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Coach Randy Carlyle said “that was the plan” with Lupul in his first day back with the team. Carlyle also said Lupul “is an option” for the next series of pre-season games, including Thursday’s tilt in Ottawa.

For Lupul, though, the back spasms raised the issue of his past, which is dotted with back problems.

While with the Anaheim Ducks, he suffered a blood infection in his back, a herniated disc which required surgery and back spasms. Those problems surfaced between December 2009 and September 2010 and forced him to miss 92 games.

Lupul has also missed 46 games in Toronto due to a head injury, a separated shoulder and a fractured forearm.

Lupul said he felt his recent back spasms during skating drills in the week prior to camp. He decided to push through the pain — which he said may have been a mistake — and felt the problem afterward.

“I’ve had issues with my lower back, but I think this is the first time since the surgery that I’ve had any issue with it,” Lupul said.

“It wasn’t something that was bothering me in the summer. It just came up . . . maybe it was a mistake pushing through it while I was skating there, but I’m fine now.”

Having signed a five year, $26.25 million (U.S.) deal in January, Lupul is obviously anxious to not only pick up his torrid pace when he played in the lockout shortened season last year, but to continue improving and lead the Leafs to greater heights in the playoffs.

“We’re taking this slow at this time in the year,” Lupul said.

“Everyone’s focus is on Oct. 1 (opening of the season), so it’s not time to push an injury. Just make sure everything is 100 per cent for the opening of the season.”

Lupul added he expects to play in pre-season games.

“For sure, there’s six of them left,” he said.

Toronto Star LOADED: 09.19.2013

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Maple Leafs: Joffrey Lupul back on the ice

By: Mark Zwolinski Sports reporter, Published on Wed Sep 18 2013

Joffrey Lupul returned to the ice at Leafs camp Wednesday morning, marking his first workouts since he injured his back last week.

Lupul took part in pre-camp workouts; he’s been sidelined since with back tightness. Injuries limited him to 16 games last season.

Lupul, in the first year of a five-year, $26.25 million deal signed in January, skated with Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak Wednesday

Colton Orr, out a week with a leg bone bruise, skated prior to workouts Wednesday.

Jess Blacker and Tyler Biggs were sent to Marlies camp, as the roster was cut down to 35.

Toronto Star LOADED: 09.19.2013

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Maple Leafs, Cody Franson remain apart in contract talks

By: Kevin McGran Sports Reporter, Published on Wed Sep 18 2013

The Toronto Maple Leafs and defenceman Cody Franson remain at loggerheads over a new contract.

Franson, a restricted free agent, has not reported to Leafs camp, hoping to convince the team to sign him to a one-year deal. The team wants Franson to sign a multi-year deal.

“I just think with the current cap situation we’re in, a one-year (deal) would suit the team the best,” Franson told TSN on Tuesday after working out with the Ryerson Rams. “They’ve got a little bit of a crunch on numbers and I’m trying to make it happen for both sides.

“I think it’s in my best interests and the team’s best interests to do it (sign a one-year deal). That’s part of negotiations. We’ll see how it goes.”

Franson had a career year last season with four goals and 25 assists in the lock-out shortened season, leading all Leafs defencemen in points.

Franson is believed to be asking for a one-year deal worth $3 million, hoping that next season — when the salary cap rises — he can sign a longer term, bigger money deal.

But as a restricted free agent, he doesn’t have a lot of leverage.

The team has let it be known it wants Franson on a longer deal because too many of its defenceman — including Dion Phaneuf, Mark Fraser, Paul Ranger and Jake Gardiner —have contracts that will expire at the end of the season.

While Franson sits out, it has created an opportunity on the blue line for youngsters like Morgan Rielly or Stuart Percy or a veteran like Ranger.

Toronto Star LOADED: 09.19.2013

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Ex-Leaf Matt Frattin embraces L.A. opportunity

By: Greg Beacham Associated Press, Published on Wed Sep 18 2013

EL SEGUNDO, CALIF.—Matt Frattin moved to Southern California this summer with a plan.

Three weeks before the Los Angeles Kings opened training camp, he found a place close to the ocean in Hermosa Beach, but he wasn’t looking for surf or sand.

