellJones) June 12, 2017

One tweeter suggested another way Kessel might exact revenge on Toronto:

Phil Kessel going back to Toronto after winning 2nd straight #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/FglMPDx49Q

— Giancarlo Aulino (@Gian_411) June 12, 2017

Then, one beleaguered ex-Leaf would have hoisted the Cup no matter who won:

Are Maple Leafs fans a little bit annoyed that Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf are in the Conference Final with other teams?

— Joe Caramagna ? (@JoeCaramagna) May 18, 2017

Finally, one Leafs fan begged for it to just end already:

Hey @LeafsLunch1050 can we stop talking about Kessel and how he'd play in Toronto now? pic.twitter.com/AHLJo8CyHB

— Based Mike ?? ? (@GF4_93) May 29, 2017