There were high expectations for the veteran defenseman when he arrived in a trade from Toronto in February, and Kaberle has had trouble delivering the kind of impact anticipated. But Bruins coach Claude Julien has stuck by the beleaguered blueliner, and plans to keep him in the lineup with the Eastern Conference Final knotted at 2-2 heading into Monday's Game 5 matchup with Tampa Bay at the Garden.
"I think if you know the game well enough, you would understand that there's some experience back there," Julien said. "And you've got to also think, 'Is that guy coming in a better player than Kaberle?'"
Boston's other blue line options are veteran Shane Hnidy and rookie Steven Kampfer. Hnidy has played three games this postseason, filling in when Zdeno Chara was sidelined with dehydration and when Adam McQuaid was out with a sprained neck. But Hnidy saw very limited ice time, playing less than 10 minutes total in those three games.
Kampfer, meanwhile, hasn't played at all in over a month after suffering a knee injury in April after he had been returned to Boston's AHL affiliate in Providence. Kampfer is healthy now and has been practicing with the team, but has never played in an NHL playoff game.
Kaberle has 92 playoff games on his resume, with 6-28-34 totals and a plus-13 rating. Most of those games came before the 2004-05 owners' lockout when he was with Toronto, but this year he does have six assists and a plus-5 rating in Boston's first 15 games while averaging 16:46 of ice time.
His strongest games came earlier in this series, when he had appeared to turn a corner before Saturday's debacle. He was far from alone in struggling in that game though, as there was plenty of blame to go around as Boston blew 3-0 lead en route to a 5-3 defeat.
Julien isn't ready to single out Kaberle for his role in that loss, just as he stuck by struggling players earlier who went on to reward that faith. Many wanted to see Michael Ryder or Chris Kelly out of the lineup for Tyler Seguin after the Bruins fell behind 2-0 in the opening round against Montreal. Julien stuck with the veterans though, and Ryder responded with two goals, including the winner in overtime, to even the series in Game 4, while Kelly had 3-3-6 totals over the final five games of that Canadiens series.
"The other thing we've done is some people wanted certain players out of the lineup earlier on, and our patience has paid off," Julien said. "And I don't know why we decide that we should be taking [Kaberle] out of the lineup when there's other players, too, that have struggled. I don't know. We haven't talked about that. That's because we have patience. That we believe in those guys."
Kaberle was on the ice for two of Tampa's goals on Saturday, the tying goal by Sean Bergenheim in the second period and Simon Gagne's game-winner in the third. Bergenheim out-muscled Kaberle for the puck behind the net and came out front for the score, while a hobbled Kaberle was caught on the ice unable to get to the bench for a change after blocking a shot because Milan Lucic turned the puck over at the blue line to set up Gagne's tally.
"Kaberle, last game, that [third Tampa] goal, maybe loses the puck, but our system calls for support on that," Julien said. "And our support was but wasn't there. So according to our system, he's not the only one to blame.
"The last winning goal, he blocks a shot, makes a great play," Julien added. "He's trying to get off the ice. We turn the puck over, so do we keep blaming Kaberle? I think people are a little hard on this guy. And I'm one of those guys that's going to support him. I'm one of those guys that's going to keep him in the lineup, in case you want to know. And he's going to be a good part of our hockey team. We got him because we believe in him, and until last game he played two really good games. So that's how we see Kaberle."
The Bruins did have Kampfer skate in the pre-game warm-up prior to Game 4 and he will be on the ice before Game 5 as well. That isn't a sign that Julien is close to giving Kaberle or anyone else the hook, but rather a way to ease the rookie into the playoff routine to be better prepared if injuries strike and he is needed to play at some point down the line. Julien did the same with fellow rookie Tyler Seguin, who skated in every warm-up during the first two rounds before making his playoff debut against Tampa.
"I think when you're not playing, I think that's the best thing you can do for a young player is give him that opportunity to be in the dressing room and the surroundings and, like I said before, you look at how players prepare," Julien said. "You look at the feeling out there in the warm-up. It's a lot different than the regular season. Obviously, there's more at stake, and guys are obviously really focused for these kinds of games and I think for a young guy to experience that really helps.
"And when he's called upon to come out and play his first game, at least he's got something under his belt," Julien added. "It's a lot better than saying, 'By the way, you're playing tonight, you're going to be in the warm-up.' And all of a sudden, he's never experienced anything. I think it's important. I think was good for Tyler and hopefully it will be good for Kampfer as well."
