I know, Schneider should have fit in perfectly on that 99-04 version of the leafs. As noted above, his usage often sounds similar to Kaberle who emerged in 99, so maybe thats the reason why.
What was wrong with Mathieu Schneider career?
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Stephen
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Kaberle was a completely unplanned, out of left field prospect who just won a job in camp in 1998 and never looked back. Schneider's hold out probably gave him the opening he needed years ahead of schedule.
Think Schneider was always kind of a lone wolf, but of a mercenary vibe. So off he went.
Johnny Engine
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I don't know if I'd even say that much, as Karpovtsev replaced Schneider's spot on the roster, and himself got double the amount of power play points that Kaberle did in 98-99.
If anything, it was moving Cote the next season that solidified him as a go-to offensive defenseman, and then of course the Berard injury put an even bigger load on him.
Stephen
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Well, Kaberle broke through with the Leafs before they got Berard. That was in-season trade later on. Kaberle made the team out of camp being a smooth puck mover, and came up along with Daniil Markov and Yanick Tremblay. On the veteran half of that equation we had Cote, Karpovtsev (from the Schneider deal) and Yushkevich.
Johnny Engine
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Yes, Kaberle made the team in 1998, and played a smaller role on the team than he would in subsequent seasons - whether it's Schneider or Karpovtsev playing in front of him wouldn't have had a lot to do with it. Then as I said, Cote's moved out and his role expanded in year two.
I guess with Berard, "pressure" would have been the better word than "load", as in "well, now Kaberle had better produce or we'll be getting nothing from the back end". Same role, different stakes after that.