After an up-and-down hockey career filled with arrests and accolades, the 25-year-old Frattin realized the opportunity in front of him with his new club, and he didn’t want to waste a day of it.

“I wanted to meet the guys as they came in (for camp), instead of meeting 25 guys at once,” Frattin said.

The first few days of camp have gone well for Frattin, acquired by the Kings in a summer trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s skating with veterans Jeff Carter and Mike Richardson as the left wing of the Kings’ second line, getting every opportunity to earn a high-profile job with the two-time Western Conference finalists.

“Ever since I got traded, I’ve had a warm welcome from the leaders in the room,” Frattin said. “They’re a great group of guys, and I’m happy to be here.”

Frattin announced his arrival Tuesday night with a goal and two assists in the Kings’ 6-0 rout of the Anaheim Ducks. Carter had two goals and an assist of his own, including a breakaway goal set up by a deflection off Frattin’s stick.

Frattin has shown a good-looking shot and above-average speed in his brief time in town, but the Kings hope he’s got the heart of a grinder who could do much of the dirty work on the Carter-Richards line. Frattin knows he must improve his defensive commitment to win coach Darryl Sutter’s approval.

“If he wants to play with them guys, he’s got to be a real north-south, energy sort of guy,” Sutter said after seeing Frattin in a game for the first time Tuesday. “We’ll give him power-play time, give him some penalty-kill time. Make him work.”

For all of their veteran depth, the Kings are seriously short of proven left wings this fall beyond captain Dustin Brown. Grinder Kyle Clifford and newcomer Daniel Carcillo also play the position, but Frattin’s skills could make him the best option for the second-line job.

So far, Frattin isn’t star-struck playing alongside two high-scoring Stanley Cup champions.

“They’re two great players,” Frattin said. “Carts has the fast speed down the wing, and he’s got that long reach, and he has a great shot. Richie is just a smart, hard-working guy, and he’ll get you the puck if you’re wheeling. ... They’re guys who have played in the Olympics and for Team Canada plenty of times, so they’ve definitely proven themselves. They definitely bring me along, and they’re great linemates for me.”

Los Angeles also got goalie Ben Scrivens and a second-round draft pick for goalie Jonathan Bernier, widely considered a future star. Some Kings fans thought the franchise didn’t get enough for Bernier, but Frattin believes he has potential he still hasn’t reached.

The Alberta native played collegiately at North Dakota, but was kicked off the team and sent home in 2009 after getting arrested twice in two months for disorderly conduct and drunk driving. He elected to stick with school, working his way back onto the North Dakota roster and eventually becoming a Hobey Baker Award finalist.

Toronto’s fourth-round pick went pro in 2011, but still hasn’t played a full NHL season, bouncing between the Leafs and the AHL Marlies during each of the past two years. He still found a regular role on the right side of Toronto’s third line, and he got his first taste of playoff hockey in the Leafs’ agonizing first-round loss to the Boston Bruins.

Frattin hasn’t completely made the transition to West Coast life: His Twitter page background is still a photo of him in a Maple Leafs uniform. The move to Los Angeles surprised him, but Frattin quickly realized the opportunity he had been granted.

“I really didn’t think I was going to get traded,” he said. “But everybody wants to be a part of a winning team.”

Toronto Star LOADED: 09.19.2013

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NHL: Tryouts a refreshing new twist: Cox

By: Damien Cox Sports Columnist, Published on Wed Sep 18 2013

Ah, the tryout. So happy to see you again.

There’s something pure about showing up and trying to make a team.

The Grade 9 student trying to make her junior volleyball team.

The walk-on candidate for a college football squad.

It still happens, of course. Well, sort of.

Everything in kids’ sports, particularly in these parts, often seems so arranged now. Everybody pretty much knows who’s on the team beforehand. Parents have all cut their wink-wink deals.

That’s certainly the case in the Greater Toronto Hockey League, where parents and kids have about another 8-10 weeks to enjoy this year’s teams and teammates before all the scheming begins to figure out who will be playing where next season.

No wonder Brad Boyes, who played his minor hockey in Mississauga, has been taken aback by unusual goings-on in the NHL industry this fall.

