Mason Raymond confident he can make the Maple Leafs

Don’t be surprised if Mason Raymond makes the Toronto Maple Leafs.

 “I believe in my abilities and what I can put forward,” said the 27 year-old Raymond as training camp opened.

The left-winger is in Toronto on a tryout basis. He needs to convince Leafs management he is worthy of a contract. Having been drafted by Leafs GM Dave Nonis (when Nonis ran Vancouver) he already is in good standing with the head man.

During on-ice sessions on Thursday, Raymond made a good impression on Coach Randy Carlyle.

“Very noticeable,” said the coach when asked about Raymond’s first time on the ice with the Leafs. “He’s scored 25 goals in this league before and it’s not easy to score goals in the NHL. We feel very fortunate to have him here.”

Nonis meantime made it clear he wants a team that not only can play a physical brand, but has speed. With Clark MacArthur and Mikhail Grabovski gone, Raymond would provide the team with some quickness.

“It’s an odd year, a different year for sure,” said Raymond, who became an unrestricted free agent for the first time but failed to find a team and the big-money deal he was expecting after earning a pro-rated $2.275 M last season with Vancouver. “That’s the situation, that’s the reality. As a player you deal with it and you make the most of your opportunities.”

With the salary cap dropping to $64.3 M, many veteran players (Brad Boyes with Florida, Hal Gill with the Flyers) are on trying out, just like Raymond.

Raymond is so focused on the task at hand – playing with the Maple Leafs likely as a 3^rd liner on the left-wing – that he hasn’t thought about what may happen if things don’t work out.

“I’m not thinking plan B, I’m thinking plan A,” said Raymond, “There are a few things you can’t control when you’re a player.”

Raymond suffered a serious back injury during the 2011 Stanley Cup final – the result of a Johnny Boychuk check. He didn’t return to Vancouver’s lineup until the following December.

Raymond calls the injury a “non-issue.”

“I don’t like dwelling on the past,” said the Calgary, native. “Injuries are injuries, they come and they go, and that wasn’t a particularly fun one to go through.  You learn a lot going through situations like that, I find, and the realization of how hard it is to fully recover from that.”

“I still feel like I’ve got what it takes to play in this league,” added Raymond. “Sometimes you’ve got to prove it. Other players have gone through situations like this where you’re reintroducing yourself a little bit, if you will.”

“I think I’m an NHL player.”

If the Leafs agree, Mason Raymond will no longer think he’s an NHL player. He will be – again.

Paul Ranger: Looking forward to opportunity with Maple Leafs

Paul Ranger figured he would have another chance at an NHL job.

“I never had any doubts. I never had any doubt in my mind,” said Ranger after the first day of training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  

Ranger last played an NHL game October 22, 2009. He played more than 17 minutes on the Tampa Bay Lightning blueline that night – a game his team won 5-2 over San Jose.

A couple of days later, he told the team he was going to take a leave of absence for personal reasons.

While he politely declined to get into specifics when he met the media on Wednesday, the 28 year-old insists he’s ready to resume his NHL career now.

After spending some time coaching minor hockey teams, he joined the Toronto Marlies last season where he picked up 25 points in 51 games.

His play impressed Leafs management, who signed him to a deal with the NHL team in July.

Now he has a chance to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs – a team he grew up watching and cheering for in nearby Whitby, Ontario.

“It means everything to me,” said an emotional Ranger. “This is huge for me and I know it. I’m really excited for it and I’m so emotional about it because it means so much to me.”

“We think Paul has the ability to play possibly in our top 4 (defensemen),” said GM Dave Nonis. “Last year at times he looked too good for the American Hockey League.”

Paul Ranger has the talent to play professional hockey. After all he spent parts of five seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning before walking away from the game. But as Ranger can attest, talent isn’t everything.

“Not even close,” he insists. “Everyone has the power to do whatever they want, and that’s something I’ve learned along the way. The metal side of the game is something that’s never really been talked about a lot. Self-esteem, just mental strength, courage. It’s not talked about a lot but it’s a skill.”

A skill the 6-foot-3, 210 pound Ranger has developed over the years.

And now he proudly sports his Maple Leafs jersey as he fulfills his media obligations on day one of training camp.

“It’s home,” Ranger said when asked why he agreed to a deal with the Leafs, when other NHL teams came calling. “Everyone I love is here. My family, friends. I have some of the best friends in the world, and an amazing family.”

“If I had an opportunity to play here, why would I pick anywhere else. This is where I want to be. I’m proud to be here. I’m so proud to be here.”

Kadri signed as Leafs head into training camp

With Nazem Kadri under contract, the Toronto Maple Leafs head into training camp on Wednesday with just one player unsigned; restricted free agent Cody Franson.

Kadri`s 2-year, $5.8M deal leaves the Leafs with about $3M in cap room for this season.

