Name John Kessel | ||
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John Van Kessel (born December 19, 1969 in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. Van Kessel played ten professional seasons, in the American Hockey League (AHL), East Coast Hockey League(ECHL) and International Hockey League (IHL) in North America, and in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) and Austrian Hockey League (AL) in Europe.
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Playing career
Van Kessel played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League for the Belleville Bulls and the North Bay Centennials. After the 1987–88 season, he was drafted in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft in the third round, 49th overall by the Los Angeles Kings. He would play two further seasons of junior before debuting in professional play with the New Haven Nighthawks after his junior season ended in 1989–90. He then joined the Phoenix Roadrunners of the IHL where he played two seasons. In the 1992 NHL Expansion Draft, Van Kessel was selected by the Ottawa Senators of the NHL in the second and last draft by an NHL team of his rights. He would play in the AHL and ECHL until 1996 when he moved to Europe to play. He first played in Slovenia, for Sportina Bled HK. He then moved in 1997 to Germany to play for the DEG in Düsseldorf and other teams in the DEL. He played one more season in the DEL, with the Krefeld Penguins. He did not play for two seasons then played a three-games tryout with Zeltweg EC of the Austrian League in 2001–02 to end his professional career.
Private
On November 10, 1999 his daughter Emily was born. He lived with his girlfriend and his daughter in Germany for a few years. Now he's living in Nova Scotia again.