“It’s probably the first time that I’ve had to (tryout),” Boyes said after being invited to the Florida Panthers training camp on a professional tryout (PTO).

“Even at junior you get drafted and kind of sign a deal, and then when you’re younger you have that contract before you even start. This is new to me, but it’s a different mindset. It’s something that you definitely have to go out and earn, and nothing’s given to me.”

Boyes is one of more than a dozen well-known NHLers who have been forced to hustle for work by accepting PTOs this autumn, unprecedented in these numbers and with this quality of players.

Maybe it’s a one-time thing. Maybe not.

It was only five years ago Boyes was in the first year of a four-year, $16 million (U.S.) contract with Buffalo. Now he’s participating in the Panthers camp for meal money, joined by defenceman Tom Gilbert, rearguard Brett Clark and goalie Tim Thomas.

Gilbert once had a six-year, $24 million contract with Edmonton. Thomas had a $20 million deal with Boston.

Hal Gill hasn’t earned less than $2 million in a season for years, and thought he had some security in Nashville until the Predators bought him out last summer. Now he’s in the Flyers camp on a PTO looking for work.

This is an embarrassing predicament to be caught in for many of these proud players, or at the very least a humbling one. In some cases, there’s a sense that a contract has already been quietly negotiated, but in others, these are players truly fighting for a job, like Mason Raymond with the Leafs.

“This is a real tryout,” said Leaf GM Dave Nonis. “We haven’t talked money really at all. I’ve just told Mason to look at our salary cap situation and understand where we’re at. But there’s no agreed-upon contract.”

Damien Brunner has just agreed to go to New Jersey’s camp on a PTO, while former Devils goalie Johan Hedberg is across the river trying for a job with the Rangers. Ian White is in Winnipeg on a PTO with the Jets, Chuck Kobasew is in Pittsburgh’s camp, the Blues are taking a look at veteran defenceman Ryan Whitney and David Steckel is trying out with the Minnesota Wild.

This was all largely caused by the drop in the NHL salary cap to $64.3 million this season. Many suggest the cap will again rise to above $70 million next season and pump another $180 million or more into the system. But there’s no guarantee of that, and next summer could see another mad scramble for work.

“There’s the potential to see this again,” said Nonis. “If the cap doesn’t go up, a lot of players could be in exactly the same spot again.”

Some, like Nik Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Alex Burmistrov, and Kurtis Foster and Leo Komarov smelled trouble and headed to the KHL during the summer.

But the list of the unemployed remains long and includes: Brenden Morrow, Ilya Bryzgalov, Jamie Langenbrunner, Filip Kuba, Vinny Prospal, Simon Gagne, Jose Theodore, Wade Redden and Greg Zanon.

Morrow could have gone to any number of camps on a PTO but is holding out for a one-way contract. Gagne, who has made more than $40 million in salary since 1999 from NHL teams, thought he was getting an invite to Philadelphia’s camp but didn’t.

Bryzgalov, who had his nine-year, $51 million contract with Philly bought out last summer, was in the mix in Florida until Thomas accepted his PTO.

Those who see pro athletes as spoiled and pampered will take some joy from all of this. Welcome to the real world, boys. And if Raymond ends up playing on a $900,000 contract with the Leafs rather than the $2.25 million he was making in Vancouver, he should still be able to make his rent.

On the other hand, watching players bust their humps for work is kind of appealing, and the guessing is that at least half of these PTO invitees will not only make their clubs, they’ll be valuable contributors as highly motivated athletes.

Nothing wrong with a tryout.

The sports world in general could surely use less of the guaranteed and more of this.

Toronto Star LOADED: 09.19.2013

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Repatriating hockey trophy labour of love

By: Mark Zwolinski Sports reporter, Published on Wed Sep 18 2013

When Sean Gadon took a break from his city hall office job and strolled into a neighborhood antique shop, he never thought he’d come across a treasured piece of Nova Scotia hockey heritage.

But the more he looked at it, and looked into its history, the more it made sense to repatriate it with its origins in Windsor, N.S.

So, on Oct. 1, Gadon is holding a fundraiser to help purchase the Windsor Citizen’s Hockey Trophy, one of the oldest sports trophies in Canadian history.

