was capable of chasing down a team of Bostons caliber

TORONTO -- Seven years and US$36. Jorge Alfaro Jersey .75 million set the price of expectations for David Clarkson. When Clarkson signed with the Maple Leafs on the first day of free agency, he accepted the scrutiny that comes with that term and substantial price tag in arguably the NHLs toughest market. The high standard of success hell be held to this season and in the coming years doesnt bother him. "I really dont think about it, to be honest with you," Clarkson said. "Ive played the same way my whole life. Ive played that style of hockey and its gotten me to where I am. All Im going to do is go out every night, give everything I can. And am I going to be perfect? No, Im going to make mistakes. But Im going to play that same style of hockey that got me here." Thats the right mind-set for Clarkson, a one-time 30-goal scorer for the New Jersey Devils who will be counted on to score close to that in Toronto. But Philadelphia Flyers left-winger Scott Hartnell has been there, done that with a similar salary bump after a trade from the Nashville Predators and figures it will be an adjustment for Clarkson. "It definitely is a little added pressure, I think," Hartnell said Monday. "And going to Philadelphia, for myself, was obviously a way bigger market than Nashville was. You can say the same for Clarkson, going from the Devils where theres not much media that Ive noticed, and coming to Toronto where you take a sip of a beer and (its reported like) youre drunk the night before the game." Clarkson maintained that he doesnt read or watch anything about him that riles up the hype. But the local boy wasnt blind to the difference between playing in New Jersey and Toronto. "When he made the decision to come back to Toronto here, I think obviously the first thing he took into consideration was all the expectations here and media how it could be like to be a Leaf," said younger brother Doug Clarkson, whos in training camp with the Flyers. "I just said to him, they love that style that he plays and I know (coach Randy) Carlyle likes that style. Hes been the same since junior; I dont really think hes changed that much since he came into the league his first year." Listen to Carlyle and general manager Dave Nonis, and thats what the Leafs want. Hartnell called Clarkson "basically the epitome of a power forward," and his game is as much about crashing the net as it is putting the puck into it. Counting $5.25 million against the salary cap this season certainly makes Clarkson a target if he doesnt score 20-plus goals, and Carlyle knows its the job of the coaching staff to keep the 29-year-old winger from putting too much onus on himself. "I think that theres a trap at times when players do change teams and contracts become something notable, the first thing they try to do is change the way they play," Carlyle said. "Thats one thing that we want to guard against that we want David Clarkson to play the way hes capable of playing and (do) the things he normally does, not try to be anything more than what hes been before." Clarkson has 97 goals and 73 assists in 426 NHL games and is hardly an offensive superstar. Carlyle pointed to some "intangibles" Clarkson brings beyond scoring. "Hes a big body in front of the net," Hartnell said. "He scored lots of goals against us, just being there causing havoc in front. Hes got a quick release, a guy that can hit and fight." On a team with Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren, Clarkson wont be leaned on to fight too often. But hell be expected to produce like he did in New Jersey. Clarkson credited teammates for helping him to 30 goals and brushed off the weight of the pressure to perform. "The pressure of everything, you put pressure on yourself as a player every day to do well," he said. "You realize were lucky to be athletes, but at the end of the day you want to do well. I think if you put in the work in the summer and you play hard every night, the success comes." That kind of attitude is why Doug Clarkson isnt worried about his brother trying to live up to expectations. "Hes always been good with people and good around people," Doug Clarkson said. "People have a lot of respect for him just because thats the way he is. It doesnt matter what the score is, if youre losing a ton or what, he goes out there and plays hard." As long as the effort is there, David Clarkson isnt worried about media members -- "You guys dont bug me, not at all," he said. Clarkson is confident hell be able to deflect the attention. "Im just looking forward to whats ahead, and pressure from media and fans I dont feel at all because when I leave here I go home to my family and thats all I do and thats all that matters," he said. "But I will go out there and play hard every night. Thats it." Henderson Alvarez Jersey . - Vince Carter, heading into his 17th NBA season, doesnt consider age a big issue anymore. Mark Hutton Jersey . Toronto ended an 0-4-0 skid with Sundays shootout win over visiting New Jersey, but the club could have a difficult time making it two victories in a row tonight. The Maple Leafs have dropped three straight and 11 of the last 12 regular- season meetings against Boston overall and the Bruins have claimed six straight in Beantown. https://www.cheapmarlinsjerseys.us/ .C. -- Tony Stewart will not race Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, the third Sprint Cup race hes skipped since his car struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr.TORONTO – Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis was not consumed this past summer with the stinging string of moments that led to his teams demise on that fateful night in Boston last May. “I spent a lot more time thinking about the fact we proved to ourselves we can compete with that team,” Nonis said at the outset of training camp on Wednesday morning. “Youre not forgetting what happened, but I havent spent, literally five minutes thinking about it. Its dwelling on a negative that I think we shouldnt dwell on. We should dwell on the opposite: