Tomáš Kaberle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Position | Defenseman |
| Shoots | Left |
| Nickname | Kabbie |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 198 lb (90 kg) |
| NHL Team | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Nationality |  Czech Republic |
| Born | March 2, 1978, Rakovnik, Czechoslovakia |
| NHL Draft | 204th overall, 1996 Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Pro Career | 1994 – present |
Tomáš Kaberle (born March 2, 1978 in Rakovnik, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic) is a defenceman for the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs. He also plays for the Czech national ice hockey team and won a bronze medal with the team at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
His brother František Kaberle, plays for the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes; their father, František Kaberle, Sr. played for the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team in the 1970s.
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[edit] Playing career
Kaberle was drafted 204th in the 8th round of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by Toronto, where he eventually saw limited playing time in the 1998-99 NHL season. After being eased into the Leafs lineup, Kaberle saw a significant increase in playing time in order to help fill in the gap on the Leafs after an injury to Bryan Berard in the 1999-00 NHL season. By the 2001-02 campaign, Kaberle had improved enough to be selected to the World team at the 2002 NHL All-Star game. Later that year, he would also be named to the Czech national ice hockey team for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Kaberle started the 2003-04 campaign as a restricted free agent without a contract, and ended up playing in the Czech Extraliga for HC Rabat Kladno while a new contract was negotiated. Ultimately, he signed a contract with the Leafs securing his services through 2005-06.
On February 11, 2006, Tomáš Kaberle was re-signed to a 5 year contract extension worth $21.25 million with a no-trade clause for the first three years of the contract, effective July 1, 2006. This deal locked the Czech rearguard in until the end of the 2010-11 NHL season.
On October 28, 2006, he scored his first career hat-trick against the Montreal Canadiens. He also scored in his first shootout attempt that night. Tomáš Kaberle was named as an Eastern Conference All-Star Game participant for the second time in his career on January 12, 2006.
On March 2, 2007, during a game against the New Jersey Devils, Kaberle suffered a concussion, and was carried off the ice on a stretcher, as a result of a late[1] hit to the head by Cam Janssen. While no penalties were called on the play, Janssen was later assessed with three-game suspension. In a later interview, Kaberle mentioned that Janssen had not contacted him for reconciliation, and went on to say, "I don't care [to hear from him]. He doesn't respect me and I don't respect him."[2] After missing eight games, Kaberle returned to the Leaf lineup on 2007-03-23 to face the Buffalo Sabres.
[edit] International play
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Ice hockey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 2006 Turin | Ice hockey | |
Tomáš was selected to the Czech national team in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
In December of 2005, Tomáš and František were named to the Czech national ice hockey team for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. They would both go on to win a bronze medal with the team.
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1994–95 | Kladno | Czech Extraliga | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1995–96 | Kladno | Czech Extraliga | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1996–97 | Kladno | Czech Extraliga | 49 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1997–98 | Kladno | Czech Extraliga | 47 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 12 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1997–98 | St. John's | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998–99 | Toronto | NHL | 57 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 1999–00 | Toronto | NHL | 82 | 7 | 33 | 40 | 24 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | Toronto | NHL | 82 | 6 | 39 | 45 | 24 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Kladno | Czech Extraliga | 9 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2001–02 | Toronto | NHL | 69 | 10 | 29 | 39 | 2 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 16 | ||
| 2002–03 | Toronto | NHL | 82 | 11 | 36 | 47 | 30 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | Toronto | NHL | 71 | 3 | 28 | 31 | 18 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2004–05 | Kladno | Czech Extraliga | 49 | 8 | 31 | 39 | 38 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Toronto | NHL | 82 | 9 | 58 | 67 | 46 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2006–07 | Toronto | NHL | 28 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| NHL Totals | 550 | 57 | 257 | 314 | 160 | 77 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 24 | ||||
[edit] References
- ^ McGran, Kevin. "Late hits a major headache", Toronto Star, 2007-03-06.
- ^ Kaberle hopes to return this season. TSN.ca (2007-03-07).
