If you were still playing in the NHL today, what team would you want to play for?Being from Toronto I would want to play for the Maple Leafs. Kyrie Irving Shoes Friends . Its like being on Broadway, everything you do matters. Id want to be good though! I couldnt play here if I wasnt very good. #83217388 / gettyimages.com (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)When did the nickname Cujo start? And who came up with it?I was in St. Louis and it started the very first year of my career. A guy by the name of Robert Dirk couldnt really pronounce my name so he shortened it to Cujo, which is the first two letters of both names.Have you ever read the 1981 horror novel Cujo by Stephen King, or seen the movie?Ive seen the movie, but Im sure the book is better. Its awesome! Its a great nickname for me and I ran with it. Kids of all ages loved it and they had to have their mask painted like Cujo. Im very fortunate that I had a great nickname, and still do.Heres a close-up of the famous Cujo mask: #83217370 / gettyimages.com (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)You lost your temper a few times in the heat of battle, what do you think was the moment in your career where you were the most upset?Visibly you saw some of them, and theyre in the Sportcentre Top 10 highlights. Its a game of emotion, I tell my kids that. I tell my boys, listen, its okay to celebrate and its okay to be mad at a call, just dont take it to the extreme. Certainly its a game of emotion, and if you play with passion thats a good thing. Who is your closest hockey friend from your career?Oh, thats hard! I cant pick just one of them. Certainly with the phones these days and Instagram etc. its easy to follow them and their lives through pictures or whatever it is. Its nice to keep in touch with guys that are still playing and continuing their career. I met a lot of great people. The best men that I have ever met have been through hockey.Hockey players can be known for locker room fun and games, what is the best prank youve ever witnessed?There are a lot of different things. We used to fly commercial in my first ten years probably, and wed be on a commercial flight, played the night before, and everybody would be sleeping before the plane took off. Guys would get shaving cream out from the trainers and pile as much shaving cream in a circle on top of a guy sleeping, right on top of their head. And the people who just bought their tickets and happened to be on our flight would be laughing and dying. Guys would hang things from their lips, so theyd be pretty much a Christmas tree and wake up with all this foam all over their head. They were fun pranks. #53122202 / gettyimages.com (Joseph and Martin Brodeur lounging in Team Canada van. Photo by Michael Desjardins/ Getty Images)Is there a player who always tried to mess with you personally? Maybe a teammate during practice shooting extra shots at you when you werent ready?Theres always a guy on each team, and playing for nineteen years… yknow what, it was usually the tough guys! It was always the tough guys that were the pranksters on the team. Maybe they didnt play enough and they had too much time on their hands, but it was always the tough guys who would be pulling these pranks. I wont mention names but I remember one tough guy, a friend of mine got him back. This tough guy was trying to be in style and his shoes looked like bowling shoes, so my friend wrote 9½ on the back of them like the bowling shoes. It was pretty funny. The tough guys, they were pranksters for sure. #164995547 / gettyimages.com (Photo by Tony Brock/ Toronto Star via Getty Images)Do you ever wish you got to play out of the net in the NHL?Oh ya! I wanted to be a player, but because I couldnt skate I had to be a goalie, and then it was too late to change in my late teens. I definitely liked to get out of the net. One year I had 9 assists and I used to bug a guy on my team telling him I had more points than him. I was a closet passer and a set up man.What was your most embarrassing moment on the ice? Probably knocking over Mick McGeough. I wouldnt say that was embarrassing, because I was passionate about it, but I fell. I slipped and slid right into him and knocked him over, and I was too mad to be embarrassed in the moment, but now that Im older and I see the Top 10 Lose It Moments on SportsCetntre, and that moments up there, its embarrassing.What was your favourite thing about being a goaltender?My favourite thing was having a great game and being able to shut out the other team. Winning games that maybe you werent supposed to win…. if you were able to steal a game as a goaltender, any goalie will tell you theres no better feeling than contributing that at the NHL level, especially in the playoffs. When you can contribute and steal a game you werent supposed to win its a great feeling.And finally… what was the most memorable game you ever played