Criticism starting to affect the productivity of Tomas Kaberle (Part 2)
Tomas Kaberle was among one of the best defensemen in the National Hockey League at the time when he was playing with Toronto Maple Leafs.
He was one of the main faces who appeared in Leafs’ line-up when they got on ice and was bagging huge, productive minutes.
However, since he has been part of Bruins, he has not only seen a sharp decline in his form but there has been a great fall in the time he spends on ice.
He has been restricted to only around 14 minutes per game and there hasn’t been a game after Game 5 of the first round series with Montreal Canadiens in which he has played more than 20 minutes.
What is shocking about this player is the fact that his performance during the course of the playoffs has been very poor, being able to score only two points so far.
These points that he has scored are in normal time with nothing in the power-plays so far. His form has been on a decline since the time he came to Boston that witnessed him scoring just nine points in 24 games.
The thing that shocks many around Bruins’ administration is the fact that he is a player who was used to scoring 38 points out of 58 games while playing for Toronto Maple Leafs.
In the past six seasons with Maple Leafs, he has also scored 45 or more points on several occasions.
"I think I can play better, obviously", Kaberle said on Monday. "I would like to help my teammates more".
Nevertheless, even though he is going through some tough times it should not be forgotten that he is one of the best players that NHL has come across, equipped with some of the most talented skills that a player can have.
"He sees that open guy and he can make the pass when you don't even see the open guy", defenseman, Johnny Boychuk, said, admitting he watches Kaberle regularly in an attempt to refine his developing offensive game.
To put the entire blame on him would be wrong as said by one of his teammates since the team as a whole has been struggling.
Bruins has been pathetic on power-plays as it has scored two goals out of 41 opportunities coming its way.
The situation in Game 1 was that Bruins was zero out of four power-plays.
"Even though the power play is struggling, it isn't because of him", said Bruins’ forward, Michael Ryder.
Anyhow, Bruins’ players believe if Kaberle can find a way out of his current setbacks then Bruins has a chance of not only winning the Conference Finals but also lifting the Stanley Cup this season.
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