Meet Amanda Kessel's brother, everyone.
The morning after his sister scored a critical shootout goal in the United States' Olympic gold medal triumph over Canada in PyeongChang, the morning after his own nerves apparently were frayed far more than when he's playing for the Penguins, Phil Kessel looked and sounded mostly relieved, if anything, that another high-profile hockey championship had just been welcomed to the currently most famous family in Madison, Wis.
"You know, obviously, I was nervous," Phil would say with a wide smile after practice Thursday morning at the Lemieux Sports Complex. "It was a tight game, and they came out on top. To be able to win a gold medal is a special accomplishment. Obviously, she missed a lot of time. I'm very proud of her."
There was ample cause. Amanda sustained a concussion in Sochi at the 2014 Olympics, and the symptoms were so persistent that she couldn't play for nearly two years. There were periods over that span, she's conceded, when she wasn't sure she'd play again.
Well, on Thursday afternoon in South Korea and at 2:10 a.m. Eastern time in Pittsburgh, Jocelyne Lamoureaux's instantly iconic triple-deke shootout goal, followed by Maddie Rooney's finishing save, made Kessel's shootout goal -- which came with the Americans down, 2-1, in the round -- count as beyond critical.
It was a beauty, too. Snapped upstairs. Just like big bro.
Or is that the other way around?
I asked Phil his thoughts on the snipe that beat Canada's Shannon Szabados, and that smile came right back:
Phil was able to communicate with Amanda both before and after the game. Of their conversation, he said, "I think she can't believe it. You know, they work so hard. The girls work so hard to get there. It's every four years. That's the biggest game they get a chance to play in. It's a great accomplishment."
Of whether or not a shootout should decide a gold medal: "I mean, I liked it last night. I don't know. That's a tough question. I mean, hockey, they probably should play it out. But it's the Olympics, and it's always been that way, so it should probably stay that way."
Of this time for his family: "Yeah, it's been a good run. Hopefully, we can keep it going."
Amanda called the day "the happiest I've ever been" in a TV interview with her hometown NBC affiliate in Madison:
