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TORONTO - David Clarkson has had so many injuries in just over a year with the Toronto Maple Leafs that three-year-old daughter McKinnley is taking a keen interest in her fathers health on the ice.Before the game now instead of saying, Good luck, shell say, Dont get hurt, Clarkson said.Last year it was a foot injury followed by an elbow injury. Clarkson also suffered facial fractures last month in a fight with Buffalos Cody McCormick. The 30-year-old right winger couldnt help but think, Here we go again.Instead, Clarkson strapped on a cage mask and then a full shield — doctors orders so he could get back onto the ice. The result has been a strong start to his second season with the Leafs.Its a much different David Clarkson this year than what we had last year, coach Randy Carlyle said Thursday. We said its a reset situation and he felt that he needed that, and then the addition of the ice time and the fit with the line that he plays with and the minutes hes getting, hes getting a chance to make more of a contribution, but hes earning it.The biggest difference is Clarkson has had the opportunity to make a contribution at the start of this season. Last year he was suspended for the first 10 games after leaving the bench during a pre-season brawl with the Sabres.Clarkson made his debut in blue and white on Oct. 25, 2013 on the road against the Blue Jackets. On Friday night he and the Leafs return to Columbus, but this time the Toronto native is healthy and already in a groove.Its tough just to fire into a season 10 games in, Clarkson said. I think right now I feel pretty good. I feel back like myself again.Clarkson has two goals and an assist in a third-line role alongside Leo Komarov and Mike Santorelli and has seen some time on the second power-play unit. He had five goals and six assists in 60 games in 2013-14, a disappointing performance to say the least after signing a US$36.75-million, seven-year contract.But the weight of contract expectations paled in comparison to the way the suspension hampered Clarksons start.Youre coming from a different organization, youre trying to learn a new system, youre trying to learn new things and all of a sudden you get suspended and jump in, Clarkson said. I think I (injured) my foot right away and then my elbow. It was just one of those seasons that I chalk up as a nightmare and (I got) through it and got ready and trained hard this summer and spent time with my kids and got ready for this year.Carlyle praised Clarkson for putting time and effort into building up strength and getting a little thicker in the off-season. Even after a lower-body injury limited him at training camp and the facial fractures halted his progress, Clarkson managed to be in the lineup on opening night and got on track.Nine games in, Clarkson doesnt have a single fighting major after leading the team in the category last season. Thats because his facial injuries prevent him from dropping the gloves.For now I couldnt fight, he said. I think if I got hit there Id be in trouble.Carlyle said it would be foolish for Clarkson not to be over-cautious about his face because those are the types of injuries that one little bump again can set him back.Still, Clarkson is hoping to get back to fighting sooner than later.In Thursdays practice, Clarkson ditched the full shield in favour of a regular visor and hopes he can convince doctors to let him begin the transition in a game, be it Friday at Columbus, Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks or next week against Phoenix or Colorado.I dont think Im allowed yet, Clarkson said. I had something done the other day and I still have some things going on. Im trying to find a way that I could wear maybe a bigger visor — a SWAT team shield — something that is off of my face a little bit because Im having a hard time with this one.Clarkson said the full shield was an improvement from the cage. Problems arise when it fogs up and forces him to look through tiny holes in the mask.Its just tough when the pucks down low in your feet or when youre going for things, Clarkson said. But it was either that option or I didnt play.After his problems last year, not playing wasnt an option for Clarkson, who couldnt help but worry about the lingering effect of another injury.When I found out what was wrong, its tough to swallow, he said. It kind of puts you in a place where you start to think. For me personally that wasnt fun, but I made a decision to come back and play and I feel pretty good. The bones healing, so Im just waiting for the doctors to clear me to get back to normal.Back to normal for Clarkson, in his mind, also includes a return to some fisticuffs. Without Colton Orr or Frazer McLaren, the Leafs dont have an enforcer, and according to HockeyFights.com, their two fighting majors are tied for the second-fewest in the NHL.Clarkson still feels a desire to take exception to hits on himself and teammates but in the back of his mind understands with a full shield he cant do everything. Once he sheds it for good, its his plan to continue his fighting ways.I dont plan on changing, Clarkson said. At the end of the day Im going to go back to fighting and doing the things Ive always done.Notes: Forward David Booth skated Thursday for the first time since fracturing his right foot while blocking a shot in a pre-season game. Carlyle said Booth is working hard but is still a long ways away from making his regular-season debut. ... The Leafs have recalled Stuart Percy from the AHLs Marlies. It wasnt immediately clear if an injury necessitated the call-up or if Percy was just going to be the seventh defenceman in Columbus.