The Leafs will head into camp Wednesday with a roster pretty much set, and before any preseason games are played this appears to be the lineup the Leafs will start the season with.

The top line will likely will see James van Reimdsyk with Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel.

Look for Nazem Kadri to centre a line with Joffrey Lupul and David Clarkson.

David Bolland could centre a line with Jay McClement and Nik Kulemin. That`s a unit that could be a very effective “shutdown” line for Toronto.

While a 4^th line could see Frazer McLaren and Colton Orr on the wings with Joe Colborne at centre.

Defensively, the pairings could end up being Carl Gunnarsson with Dion Phaneuf; Cody Franson (if he is signed) with Jake Gardiner while Mark Fraser could with John-Michael Liles, or Paul Ranger or perhaps Morgan Rielly, Toronto`s 1^st round pick in the 2012 NHL draft.

Reilly will get a long look at camp. The Leafs will play 8 preseason games and Reilly could play in as many as 5 of them.

There will certainly be an interesting battle in goal as James Reimer (who is a restricted free agent after this season) and Jonathan Bernier will compete to be number 1.

“If you win, you’re in,” said Coach Randy Carlyle. “It’s pretty simple.”

The additions of Bolland and Clarkson give the Leafs more grit and make them tougher to play against.

In Bolland, they get a 2-time Stanley Cup winner.

“He can provide us with a level of compete that matches his resume,” Carlyle said. “That’s what we are looking for.”

The addition of Bolland and Clarkson was in part brought on by the game 7 meltdown in Boston.

It was apparent that night Toronto didn’t have enough veteran players who could handle stressful situations. That shouldn’t be an issue this season.

They also have upgraded their goaltending – an issue again that haunted them that fateful night in Boston.

“We will take what we can from last year and hopefully learn from it and build from some of the things we put in place and try to push this group together,” said Carlyle.

This will be Carlyle’s first full training camp with the Maple Leafs. It will be fast paced, physical and demanding.

Buckle up.

Joe Colborne is ready to make impact on the Maple Leafs

Joe Colborne knows this is a wonderful “opportunity” to break training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The 6-foot-5 centre played a pair of playoff games for the Leafs last season and impressed management filling in for an injured Tyler Bozak.

That earned him a one-year contract this off season. Colborne, a former 1^st round pick, now hopes to springboard that success into playing a significant role in the NHL this season.

“No more pressure than I’ve put on myself in the past,” said Colborne on the eve of training camp. “Having that opportunity to come up and show the coaching staff last year was a huge advantage for me. I’m ready to go out and have a great camp. I’m looking forward to showing what I can do.”

Colborne has worked hard this off-season to improve his skating and has added some much needed weight to his lanky frame.

“I’m up over 220 pounds now which is a good weight for me. I feel more comfortable,” said the 23 year-old, who played just 5 regular season games with the Maple Leafs last season, where he failed to register a point. “I feel more powerful on the ice being heavier. It’s mostly good weight and I’m excited to show what I can do.”

“It was nice to be healthy for a full summer, I haven’t had that in a while. I was able to get back and start working out early and get quite a bit stronger.”

In a perfect world, the Leafs would have TylerBozak, Nazem Kadri, David Bolland and Joe Colborne up the middle.

I can see Jay McClement (a 4^th line centre a year ago) playing on the wing on the 3^rd line with Bolland to create a shut-down line.

This is a great chance for Colborne who had 42 points in 65 games with the Toronto Marlies in the American Hockey League last season, to make his mark with the Maple Leafs this season.

*

Colborne meantime had a tough summer in his hometown of Calgary, where flooding devastated the community.

"I'm carrying photo albums out of my friends homes, and all those memories were destroyed," said Colborne. "I've never seen anything like it before. You think it would never happen (in your hometown.)"

The flooding did not hit Colborne's home but it did not hit in areas where some of his friends lived.

Colborne said watching the Calgary Stampede, held 2 months after the flooding was something that made him "so proud" of his community.

John Gibbons has support of players: DeRosa

He is the voice of experience in the Toronto Blue Jays dressing room. His knowledge of the game is unparalleled. He has seen it all.

So when you ask Mark DeRosa if he agrees with Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos, who recently insisted John Gibbons will return as manager, he wastes no time in responding.

“I completely agree 100 percent with him,” said DeRosa. “We’ve had a lot of things since spring training happen to this ball club that John had no part in.”

DeRosa went on to say, “Gibby is a players’ manager. Everybody in here to a man has completely enjoyed playing for him. He’s given us a long leash probably a little longer than to be expected based on the way we played. I’ve completely enjoyed playing for him.”

DeRosa has had a big influence on Brett Lawrie and his improvement in recent weeks. He has become a mentor to the Blue Jays third baseman.

He’s also direct when asked what went wrong this year.
 

“Everybody has their own little piece of the fault as to why we are in the place we are at,” said the 38 year-old. “I definitely don’t feel that Gibby should be the scapegoat for it at all.”

