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While the skills competition on Saturday was one of the more boring I’ve seen, iced by a deke competition in which no one could actually find the mesh, the All-Star game itself was actually surprisingly entertaining. The 8-7 win for the Eastern Conference All-Stars was a perfect example of what you want to see in this type of game; fast pace, lots of scoring, great moves, great saves and all around entertaining play.

In the first period it looked like the East was the totally dominant side, as it turns out though that was only because Tim Thomas hadn’t had his chance to step into the net. When Thomas hit the ice in the third, it was like a whole new Western Conference team. They lit him up in quick order, but in the end Thomas held on for the win.

It was almost unfortunate to see Marc Savard net that game winning goal witth 21 seconds left on the clock. I was really hoping to see some 4-on-4 play and maybe even a shootout. In the end though it was hard to be disappointed with any aspect of that game…except one. Tomas Kaberle.

The night before this game, Kaberle put on a show in the shooting accuracy competition, picking of 7 of 8 for the win in that contest. He beat the best of the best of the NHL and although the competition in no way simulates game play, it still identifies which guys have the sniper scope on their blades. Despite having established himself as the most accurate player in the league for this year, on Sunday night Kaberle recorded a whopping zero shots on goal. It reminded me of a Leaf game.

Why doesn’t this guy shoot the puck? There are times on the ice when he almost looks like he’s actively trying not to. So on Sunday night, when he took to the ice in a game with no meaning and absolutely no pressure, I was amazed when not only did he fail to record a single point, but he didn’t even take a freaking shot! How does that make any sense at all? In a game that means nothing, how does one of the most talented offensive defensemen in the league decide he’s not in the mood to take a step up and try his luck on the net? If you ask me, it’s evidence of a problem that needs to be dealt with.

We’ve always known Kaberle is a great play maker, and we’ve always known he had huge offensive talent, but now this year we’ve seen Kaberle go into shootouts and pull out the win with great hands, and now we’ve seen him beat the league’s best in shot accuracy. Why is this guy afraid to put the puck on net? To date in his career he has 68 goals and 328 assists, an almost 5 to 1 ratio. How many more goals could this guy have if every now and then he’d just fire one off instead of endlessly looking for passes that may or may not be there? No one is saying he has to abandon his play-making style, but if you look at Ray Bourque, the leagues long time shooting accuracy champ, he boasts an assist to goal ratio of just under 3 to 1. Still an obvious play maker. If Kaberle had that ratio he’d be sitting on over one hundred goals.

When the Leafs finally hire their new general manager for next year, I hope the first thing he does is bring in a coach who can somehow convince Tomas Kaberle that it’s o.k. to shoot the puck. The guy has the skills to score significantly more goals than he does. You have to wonder why he seems to reluctant to use them.

Stumble it!