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter. Cheap Shoes China .Ryan Anderson had 14 points for the Pelicans, who trailed 78-63 after three periods before trimming the deficit to 86-83. Jrue Holiday had 13 points and Eric Gordon added 12 for New Orleans.Mike Scott and Jeff Teague each had 11 points for Atlanta. Cheap Nike Shoes China . On Thursday, they signed former Browns linebacker DQwell Jackson. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. http://www.shoeschinacheap.com/.com) - A pair of programs shooting for their 10th win of the season get together at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, as the NC State Wolfpack tangle with 22nd-ranked West Virginia during the challenge round of the Gotham Classic. Wholesale Shoes .com Tours Nova Scotia Open. The 27-year-old Sloan, a former Texas-El Paso player from Calgary matched first-round leader Rodriguez at 10-under 132 on Ashburn Golf Clubs New Course.TORONTO – On the third day of July in the summer of 2011 the Nashville Predators flipped Matthew Lombardi to Toronto. Lombardi still had two years to go on a pricey three-year contract and questions lingered as to whether he would ever play again. To grease him along to the Maple Leafs and subsequently free up cap space Nashville had to surrender a 23-year-old defender whom they drafted and developed in the third round of the 2005 draft. That trade surprised Cody Franson. Another deal that may come to pass in the coming five weeks isnt likely to sneak up on the 6-foot-5 defenceman. His name has been bandied about in trade speculation almost to no end during three-plus seasons in Toronto, that chatter only heating up again recently. An impending unrestricted free agent this summer, Franson and the Leafs have yet agree upon terms for a new deal. Given that murky contract status and the clubs rapid descent out of a playoff spot – 14 losses in 17 games - speculation picked up that the club may opt to move the 27-year-old defender before the Mar. 2 trade deadline. Its one of those things where its everywhere you go, said Franson of the trade talk. If its not on the radio its on the TV. If its not on the TV its on any Twitter feed and even though I dont have [a Twitter account] sometimes its tough to stay away from. Teammates will crack jokes about the possibility. Buddies from back home in Sicamous, B.C. will fire texts with links to some rumour or another. Try as he might Franson cant really escape the swell of speculation – real or fiction – that surrounds his future. At the end of the day its not in my hands, he said. I can control how I play and try and continually prove my worth here to this team and how I want to be here. Those decisions ultimately get made by the people upstairs and theyve got a tough job. Fransons stock has risen this year. Hes emerged with increased responsibilities, is well on his way to a career-high in points and is that rare right-shot defender with size and puck-moving skills. All of that makes him a desired candidate for trade before the deadline and a candidate for a large contract on July 1 – one the Leafs may not be prepared to pay. Franson, who signed his third consecutive one-year deal worth $3.3 million last summer, wants to stay in Toronto and always has, but hell also be after fair value. And given how tightly thee organization squeezed him previously in restricted free agency theres no reason to expect him to settle for less.dddddddddddd. Torontos cap situation, additionally, complicates his future with the club beyond this season. Already looking tight with next years potential cap (projected to be between $71-73 million) and restricted free agents in Jonathan Bernier and Nazem Kadri still to be signed, the Leafs may not have room to ink Franson to the kind of hefty contract hes in line to demand (and get) in free agency. That could change if Brendan Shanahan and his front office staff opt to dramatically restructure the roster, be it now or in the summer months. One such option would be to move Dion Phaneuf – who has six years remaining with an annual cap hit of $7 million – to create the space needed to sign Franson (not to mention Bernier and Kadri), who is two years younger and just reaching his potential. That would leave a foundation on defence of Franson, Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner as well as future (potential) parts like Stuart Percy, Petter Granberg and Tom Nilsson. (Toronto will get a look at such a unit in the coming days with Phaneuf sidelined on a week-to-week basis, the result of a week-old fight with Milan Michalek.) The Leafs could still trade Franson before the deadline and then attempt to woo him back in free agency. But if theyre not willing to meet his price now its entirely reasonable to suspect they wont do so later. Its an odd dynamic for Franson at the moment. He wants to be a Leaf, wants to commit to the club for the long haul and yet could be lifted off the roster at any moment. When youre in that situation, he explained, where youre in the place where you want to be and you hear those trade rumours it makes it tough to swallow that pill sometimes. [But] coming through the whole process of trying to make pro and through juniors and into the NHL the second you think you understand what theyre trying to do upstairs youre wrong. I couldnt tell you how many times I thought I knew what they were going to do and they did something completely different. I try to take every rumour for what its worth and at the end of the day I dont know whats going to happen so I approach it like Im going to be here and this is where I want to be. And until that day comes or if that day comes Ill figure it out from there. ' ' '