Tomáš Kaberle

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Tomáš Kaberle
Born	(1978-03-02) March 2, 1978 (age 46) Rakovník, Czechoslovakia
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	214 lb (97 kg; 15 st 4 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
NHL team Former teams	Carolina Hurricanes Boston Bruins Toronto Maple Leafs HC Kladno (CZEx)
National team	Czech Republic
NHL draft	204th overall, 1996 Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career	1994–present

Tomáš Kaberle (Czech pronunciation: [ˈtomaːʃ ˈkabɛrlɛ]; born March 2, 1978) is a Czech professional ice hockey defenceman, currently playing for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. He previously played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins.

A four-time NHL All-Star, Kaberle also plays for the Czech national ice hockey team and won a bronze medal with the team at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Kaberle is currently the second-highest scoring defenceman in Maple Leafs franchise history, behind only Börje Salming.

His older brother František is also a defenceman, currently playing for HC Pardubice. Their father, František, Sr., played for the Czechoslovakian national ice hockey team in the 1970s and 80s.

Kaberle was drafted 204th in the eighth round of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by Toronto, and saw limited playing time in the 1998–99 NHL season. After being eased into the Leafs lineup, he 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 1999–2000 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 was named to the Czech national ice hockey team for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Kaberle started the 2001–02 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 five-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 him 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. Kaberle was named as an Eastern Conference All-Star Game participant for the second time in his career on January 12, 2007.

During a March 2, 2007 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 hit to the head by Cam Janssen.^[1] While no penalty was called on the play, Janssen was assessed a three-game suspension. In an 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, he returned to the Leafs lineup on March 23.

Although Kaberle has scored relatively few goals, he has scored seven times in overtime.

During the 2008 NHL All Star Game Skills Competition, Kaberle became the fourth player, after Ray Bourque, Mark Messier, and Jeremy Roenick, to hit all four targets in four shots in the accuracy challenge. Kaberle again participated in the accuracy challenge during the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, although he was unable to defend his title against Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

During a losing streak at the start of the 2009–10 regular season, Kaberle, along with Niklas Hagman, led the Leafs to their first victory of the season, a 6–3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Kaberle had one goal and four assists, and earned the second star of the game (because Hagman had a hat-trick). He began the season on a particular hot streak, scoring 22 points in the first 20 games, and leading the NHL in defenceman scoring. On December 1, 2009, Kaberle passed former Leaf great Tim Horton for second on the franchise all-time scoring list amongst defencemen with his 459th NHL point.

On February 18, 2011, in a well-publicized trade, Kaberle was sent to the Boston Bruins in exchange for prospect Joe Colborne, Boston's 1st round choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, and a 2nd round draft choice in 2012 conditional upon the Bruins reaching the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals or re-signing Kaberle.^[3] He would win a Stanley Cup with the Bruins on June 15, 2011, beating the Vancouver Canucks.

On July 5, 2011, Kaberle signed a three-year contract worth $12.75 million with the Carolina Hurricanes.^[4]

Kaberle was selected to the Czech national team in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Kaberle and his older brother František were members of the Czech national ice hockey team at the 2005 World Ice Hockey Championships in Vienna, where they won gold. While František won the World Championships for the fifth time, it was the first victory for Tomáš. In December 2005 they were both named for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, where they won bronze medals with the team. The next year, Kaberle accepted his nomination for 2006 World Championships in Riga where the Czech team won silver medals. Tomas also played in the 2010 Olympics for the Czech Republic, but rejected an invitation to play at the 2010 World Ice Hockey Championships held in Germany.

• Played in NHL All-Star Game - 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Won NHL All-Star Game Accuracy Competition - 2008
• Toronto Maple Leafs' Molson Cup winner - 2009–10
• Stanley Cup - 2010–11 (as a member of the Boston Bruins)

Tomáš Kaberle

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games
	2006 Torino	Ice hockey
World Championships
	2005 Vienna	Ice hockey
	2006 Riga	Ice hockey

Kaberle has played for the Czech Republic in:

• 1998 World Junior Championships
• 2002 Winter Olympics
• 2004 World Cup of Hockey
• 2005 World Championships (gold medal)
• 2006 Winter Olympics (bronze medal)
• 2006 World Championships (silver medal)
• 2008 World Championships
• 2010 Winter Olympics

• List of family relations in the National Hockey League

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tomáš Kaberle.

• Tomáš Kaberle career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Tomáš Kaberle player profile at NHL.com
• Template:Espn nhl
• Tomáš Kaberle player profile at TSN.ca

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