Leafs coach looks to keep players positive despite second defeat in 3 games

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  Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle, right, speaks to captain Dion Phaneuf, left, during hockey practice in Toronto on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. The Leafs trail the Boston Bruins 2-1 in their best-of-seven games first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday in Toronto. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)The Associated Press

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  Toronto Maple Leafs goalies James Reimer, left, and Ben Scrivens, right, talk during hockey practice in Toronto on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. The Leafs trail the Boston Bruins 2-1 in their best-of-seven games first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday in Toronto. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)The Associated Press

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  Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel, back, laughs as his teammates and coaching staff applaud him for being one of the last players to hit the ice at practice in Toronto on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. The Leafs trail their best-of-seven playoff series against the Boston Bruins 2-1. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan DenetteThe Associated Press

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TORONTO –  The day after a punishing playoff game that featured 99 hits, burly Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Fraser was feeling it.

Not that he was complaining. Still it had to hurt a little more, given that Boston won Monday night's game 5-2 to regain the upper hand in the series. The Bruins lead 2-1 going into Game 4 Wednesday night.

Despite the pain, the 26-year-old Fraser was in a good mood at Tuesday's skate.

"Sometimes you might feel a bump or a bruise and you're not even sure how you got it," the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder said after practice.

After a night when Boston outhit Toronto 51-49, Fraser was asked if he leapt out of bed Tuesday to head to the rink.

"Actually, today I did," he said with a grin. "A big part of that has been the significant change of the weather, the sunshine."

For Toronto coach Randy Carlyle, the summer-like day was a welcome reminder to his players that all is not lost, despite a second defeat in three games in their first playoff experience since 2004.

"I used to say everybody's in doom and gloom, but the sun did come up today," the coach said. "It was sunny out there.

"That would be the way we'd want to flush things and turn the page on it. Today's a new day. Let's start. Let's build. Let's focus. All those things are things that we try to provide."

Carlyle and his coaching staff got a helping hand Tuesday when the clocks in the dressing room malfunctioned. They were six minutes off, meaning a group of Leafs arrived on the ice late for practice. They were greeted with some good-natured derision from teammates who made it on time.

"You can't change what happened and that can't really be your focus on what today brought," Carlyle said. "Today was about flushing what happened last night, recognizing what happened and then going into the preparation mode of tomorrow.

"Our focus has to be on what we can improve on for tomorrow night's game. Can we improve on our turnovers? Can we improve on the out-and-out turnovers that led to their goals? Can we improve on our execution with the puck?

"Those are all the little things that we have to focus on and that's part of the process versus the result. Any mental coach will tell you that you can't labor on the result being the ultimate. It's the process that you have to live in your mind that helps you get ready for it."

Carlyle has managed to keep his team poised off the ice in the midst of a playoff-starved, hockey-mad city. On the ice, he is bidding to mold a squad woefully short on playoff experience — and one facing a playoff-savvy Bruins team that won the Stanley Cup two years ago.

In the wake of a loss in which the Leafs were punished for mistakes, Carlyle looked to the positives as he tried to rebuild his team's confidence.

"What did we do well? That's what we're trying to pick out," Carlyle said. "We're trying to focus on the things that we did well that gave us a chance in the hockey game."

Carlyle's morning message to his squad was repeated by his players later in the day.

"For the most part we played a pretty good game," said winger Joffrey Lupul, an influential voice in the locker room. "We created a lot of chances. We definitely worked hard.

"We've just got to eliminate some of those mistakes."

That includes losing faceoffs; Carlyle even wondered why his centers kept getting thrown out of the faceoff circles Monday night.

Boston coach Claude Julien, whose team excels at faceoffs, knew exactly what Carlyle was doing.

"When you lobby for something, it's because you're looking for a bit of a break next game," he said. "And that's what Randy is doing right now.

"It's going to be interesting to see whether the referees and the linesmen just do their job next game and not worry about who's crying wolf."

Boston's Patrice Bergeron led the league in faceoff wins during the regular season, 62.1 percent. David Krejci ranked 15th.

One person Carlyle doesn't have to convince of the Leafs' abilities as a team is Julien.

"We know that we're in for a dogfight and the next game's going to be a challenge," Julien said. "They know they can play with us and they've proven it."

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Golden Bear looks back on 55 years, 6 green jackets and 'One time I didn't say much.'

AUGUSTA, Ga. –  Jack Nicklaus loves absolutely everything about this place.

But being reminded how many years have elapsed since he won the first time, let alone the first time he made the drive up Magnolia Lane? Not so much.

Nicklaus sat in the interview room at the Masters for an hour Tuesday, and had more than enough material for two. He grimaced when club member Ed Herlihy introduced him by saying "he returns to Augusta National 50 years removed from his first of a record six jackets," and turned wistful for a moment at the end.

"I can't imagine anybody having more fun doing what I've done and getting paid for it," Nicklaus said, "and also being able to sit here in front of you guys at 73 years old, so I can spout a bunch of stuff that I had no idea whether you were listening or not, or care about."

In between, Nicklaus had that same roomful of reporters eating out of the palm of his hand. He spun so many entertaining tales about the 55 years he's been coming to Augusta that there isn't room to recount them all here.

A quick sampling:

— Nicklaus was revered throughout the years for his willingness to advise young players at every level of ability. Thirty years ago, he responded to a letter from a 13-year-old left-handed player from Canada who wrote to ask whether he should switch and play right-handed. That kid, Mike Weir, went on to win the Masters in 2003.

Earlier this week, he helped the latest long-driving sensation, Nicolas Colsaerts. In a day or two, Nicklaus will do the same for Guan Tianglang, a 14-year-old Chinese player who will become the youngest competitor ever at the Masters and wrote to ask for tips. Asked whether he delivers the same message to everyone who seeks him out, Nicklaus simply smiled.

"I'm not smart enough to have different ones," he said.

— Several questions went back to his final Masters in 1986, perhaps the most famous win here ever. Nicklaus was 46 at the time and hadn't won a major in six years. He recalled slowly playing his way into contention on the back nine, talking with his son, Jackie, to relieve some of the pressure.

"At 16, I hit a 5-iron in there, it was 175 yards, and I just threw a soft 5-iron up in the air. And I remember when I hit the shot, Jackie said, 'Be right, be right.' And I said," Nicklaus paused for effect, "'It is.'

"It was the cockiest remark I ever made."

— Masters co-founder Bobby Jones, whose record of 13 majors Nicklaus would eclipse, took an interest in the young Golden Bear and invited him and his father to his cabin for long discussions on subjects ranging from golf to philosophy. A reporter asked, "Can you give us a flavor of the conversation?"

Nicklaus did, and the reporter asked a follow-up, "Did you say anything, or were you listening?"

Nicklaus didn't have to think long about the answer.

"It's one of the few times," he recalled "I probably didn't say too much."

— Nicklaus could have gone on like that forever. But Herlihy, moderating the conversation, finally noted that Nicklaus had to attend the champions dinner and offered one last question.

"If you hadn't had such extraordinary talent as a golfer, what would you like to have done with your life?"

Nicklaus said he believed he would have wound up "somewhere in sports," then looked out at the roomful of reporters and added, "I may have ended up sitting out here."

"Lucky you could play golf," the questioner offered.

"Well," Nicklaus said finally, "I can't spell, either."

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