Kale Kessy

Kale Kessy (born December 4, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger currently playing for the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL). He was originally drafted in the fourth round, 111th overall, by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
==Early life==
Kessy was born on December 4, 1992, in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. His cousin Jennifer Kessy was a silver medalist for the United States in beach volleyball at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
==Playing career==
Although Kessy was born in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, he moved to Swift Current for a couple of years and played peewee hockey. He eventually moved to Medicine Hat at the age of 12 to play bantam and midget hockey. While in Medicine Hat, he attended Notre Dame Academy.
===Major junior===
Kessy joined the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL) for nine games during their 2008–09 season, seeing limited ice time in nine games. He rejoined the team for their 2009–10 season and recorded his first major junior goal on September 18, 2009. He stayed with the team for the remainder of their season and scored 11 goals and 18 assists in 70 games while also leading the team in penalty minutes. During the 2010–11 season, Kessy recorded 10 goals and 24 points in 65 games to help the Tigers reach the league semifinals. While his offensive output dipped from the previous season, he recorded three goals and six points in 14 post-season games. Leading up to the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Kessy was ranked 101st amongst North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. He was eventually drafted in the fourth round, 111th overall, by the Phoenix Coyotes, which he described as "a great honour."
During the 2012 offseason, Kessy improved his training by specifically focusing on his shooting and stick handling. He credited his Medicine Hat linemates Colin Smith and Chase Souto for "helping me reach my potential." On October 1, 2012, Kessy was handed a 12 game suspension for checking the head of Lethbridge Hurricanes defenseman Ryan Pilon during a game. While serving the suspension, he was traded to the Vancouver Giants who wished to add toughness to their lineup. His suspension was later reduced by two games and he joined the Giants lineup on October 26 against the Victoria Royals. Upon returning, Kessy said "I'm definitely going to be the most watched guy in the league...I'm definitely going to have to be more careful."
On March 29, 2013, Kessy's playing rights were traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Tobias Rieder. At the time of the trade, he had scored 43 points in 60 games split between the Kamloops Blazers and Vancouver Giants. On April 2, Kessy recorded a hat-trick in a 6–2 win over the Victoria Royals to win their first-round 2013 WHL Playoffs series.
===Professional===
Kessy made his professional debut with the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL during the 2013–14 season. After playing in 18 games and recording a goal and an assist, he was re-assigned to the Oklahoma City Barons (OKC) in the American Hockey League (AHL). Kessy's progress in the AHL was noticed by the Oilers and coach Todd Nelson described him as being "on the cusp of maybe being an Oilers’ call-up." However, on December 2, 2014, he suffered a season-ending knee injury that required surgery. 
Upon returning to the ice, Kessy spent the entirety of the 2015–16 season with the Condors and recorded. The following season, he joined the Winnipeg Jets organization and signed with their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. After attending their training camp, he was re-assigned to their ECHL affiliate, the Tulsa Oilers. Kessy signed a professional tryout with the Manitoba Moose after playing 18 games with the Tulsa Oilers in the ECHL. He played 12 games with the Moose before being released from his contract. On September 27, 2018, Kessy signed an ECHL contract with the Idaho Steelheads for the 2018–19 season. He returned to the Moose on another contract in October but was released again from the team after playing in one game. In January, he received two suspensions and fines from the league. During the season, he signed an AHL contract with the Colorado Eagles and played 15 games with them before returning to the ECHL. 
On February 25, 2020, Kessy sustained an injury during a fight against Charlotte Checkers player Derek Sheppard and was admitted into Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for overnight observation. Two months later, he was the recipient of the Hershey's 2019–20 IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year for his contributions to the Hershey community during the season. On September 25, 2020, the Bears announced that they had re-signed Kessy to a one-year, American Hockey League contract. During the 2020–21 season, Kessy registered two goals and four assists while also accumulating a league-leading 115 penalty minutes. As such, he signed a two-year contract extension to remain with the Bears on July 15, 2021.