“I guess I’m concerned that someone could purchase it and put it up in their trophy room. I thought there was something wrong with that,” Gadon said.

Gadon entered Toronto Antiques and began talking with owner Cynthia Findlay, and the conversation came around to the trophy, which was crafted in 1903. The price was $13,560.

“The trophy was first made in 1900 and back in those days, it was like the Stanley Cup. If you won it three years in a row, you got to keep it,” said Gadon.

The Resolutes won the trophy in 1900-1903 and got a version of the chalice, so another version was made.

“They made a second one in 1903 — and that’s the one I saw in Cynthia’s shop. I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame and after looking around, I discovered how unique and original it really is.”

No team would win it three times again. It was awarded until 1952 before it ended up in the estate of Mitchell Franklin, a prominent businessman in Saint John, N.B., who developed theatres on the east coast and married Mitzi Mayer, daughter of Hollywood movie mogul Louis B. Mayer.

Findlay found the piece at a New Brunswick auction and never wanted to see it go anywhere but back to its original home.

“I’m a girl from New Brunswick, I went to Acadia University and at some point, I had intended to make it find its way back home,” said Findlay, whose shop is on the second floor of the Ed Mirvish building on King St. and opens up into 6,000 square feet of antiques, including a curling trophy with a historic connection to Winnipeg.

With news of the fundraiser, Findlay considers the trophy “sold” even though she could have made more on the open market. So she has put it aside to allow Gadon the time to raise the money for the purchase.

Gadon faced a few obstacles in his master plan to take the trophy home to Nova Scotia. His first move was to call Windsor mayor Paul Beazley. From there, he was directed to David Hunter, president of the Windsor Hockey Heritage Society. Suddenly, people in Toronto and Windsor, people who had never met, had a common goal: bring the trophy home.

“We learned about the second trophy in Toronto about a year ago, but we weren’t in financial shape to do anything then. Then we got a call from Sean and after talking to him, we all said, ‘geez, what a guy,’ ” Hunter said.

Gadon said the fundraiser — at the Rex Hotel in Toronto — is timed with the opening of the NHL season Oct. 1 and the Maple Leafs opener in Montreal. Ultimately, the “mission” will be complete on Thanksgiving, when Gadon hopes to take the trophy to Windsor by plane for the repatriation.

Those who wish to make a donation can do so at www.birthplaceofhockey.com .

Correction - September 18, 2013: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said the Windsor Citizen’s Hockey Trophy predated the Stanley Cup. As well the article mistakenly said the Avonians wond the trophy in 1904.

Toronto Star LOADED: 09.19.2013

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HBO cameras rolling for Leafs

By Lance Hornby ,Toronto Sun

First posted: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 10:33 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 10:37 PM EDT

Ready or not Mr. Director, the Maple Leafs are getting their close-up.

About eight crew members from the HBO show 24/7 began preliminary filming of the Leafs at the MasterCard Centre on Wednesday, ahead of the Jan. 1 Winter Classic against the Detroit Red Wings. The 24/7 concept, with its behind-the-scenes look at the countdown to major events has been well-received in other sports and credited with gaining the NHL new fans.

How it plays with the Leafs, who are both widely covered on a daily basis and very touchy about player access remains to be seen. Wednesday’s filming was not obtrusive, shots of practice and players labouring after one of coach Randy Carlyle’s day-end skates for a promotional trailer later this autumn. But around Dec. 1, cameras will be everywhere, home and road.

“They (players) will have to live like I live, having you guys in my face all the time,” joked Carlyle. “It’s a challenge to get used to, but I don’t think it’s anything more. It’s not that drastic. It’s something we’re committed to.”

Carlyle was asked if the Leafs of all teams really need More Coverage and whether the experience might help or hinder them in mid-season.

“Is there more distractions, more interference, more white noise?” Carlyle wondered. “You have to live it before you determine if it’s positive or negative.

“It’s branding, it’s selling the game, in North America and anywhere in the world. The (NHL/MLSE) people made those decisions so you live with it, like you do with scheduling.”

Camera-friendly winger Joffrey Lupul felt the Leafs “should have fun with it”.

