An Open Letter to Ryan Kesler

Ryan Kesler celebrates being awesome because he is.
(Photo by Ben Nelms/Reuters via Getty Imager)

Dear Ryan Kesler,

Congratulations! The season is now over and your team has come out on top, winning the Presidents Trophy for the second consecutive year. That must be a glorious feeling. I knew that you had the skill and ability to make it happen!

But frankly Ryan, I don’t care that the Canucks are back to back champions of the regular season. I want you to be champions of the post season. I’m tired of the Canucks being losers and I’m tired of all my bitter Canucks friends who have stopped believing in this team. This is the year to go out there and fight ten times as hard as you did in the playoffs last year, and finally be the last team standing so you can raise the Stanley Cup over your heads.

It is the one thing that really matters and that you dream of obtaining in your professional career. The one thing that the city of Vancouver has gone without for long enough. The one thing that I know THIS Canucks team can finally achieve. Last year after that heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins, seeing you so visibly upset was the worst part of the entire game. You failed despite trying your hardest. You played through injuries and nerves. You battled and gave as much as you had in you to give, but it just wasn’t enough.

You know what I remember from the playoffs? Hearing “Ryan Kesler has been the best player in this series.”

Here is the deal Ryan: you are a damn good hockey player and one of the most exciting guys to watch on the ice. You are such a crucial part of this Canucks team that I cannot imagine you ever not playing in Vancouver. You have had some remarkable highs and too many despairing lows here. And now, once again, you are heading into the playoffs with the hearts of all the fans and the entire city behind you. The Canucks need a hero, Ryan. I want that hero to be you.

You, like Batman, have what it takes to be the leader that the team needs. You play with your heart on your sleeve and you know how to be an absolute warrior on the ice and appropriately devastate your opponents. I want you to step up and show the rest of the NHL that the Canucks are a team that will no longer accept failing to become Stanley Cup champions.

I believed you when you said that! And I still believe that you will achieve great things. I don’t care what the critics say about this team. I refuse to listen to so called experts that analyze the game to death, revel in your flaws, and stomp on your efforts over and over. It does not matter worth a piss what names you have been called in the past or how much you whine, dive or are hated by everyone one else in the league. That is the past.

The future is one that has you bringing a Stanley Cup to the city of Vancouver. And this is the year to finally make that happen. I want a parade, Ryan. I want to see the joy on your face as you stand in front of a cheering crowd saying “We did it!”

Last year broke too many hearts but none as much as those of every single man in a Canucks jersey on the ice at Rogers Arena, having to witness the Boston Bruins celebrate their victory of winning the Stanley Cup in your arena, on your ice and in your city.  This year will be tough, but you need to be tougher. At the heart of what was left unfinished there is a team that I believe in. A team that can re-emerge from the anguish that is remembered and make history that is meant for them. And Ryan, you can be the difference maker. One game at a time.