On December 11, 2006, Kessel's family announced that he was hospitalized for a reason unrelated to hockey, and WBZ-TV reported that Kessel was diagnosed with a form of testicular cancer. On December 16, Kessel was pronounced cancer-free. On January 5, 2007, he was assigned to the Providence Bruins, Boston's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, for conditioning purposes and then recalled on January 7. Kessel returned to the Bruins lineup on January 9, against the Ottawa Senators, after missing only 11 regular season games following cancer surgery.