“People want to see the players’ personalities and see the preparation for games,” Lupul said. “I think the key is probably just to be yourself. I’ve watched the show in the past, it’s entertaining, and I would expect it to be this year, too.”

Toronto Sun LOADED: 09.19.2013

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Leafs' Colborne prepared to role with it

By Rob Longley ,Toronto Sun

First posted: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 10:09 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 10:16 PM EDT

From first-line prospect to fourth-line candidate, it sounds on the surface as though Joe Colborne’s stock has dropped with the Maple Leafs,

In fact, the opposite may be in play as training camp heads into its second week with a trimmed-down roster.

A former first-round pick of the Bruins (16th overall in 2008), who came here in the deadline deal for Tomas Kaberle in February 2011, Colborne is in the midst of a significant makeover in his game.

The goal, as always, has been to make it to the NHL, but with heightened urgency to do so whichever way he can. And if that means learning to bring the values associated with a fourth-line centre, sign him up.

Colborne spent what he hopes will be proven to be a productive off-season, adding weight and improving his skating to help push his way on to Randy Carlyle’s opening night lineup.

“I’m just looking for a way to make this team and build from there,” Colborne said following a lengthy practice Wednesday at the MasterCard Centre. “Make sure I make the team and then you can start to go to out and show what you can on a nightly basis.

“With injuries that are bound to happen in a long season, then you can begin to move up the depth chart.”

Colborne still has some work to do to make the team, but now that the roster has been trimmed to 35, his opportunity to prove his worth will increase. During the pre-season game against the Flyers the other night, he got some penalty-killing time, then during Wednesday’s practice, he worked on a line with James van Riemsdyk and David Clarkson.

Carlyle chuckles at the too-quick conclusions drawn from practice line combinations but in this case, at least, it seems that Colborne is being giving every opportunity to stick.

“Joe is a big-talent centreman who has to continue to show growth and development,” Carlyle said on Wednesday. “He was a scorer, but maybe his life in the NHL, from the beginning anyway, is going to have to come at a different level.

“If there was a model for Joe, it would have to be Jay McClement. Find a way to be useful in different areas and make yourself (not expendable) to the coaching staff.”

The common knock on Colborne, thus far in his development, is that he may not have the edge that any coach, especially Carlyle, demands of a player in today’s NHL.

“With the big men in the game, they ask you to be a little nastier, meaner, aggressive in a lot of areas,” Carlyle said.

At 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, there hasn’t been much jumbo in this Joe’s game, but some off-season sculpting may end up improving that side of his game. The 220 total is up 13 pounds from the end of last season, which included Games 6 and 7 of the playoff series versus the Bruins.

“It’s just a comfort level of knowing your body can go in and take the battles and beatings you are going to take over a long season,” Colborne said. “For a guy like me, who likes to control the puck down low, you’re going to be against some big D-men bearing down on you. I feel like I’m way more prepared physically to handle that.”

The biggest battle, of course, is making himself indispensable.

“It’s important to gain the trust of the coaching staff, that’s a real big key,” said Colborne, who would have to clear waivers to be demoted to the Marlies. “If you have an opportunity to make the Toronto Maple Leafs, something you’ve been dreaming of your whole life, you just make sure that you are doing all that they ask you to do.”

SPOTT EASES THE FALL

Steve Spott’s first day on the job was not spent cracking the whip as much as soothing bruised egos.

The new Marlies coach, officially out from the shadow of popular predecessor Dallas Eakins, took charge of about a dozen farmhands on Wednesday, across the hall from the Maple Leafs’ pad at the MasterCard Centre. Many of the younger Marlies were still getting over the sting of being cut the day before, so Spott had some one-on-one time with them.

“We’re working with them not only on the ice, but to make sure their attitudes are where they need to be,” Spott said. “We kept it positive, making sure each knows what he has to do to make it back to the Leafs.”

The limited practice numbers — just three defencemen — didn’t deter the former Kitchener Rangers’ boss from putting his stamp on the Marlies.

“To be on the ice with my own guys was great,” he said.

It’ll be different for the players, as well.

“(Eakins and Spott) are different kinds of coaches,” said Dylan Yeo. “Dallas was a fitness freak. I’m just getting to know Steve.”