Phil Kessel underwent successful surgery to repair the torn rotator cuff and labrum in his left shoulder. Here is the official press release from the B's:

BOSTON - Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced that
Phil Kessel underwent successful surgery today to repair a torn
rotator cuff and labrum in his left shoulder. The surgery was performed
by Dr. Peter Asnis and Dr. J.P. Warner at Mass General Hospital, and
will force Kessel to miss approximately six months.

Kessel established career highs in goals, assists and points this year
after tallying a team-best 36 goals, 24 assists and 60 points in 70
games. Kessel became the club’s first 30-goal scorer since 2005-2006
and had the longest point streak in the NHL this season after tallying a
point in 18 consecutive games from November 13 - December 21, 2008
(14-14=28 totals during this span).

He appeared in all 11 postseason contests for the Bruins and
contributed six goals and five assists.

2008-2009 was the 21-year-old Kessel’s third NHL season. He was
originally selected by the Bruins in the first round (fifth overall) of
the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. In 222 career games played, he has compiled
66-60=126 totals.

In other Bruins' news, The Sporting News has named Claude Julien as the NHL Coach of the Year and GM Peter Chiarelli as the Executive of the Year. Here are some tidbits on those stories from TSN:

Although his Bruins' were eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals, coach Claude Julien has a reason to smile as he was named NHL Coach of the Year by the Sporting News.

Julien led Boston to the top of the Eastern Conference standings this season, posting a record of 53-19-10 while racking up 116 points in just his second season in Beantown.

"When things are going well, he doesn't mess them up," Bruins' goaltender Tim Thomas said in a statement. "He knows how to step back and let go. But if he sees something he wants to do better, he also lets it be known."

The Sporting News chose Julien after compiling votes by 39 coaches and executives from throughout the league.

Peter Chiarelli, the architect of a Boston Bruins team that raised its point total from 94 in 2007-08 to an Eastern Conference-best 116 this season, has been named Sporting News' Executive of the Year by his NHL peers, a panel of 39 coaches and executives.

Chiarelli, when asked for the moves he made that had the biggest impact on the team, cited the free-agent signing of underachieving Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Ryder as one.

"I know it was a criticized move at the time," Chiarelli told Sporting News. "We put a lot of thought into it from the perspective that it was a guy who I had seen for many years in the Northeast Division. He was a guy who had a long relationship with our coach, and he was the type of player we were looking for."

Ryder had 27 goals and was a plus-28 for the Bruins.

Chiarelli becomes the first member of the Bruins' organization to win the award since Harry Sinden in the 1989-90 season. Here's a look at the last ten winners:

1997-98 Craig Patrick, Pittsburgh Penguins
1998-99 Craig Patrick, Pittsburgh Penguins
1999-00 Larry Pleau, St. Louis Blues
2000-01 Brian Burke, Vancouver Canucks
2001-02 Mike Smith, Chicago Blackhawks
2002-03 Doug Risebrough, Minnesota Wild
2003-04 Jay Feaster, Tampa Bay Lightning
2004-05 None
2005-06 Jim Rutherford, Carolina Hurricanes
2006-07 David Poile, Nashville Predators
2007-08 Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadiens

Julien is the first Head Coach of the B's to be recognized by TSN as coach of the year since Pat Burns was back in 1997-98. Prior to that, Mike Milbury received the honor back in 1989-90. Here's a look at the past ten winners:

1997-98 Pat Burns, Boston Bruins
1998-99 Jacques Martin, Ottawa Senators
1999-00 Joel Quenneville, St. Louis Blues
2000-01 Scotty Bowman, Detroit Red Wings
2001-02 Brian Sutter, Chicago Blackhawks
2002-03 Jacques Lemaire, Minnesota Wild
2003-04 John Tortorella, Tampa Bay Lightning
2004-05 None
2005-06 Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres
2006-07 Barry Trotz, Nashville Predators
2007-08 Mike Babcock, Detroit Red Wings

JC


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