Tiempo Legend V FG potential return of Booth

When David Booth showed up on the Air Canada Hypervenom Phantom Centre ice on Monday with a red jersey and was a full participant in drills, it brought some potential good medical news for the Leafs.

Booth, who has been out with a broken bone in his foot, could return to the team as early as next week if he continues to progress in practice.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Hypervenom Phantom FG said Booth, a free-agent signee last summer. “I’ve still got a ways to go, but progress is being made.”

Booth, who has battled injuries in his career, admits the past couple of months have been frustrating as he was looking for a fresh start in Toronto.

“If I hadn’t gone through this before it would be really, really difficult just because you are coming in and you want to make a good impression,” Booth said. “I’ve dealt with injuries before and I understand the process and I understand the frustration.

“You train all summer and it seems like you lose everything and you have to start from Ground Zero and work just as hard as you did the last five months, but now you have to condense it into six or seven weeks. It’s tough but that’s what is required of you.”

WORK IT OUT

After a day off on Sunday to lick their wounds, the Leafs were back at work Monday at the Air Canada Centre for a lengthy practice that was heavy on instruction.

“After a game like (a 6-2 loss to Buffalo on Saturday), you’ve just got to reinforce your systems and what we’re trying to do and what we’re not trying to do,” Leafs centre Nazem Kadri said. “It was frustrating, but no one’s going to be perfect for 82 games. We’re going to have Messi soccer shoes our great nights and we’re going to have our bad nights.”

As baffling as some of the Leafs’ poorer efforts have been this season, forward James van Riemsdyk said the team gets in trouble when it starts having brain cramps.

“We weren’t playing smart enough,” van Riemsdyk said. “That’s kind of been our Kryptonite. When we are using our heads out there and playing within our systems and within ourselves, we have a lot of success.

“When we stray from that, we’re not a very good team.”

QUICK HITS

Besides the Tiempo Legend V FG potential return of Booth, Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said winger Joffrey Lupul (hand) is getting closer to being cleared to practise, possibly as early as next week if he’s cleared by team doctors … While the Predators have been hot, Carlyle cautions that under coach Peter Laviolette, they are not the defensive team of the past. “You’re not going to see a lot of sitting back and playing cautious,” Carlyle said. “They are going to be as quick on the forecheck as they possibly can.” … The Preds are tied for second in the league in goals against average (2.00) … Nashville rookie Filip Forsberg is off to a strong start and on Monday was named the NHL’s third star of the week. “He deserves it,” goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “He’s played really well; just lights out. I’m happy for him.” … Carlyle was having a little fun with defenceman Morgan Rielly at the end of practice, feeding him with one-timers for shots from the point.

(Nog niet beoordeeld)

Laden...