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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.