The Week That Was: Tomas Kaberle, in Perspective.

A certain rosy-cheeked young man named Tomas Kaberle is currently leading the NHL in defenseman scoring. This is unprecedented enough as it is, given the sheer amount of talented offensive blueliners that have emerged since the lockout.

But forget about the season for a second - consider the week that was - Saturday October 24th to Saturday October 31st. Tomas and the Buds played five road games (VAN, ANA, DAL, BUF, MTL) and in that span 'Kaber recorded 13 points (2 goals and 11 assists) with a ridiculous 9 powerplay points and 1 shorthanded assist. He was a +1 and fired 12 shots at the net.

This is quite possibly the greatest offensive week ever by a defenseman, and quite certainly the best ever by a Maple Leaf dman.

If you can dig up Paul Coffey's game logs from the 1986 Oilers campaign, I will back down - but everyone knows the new NHL is a different era with a different style of play. To truly grasp how awesome a week Kaberle had I will compare him to another booming blueline behemoth from the current era - Washington Capitals D Mike Green.

The 2008-2009 season was a magical one for Mike Green. NHL defensemen rarely crack the 60 point plateau, but last year Mike Green hit his stride and never looked back, potting 31 goals and finishing with 73 freakin' points.

Mike Green's best week of 08'-09' was a five game stretch between january 31st and february 7th. This was in the middle of his epic 8 game goal scoring streak. Green and the Caps played home games against Detroit and Ottawa, went to New Jersey to light up the Devils, and then returned home to host LA and Florida. He recorded 13 points (6 goals and 7 assists) with 7 powerplay points and one shorthanded goal. He was +3 and hit the net 14 times.

It's also important to note that Mike Green was passing to/ receiving pucks from the likes of Alexander Ovechkin, Niklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin. Meanwhile, Kaberle has been setting up Nik Hagman and Mikhail Grabovski. I love Grabs and Hags as much as the next Leafs fan, but obviously there is a huge disparity in offensive talent there.

With this in mind, I rule in favour of Tomas Kaberle - this last week was the greatest offensive output by a defenseman since the lockout - and possibly much longer.

The amount of fanfare that surround Mike Green during that memorable week last February was much greater than the tributes that have been paid to Tomas so far. This is mostly due to the fact that the Maple Leafs won only one game during that stretch. But I think that Kaberle's 13 point week is still a momumental accomplishment for a very underated and under-respected defenseman - and without his contribution during these last five games, the Leafs could have easily gone 0-5.

For a team that is criticized for its lack of offense, I think all Leafs fans should take a moment to appreciate the phenomenal offensive numbers that #15 just posted. He may never develop into a leader in the dressing room, but Tomas Kaberle can certainly lead by example.