František "Frank" Kaberle (; born November 8, 1973) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. His playing career extended over 20 seasons, most notably in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

with the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

, and the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...

Playing career

Kaberle was drafted 76th overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by the Kings. During the 1999–2000 season, he was traded to the

for whom he would score his first career NHL goal on April 8, 2000, against Artūrs Irbe and the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-3 Thrashers loss. Coincidentally, after the 2004-05 lockout, Kaberle would sign with Carolina. In the

2006 Stanley Cup Finals The 2006 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2005–06 season, and the culmination of the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs. The first Stanley Cup Finals since 2004 after a lockout canceled the entirety ...

, Kaberle scored a power play goal in the second period of Game 7 against the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

, which would turn out to be the game and

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

winning goal. It would mark Kaberle's only Stanley Cup championship. During the off-season before the 2006–07 season, Kaberle suffered a shoulder injury, and was placed on the injured reserve on September 13, 2006. He was removed from the injured reserve on February 6, 2007, and scored the game winner that same night. After four seasons with the Hurricanes, Kaberle was declared a free agent after he was bought out his final year of his contract on July 28, 2009. With his North American career at a close, he returned to his native Czech Republic and re-joined his original club, HC Kladno, for the 2009–10 season. Kaberle played two more seasons in the Czech Extraliga with

HC Pardubice HC Dynamo Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. Its home venue is Enteria arena located in Pardubice. The club was originally named LTC Pardubice, acquiring its current name at the start of the 2015– ...

and

HC Plzeň HC, hc or H/C may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine * Health Canada * Hemicrania continua * Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia Chemistry * Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc * ...

before concluding his professional career after the 2011–12 season.

International play

František Kaberle won the Ice Hockey World Championships five times: in 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. In 2006, he won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Turin. That same year, he would become the third player (first and second were

Igor Larionov Igor Nikolayevich Larionov (; born 3 December 1960) is a Russian Coach (ice hockey), ice hockey coach, sports agent and former professional ice hockey player, known as "the Professor". Considered one of the best hockey players of all time, he, a ...

and

Pavel Datsyuk Pavel Valeryevich Datsyuk (, ; born 20 July 1978) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player, who played for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2001 to 2016. Nicknamed the "Magic Man", Datsyuk was named one ...

in 2002) to win both bronze medal and Stanley Cup.

Personal life

František Kaberle married his wife Kateřina on May 30, 1998. They have two daughters named Francesca and Vanessa. His brother Tomáš Kaberle is a former NHL and Czech Extraliga player and is also a fellow Stanley Cup champion with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

in 2011. Both of the Kaberle brothers were named to the Czech national ice hockey team for the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

, winning bronze. His father František Kaberle, Sr. used to play for the

Czechoslovak national ice hockey team The Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team was the national ice hockey team of Czechoslovakia, and competed from 1920 until 1992. The successor to the Bohemia national ice hockey team, which ...

as well.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaberle, Frantisek 1973 births Atlanta Thrashers players Carolina Hurricanes players Czech ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Rytíři Kladno players Living people Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) players Los Angeles Kings draft picks Los Angeles Kings players Lowell Lock Monsters players Modo Hockey players Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey players for the Czech Republic Ice hockey people from Kladno Stanley Cup champions Olympic medalists in ice hockey HC Dynamo Pardubice players HC Plzeň players Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Czechoslovak ice hockey defencemen Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States 21st-century Czech sportsmen