In his fourth season under contract with the Bears in 2022–23, Kessy made 25 appearances in adding 2 goals. Primarily serving as a depth forward, Kessy was traded by Hershey in a return to the Colorado Eagles in exchange for future considerations on March 8, 2023. 
As a free agent at the conclusion of the season, Kessy extended his career in the AHL in agreeing to a one-year contract with the Iowa Wild, affiliate to the Minnesota Wild, on July 3, 2023.
==Career statistics==
 	 	 		Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season		Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs
Season 	Team 	League 		GP 	G 	A 	Pts 	PIM 		GP 	G 	A 	Pts 	PIM
2007–08 	Medicine Hat Tigers U18	AMHL 		1 	0 	0 	0 	0 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2008–09 	Medicine Hat Tigers U18	AMHL 		33 	17 	12 	29 	42 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2008–09 	Medicine Hat Tigers 	WHL 		9 	0 	0 	0 	2 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2009–10 	Medicine Hat Tigers 	WHL 		70 	11 	18 	29 	123 		12 	1 	3 	4 	10
2010–11 	Medicine Hat Tigers 	WHL 		65 	10 	14 	24 	129 		14 	3 	3 	6 	37
2011–12 	Medicine Hat Tigers 	WHL 		49 	4 	12 	16 	151 		2 	0 	1 	1 	2
2012–13 	Medicine Hat Tigers 	WHL 		2 	2 	0 	2 	17 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2012–13 	Vancouver Giants 	WHL 		27 	7 	9 	16 	45 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2012–13 	Kamloops Blazers 	WHL 		31 	12 	13 	25 	44 		15 	11 	3 	14 	21
2013–14 	Oklahoma City Barons 	AHL 		54 	2 	4 	6 	88 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2013–14 	Bakersfield Condors 	ECHL 		3 	1 	0 	1 	0 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2014–15 	Oklahoma City Barons 	AHL 		17 	3 	3 	6 	61 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2015–16 	Bakersfield Condors 	AHL 		56 	7 	5 	12 	79 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2016–17 	Tulsa Oilers 	ECHL 		32 	11 	12 	23 	72 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2016–17 	Manitoba Moose 	AHL 		16 	0 	1 	1 	16 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2017–18 	Manitoba Moose 	AHL 		1 	0 	0 	0 	5 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2017–18 	Tulsa Oilers 	ECHL 		52 	13 	18 	31 	239 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2017–18 	Cleveland Monsters 	AHL 		15 	1 	3 	4 	56 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2018–19 	Manitoba Moose 	AHL 		1 	0 	0 	0 	0 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2018–19 	Idaho Steelheads 	ECHL 		35 	11 	22 	33 	289 		10 	2 	4 	6 	48
2018–19 	Colorado Eagles 	AHL 		15 	0 	0 	0 	81 		1 	0 	0 	0 	2
2019–20 	Hershey Bears 	AHL 		24 	0 	0 	0 	102 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2020–21 	Hershey Bears 	AHL 		21 	2 	4 	6 	115 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2021–22 	Hershey Bears 	AHL 		51 	4 	1 	5 	84 		3 	0 	0 	0 	5
2022–23 	Hershey Bears 	AHL 		25 	2 	0 	2 	68 		— 	— 	— 	— 	—
2022–23 	Colorado Eagles 	AHL 		5 	0 	0 	0 	39 		6 	1 	0 	1 	14
AHL totals	AHL totals 	AHL totals		301 	21 	21 	44 	794 		10 	1 	0 	1 	21
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
==References==
==External links==
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Category:1992 births
Category:Living people
Category:Bakersfield Condors players
Category:Bakersfield Condors (1998–2015) players
Category:Cleveland Monsters players
Category:Colorado Eagles players
Category:Hershey Bears players
Category:Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) players
Category:Iowa Wild players
Category:Kamloops Blazers players
Category:Manitoba Moose players
Category:Medicine Hat Tigers players
Category:Oklahoma City Barons players
Category:Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan
Category:Tulsa Oilers (1992–present) players
Category:Vancouver Giants players