The struggles of the starting staff, at-times atrocious defence, and poor fundamentals are all reasons why the Jays have so badly under achieved this season.

Gibbons acknowledges more teaching needs to be done. He probably was too laid back in that area because he thought he had a veteran team that didn’t need to be taught. He was wrong.

DeRosa for his part credits Gibbons with keeping the team loose during a trying season and not losing the clubhouse.

“You got to have pride in yourself and be willing to compete and do whatever it takes that night,” said DeRosa. “You find the true colors of people when things are going bad. It could have been easy for us to disband in the clubhouse and we haven’t. We’ve stayed strong, we stayed together.”

And with the bulk of the team expected back next season, DeRosa hopes the lessons learned this season will be used to turn things around next season,

“We understand the reasons we are where we are. It’s disappointing coming off a spring training where I felt like we had such a swagger about us and so confident, to find ourselves in this situation is obviously not a good one but we better learn from it.

Anthony Gose and his "very frustrating" year

Ask Anthony Gose to describe what this year has been like, and he won’t mince his words.

“It’s been very frustrating,” said the 23 year-old, recalled by the Toronto Blue Jays from AAA Buffalo.

After a 23 at-bat showing with the Blue Jays earlier this year in which he went 7-23 (.304 batting average) Gose was sent down to Buffalo. Instead of improving on those numbers, he digressed and at times his attitude got him benched.

While his attitude went south, so did his hitting.

“Was I happy I was sent down? No.  I wasn’t thrilled about being sent down,” said Gose. But it wasn’t his frustration at playing in the minor leagues that got the best of the speedy outfielder. It was his performance at the plate that led to his at times poor behaviour.

“It wasn’t so much being sent down it was the fact that I couldn’t hit the ball,” said a candid Gose, just hours after being recalled to the Blue Jays. “In order for me to be here I have to hit the ball. It definitely was frustrating going out every night. You guys see the numbers. 130 strikeouts in 300 at bats and you give those numbers to anybody they are going to be happy.”

To be fair, Gose had 121 strikeouts in 393 at-bats, but you get the point. His .239 batting average in Buffalo had him questioning if he was even going to get called up to the big leagues this year.

But in the last 10 games with the Bisons, Gose was hitting at nearly a .300 clip, and cut down his strikeouts.

“I just kind of said forget about it. Whatever happens, happens,” said Gose. “I didn’t expect to come here now. I figured at best a September call up if I get called up at all.”

But since returning to the Blue Jays in mid-August, Gose has not produced much of an impact. He has had 26 at-bats and has struck out 8 times while batting .231.

Happ and Cobb grateful to return; would consider wearing protective head gear

As J.A. Happ and Alex Cobb stood side by side on Sunday afternoon, it was apparent both men are grateful to be standing and talking – let alone pitching again.

“Not too many people know what you’ve gone through on a personal level so to know his battles, although they were different, they were almost more severe and more troublesome in some cases,” said Cobb, a starting pitcher with the Tampa Rays. “It’s really nice to see him back out on a big league field. It’s definitely a bond that most people won have with another person.”

“We are going to be linked together for this possibly forever,” said Happ, a starting pitcher with the Toronto Blue Jays. “The key thing is we were both able to come back and we are ok. It’s something that we will definitely being staying in touch about.”

On May 7, Happ was struck by a Desmond Jennings liner in the side of his head. He suffered a minor skull fracture behind his left year as well as MCL and PCL ligament strains to his right knee. Happ returned to the big leagues three months later and returned to the Tampa mound on Saturday for the first time since the scary incident.

Some six weeks after Happ was hurt, Cobb was struck by an Eric Hosmer line drive in the head of a game June 15^th against Kansas City Royals. Cobb suffered a concussion and returned to the majors on Thursday, two months after his injury.

“We were able to touch- base a couple of weeks ago and it’s good to see things are back to normal,” said Happ, as the two met face to face on Sunday for the first time since their returns to the big leagues.

Happ happened to be watching the game in which Cobb was injured.

“It was just such a surreal thing,” said Happ. “Again, just to see him and be able to catch up and see that the healing has taken place, that’s the biggest thing. Definitely a scare with some of the issues that he had to deal with that I didn’t.

"He had a little bit more to overcome in that sense and really glad to see he was able to do that."

On Sunday the two spoke out in favour of protective head gear for pitchers.

“Whether that pitcher wants to pitch with head gear or not is up to him but I definitely think there should be an option,” said Cobb. “I haven’t heard too much but I do know that it’s moving in the right direction and hopefully there will be an option by next year.”

“You’d be crazy not to look into it if it was available,” said Happ. “I think function is the big issue. We were struck in the ear so like I said it would almost have to be a helmet situation. If it was functional and comfortable and didn’t hinder the performance at all than absolutely.”