Centre Bob Kabel was a capable playmaker and face-off man who spent parts of two seasons with the New York Rangers. He was best known as a consistent performer for over a decade-and-a-half in the AHL and WHL.
Kabel scored 49 goals in two seasons with the Flin Flon Bombers of the SJHL before switching over to the Saskatoon Wesleys the next year. Late in the 1954-55 schedule, he played the first of many games in the WHL when he laced up his skates for the Saskatoon Quakers.
Kabel played his first full minor pro season with the Vancouver Canucks of the WHL in 1954-55. In 1956-57, he skated for the Trois Rivieres Lions of the QHL and the AHL's Providence Reds before returning to the WHL the following year.
In 1959-60, he scored 16 points in 44 games for the New York Rangers and skated occasionally at right wing with Andy Bathgate and Dean Prentice. Eventually he was relegated to farmhand status in 1960-61. After his NHL dream died, Kabel went on to have nine excellent minor pro seasons, hitting the 20-goal mark three times and winning consecutive Calder Cups with the Springfield Indians in 1961 and 1962.