that were not where we need to be, but were a lot closer than we were 24 months ago.” Gone is the cloud of a nine-year playoff absence and all the lingering disappointment and failures it brought with it. In this fall comes a Leafs team that will aim for another rung on the ladder, a belief that the success attained in lockout 2013 was just one incremental step toward a far greater goal. “Our expectations have gone up,” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle bellowed shortly after Nonis. “Everything cant stay the same …We have to push for a higher level, if its compete, if its efficiency, if its skill, desire, all those words that you want to use, were going to have to push for more. This group has got to be prepared to give us more than they gave us last year and weve got to do it over an 82-game schedule.” That will mean another step forward from the recently inked Nazem Kadri, the still unsigned Cody Franson, and James van Riemsdyk, who thrived with a veteran know-how in the postseason. More will be asked of Jake Gardiner, who struggled last year post-concussion and yet went on to wreak havoc when he entered the lineup against the Bruins. More will be demanded from James Reimer as he attempts to fight off Jonathan Bernier for the number one gig in goal. More might even be expected of Phil Kessel, the now 26-year-old rising to new heights opposite his former team following another regular season amongst the NHLs scoring leaders. “We want to make sure that we build off the things that we created last year,” said Carlyle. Preferring to focus on the long-awaited march into the postseason and near knockout of the Bruins – and not the untimely Game 7 unraveling – Nonis hopes that his team gleaned a belief that it could compete with the very best the league has to offer, that the assembled collection was capable of chasing down a team of Bostons caliber and very nearly toppling such a giant. “It allowed them to believe in themselves,” Nonis stated of last years group, which included 14 players appearing in their first postseason game. “Until you actually go out there and do it I dont think you can honestly say that we did believe, but they learned to [believe].” “We feel we can compete with those teams,” he continued. “Bostons a pretty good hockey team. They went right to the very end [losing in the Stanley Cup final]. We can learn some lessons from them too. We want to become a team ultimately that can compete for a championship. Were not there yet. There are lessons to be learned. We hopefully learned some right there and theres a lot more along the way that were going to have to pick up and figure out if we want to become one of those teams.” While Nonis says that he was not consumed from the perils of Game 7, including the fall from a 4-1 third period lead, he does concede to thoughts of what mightve been. Al Leiter Jersey. . Analyzing the series in its entirety, those thoughts continued to hover back to the series opener, a one-sided 4-1 beat-down, “the biggest lesson of all for our group”. “We really felt and our players felt that they were prepared for it,” said Nonis of the loss, which saw many Leafs dazed in the headlights of postseason hockey. “But watch that tape and we werent.” A different team emerged in Game 2, one that swiped a 4-2 victory from the Bruins in the hostile confines of TD Garden, a match that was highlighted by Carlyles creative approach to freeing Phil Kessel from Zdeno Chara, the former rising with an increasingly dominant performance against a former team. And from there the series tightened to the end points of Game 7. “Players that maybe dont back-check as hard on a regular basis began to do it,” Nonis recalled of the shift in tone versus the Bruins. “Collectively we pushed them to do things that they hadnt normally done and it allowed us to have a little bit of success.” For Carlyle, the lesson moving forward lies in accountability. “There are growing pains that take place in team sports and we experienced one of them,” he said of the momentous defeat. “But were responsible for that. Were not shying away from it. As a coaching staff, we have to take our fair share of responsibility for that also and weve done that. Were not putting our players out on an island and saying ‘You shouldve did this and you shouldve did that.Were putting ourselves in the same boat and saying ‘We shouldve done some things, we had a chance to do some things that we shouldve initiated, we shouldve been the stimulus. Thats all part of it. “Thats the way this group is going to take the step forward is we accept responsibility for our actions, try to learn from them as much as possible and attack the next one straight on.” “…when youre in a position where there is no turning back, you learn a lot about people,” Nonis added. “You learn a lot about what theyre going to do and how theyre going to compete and if theyre people you want to keep around.” Gone are Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke MacArthur, Matt Frattin, Ben Scrivens and Ryan OByrne, replaced by an infusion of postseason fortitude in the form of Dave Bolland and David Clarkson, the former capturing the Cup with the Blackhawks, ultimately topping those very same Bruins with the shocking winner in Game 7. Additionally added from the Kings is increased strength in goal with Bernier. “I think when you bring players in that have gone through that and have won, that have gone through the adversity to win a championship, they can pass on a lot to the players around them,” said Nonis, stressing Bollands run with Chicago this past spring and once previously in 2010. The Leafs hope that the added know-how of Bolland and Clarkson, Berniers predicted ascension, and continued growth from a stock of young talent will initiate another step forward in the building process. But they know theyll need even more. “In our opinion, weve taken some significant steps forward,” concluded Nonis. “We still believe as a group that we have a lot to learn and a lot to do. And its only to get harder, its not going to get easier for us.” ' ' '