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Tomas Kaberle: Comfort Over Achievement?

September 11, 2009, 12:49 AM ET [ Comments]
Howard Berger
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
TORONTO (Sep. 11) – In their excellent new book that examines the phenomenon of professional hockey in this city – entitled “LEAFS ABOMINATION” – authors Dave Feschuk and Michael Grange repeatedly discuss a pseudo-ailment they call “Blue & White Disease”. Partial symptoms of said malady are described on page 47:

"In some cases, it shows up as a mild-to-severe swelling of the cranium, develops into a goofy, pinch-me-I’m-dreaming grin, and finally morphs into a grand sense of entitlement. In its mildest forms, Blue & White Disease affects only a player’s ability to backcheck or take a shorter shift. In its most severe cases, it can be fatal to a hockey player’s career. It is spread by slaps on the back from strangers; a ready stream of adoring (and often attractive) fans, and family and friends eager to share the glow of your celebrity."

It would be abjectly unfair to consign this description – in its entirety – to veteran Leafs’ defenseman Tomas Kaberle, whose professional conduct and gentlemanly demeanor has been a credit to the hockey club for the past decade. Chosen in the nether regions of the 1996 NHL Draft [204th overall, behind such luminous Leaf picks as Marek Melanovsky, Doug Bonner and Ryan Pepperall], the Czech-born blue-liner made a quick and stunning impression at his first North American training camp and cracked the Leafs’ roster as a 20-year-old in 1998-99. With the lone exception of Mats Sundin, no Toronto player has since demonstrated the combined levels of skill, patience and composure while handling the puck.

More than 10 years after his debut, however, it seems irrefutable that Kaberle has fallen into the grip of Blue & White Disease – at least, the strain that impels a hockey veteran in this city to lapse into a comfort zone irrespective of achievement. Though the Leafs’ franchise-record absence from the Stanley Cup playoffs should not be pinned to an immoderate degree on Kaberle – indeed, if management had harvested others of such ability, the club’s fortunes would have been different – the veteran defenseman is still party to the failing, and has surely forgotten the sense of even modest attainment at the NHL level.

That’s why it is both puzzling and disconcerting to observe, within Kaberle, an overbearing inclination to embrace the status quo, and to remain a member of the Blue & White beyond any other consideration. “You guys know I only want to play in Toronto,” Tomas confirmed on Thursday, when asked about enforcing the no-movement clause in his contract. “This is the best city to play in; I love it here; my family loves it, and I like my teammates also. They are great guys.”

Some will define this as boundless loyalty to the hockey club; others might legitimately question the existence, in Kaberle, of a competitive instinct fundamental to team success. The same question arose about Sundin when he stubbornly refused to waive his movement privilege at the trade deadline two seasons ago, though the Big Swede technically owed the Leafs nothing after years of exceptional toil. Still, it was entirely justified to wonder if Sundin had lost whatever competitive fervor that lingered in his aging body. Kaberle, similarly, has maintained an intense, though non-specific, yearning to skate only for the Maple Leafs and it’s not difficult to suspect that he could languish, contentedly, on a losing team for as long as he’s able to play.

This, in part, is Blue & White Disease – a malady engendering fulfillment among players on a hockey team that is held to no standard. Though the Leafs have a multitude of grounded, discerning followers, many others are psychotically addicted to the club, creating an environment of docile acceptance that the franchise has repeatedly exploited through the years. Tomas Kaberle clearly enjoys living and working in a city where fans lose sleep the night before a rookie tournament game; where the line between hope and fantasy is forever smeared, and where the local team could lose all 82 games and still bathe in adoration.

Ironically, it is this very sense of comfort and entitlement that general manager Brian Burke and coach Ron Wilson are aggressively seeking to eradicate from the hockey club… or so they say. Yet, there remains a baffling lenience toward – and tolerance of – players that have contributed nothing in the realm of team accomplishment for half-a-decade.

The antithesis to Kaberle is Roy Halladay, the Blue Jays’ pitcher that longs to be part of a winning ball club after years of gloom and frustration in this city. As the non-waiver trade deadline in baseball approached in July, Halladay was persistently badgered about his desire to remain in Toronto, or be dealt to a contending team. His reply was a blend of candor and diplomacy. To paraphrase: “At this stage of my career, all I want to do is win,” he said. “Ideally, I’d like it to be here in Toronto, with the Blue Jays. But, if that isn’t possible, I want to win somewhere else.”

Now, granted, the Blue Jays and Maple Leafs are seen through inordinately different glasses. Rose coloration that rarely clouded fans’ perception of the ball club has forever graced the hockey team. Popularity and acceptance is a non-issue among Leaf followers, while baseball interest here – in the throes of indefinite mediocrity – could be at an all-time low. Through the ineptness of management, Halladay remained a Blue Jay after the trade deadline, and his chagrin has been evident in all but one subsequent outing; he mustered his skill and resolve to one-hit the soaring New York Yankees last week. Otherwise, the monotony of staying with a floundering club has virtually sapped Halladay’s competitive zeal.

Kaberle, on the other hand, favors the convenience of existing circumstance over the burning wish to succeed. This isn’t to suggest he wants to be part of a losing team; far from it. But, he seems unwilling to sacrifice the luxury and coziness of his Toronto cocoon, even after five years of playoff famine. It’s all about the “great guys in the dressing room” and “playing in the best hockey city.”

Indeed, Blue & White Disease has no bounds.

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