in?Thats hard to say, I always say its like asking who is your favourite child… and uh, I cant say. But definitely the games where the most was on the line, Olympics or playing game 7s of series, I played in many game 7s and those are the highest risk, and most reward. Winning game 7s and winning the Olympics were all great, memorable experiences. Air Max 97 Plus Black .C. - Nick Merkley and Damon Severson each had a goal and two assists as the Kelowna Rockets downed the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3 on Saturday in Western Hockey League playoff action. Air Max 270 Wholesale . The Jays responded to the three-spot Detroit placed on Casey Janssen the evening before with an attack on the Tigers Achilles Heel, its bullpen, tying the game in the ninth and winning the game in the 10th. The result absolved Marcus Stroman, brilliant once again, of a tough luck loss while at the same time robbing Max Scherzer, brilliant once again, of a deserved win. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.com/cheap-max-720-shoes.html . -- Chris Jones and Louisville have done a tremendous job protecting the basketball this season and thats led to easy victories.It took the Leafs 7:19 before they were finally able to register a shot on goal against the Florida Panthers - a harmless drive from the point by Carl Gunnarsson. The shot clock then read 9-1. It was a sign of things to come. By the time the first period had ended, the clock read 19-4. After forty minutes: 37-12, yet remarkably the Maple Leafs still had a chance to win, solely due to Jonathan Bernier, who, among other examples, denied Jonathan Huberdeau and Scottie Upshall on clear cut breakaways. "We didnt really have anything going other than one person in the line up who was outstanding for our hockey club and it was our goaltender," said a baffled Randy Carlyle. "We just didnt seem to have any jump or any passion to play the game and its kind of mind boggling right now." Jesse Winchester eventually put the Panthers up 2-0 before David Clarkson finally got the Leafs on the board, scoring his fourth goal of the season. But four minutes later, Shawn Matthias restored the Panthers two goal lead, putting the game out of reach. "Those are wasted efforts as youd call them," Carlyle explained. "Over the course of the season when you get an effort like that from your goaltender, its a like a pitcher throwing a no hitter. Thats the same analogy that you use when you have a performance like he was supporting our group with tonight." It marked the third straight game against the Panthers this season that the Maple Leafs got out to a poor start. A 3-1 loss on December 17th reflected a similarly uninspired effort. Last week, the Leafs were able to overcome an early 2-0 deficit but there would be no improvement found on this occasion as they went on to fall 4-1 to Florida. "The first ten minutes we were just standing around and they were jumping by us," said Carlyle. "It was like we werent engaged in the hockey game at all." Five Points 1) Raymond Calls Loss The Worst Effort of the Season While the Leafs have suffered worse losses this season – 6-0 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 25th, 7-1 to the New York Rangers on Jan. 4 and 7-1 to the Dallas Stars on January 23rd – Mason Raymond suggest he felt tonights effort fell to the lowest hed seen it so far. "No excuse for the way we played, weve had a few tough games this year but I dont think anywhere as this bad," said Raymond. "We were outplayed almost in all aspects of the game." In terms of lessons to be learned, just moving on, Raymond said, might be the best way to go. "Im sure well do a little reflecting on it but I think its one you flush pretty quick and move on," the 28 year old explained. "Those were important points that we let slip away and thats unfortunate." 2) Carlyle Juggles The Lines After two periods of lethargic play, Randy Carlyle opted to shuffle his lines, looking for any kind of a spark with the Leafs still within striking distance. "Just tried to get something going because we had nothing going and just pleading to the group that we have a goaltender thats standing on his head here and its a 1-0 hockey game, tried to give ourselves a chance with a decent period to steal some points," explained the head coach. The move worked, at least temporarily, leading to David Clarksons goal on a nifty set up from Nazem Kadri. Start of the Game James Van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak- Phil KesselJoffrey Lupul - Nazem Kadri - Nikolai KuleminMason Raymond - Jay McClement - David ClarksonTroy Bodie - Jerred Smithson - Colton Orr Third Period Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil KesselJames Van Riemsdyk - Nazem Kadri - David ClarksonMason Raymond - Jay McClement - Nikolai KuleminTroy Bodie - Jerred Smithson - Colton Orr 3) Gardiners Fight Marks An NHL First A pair of unlikely combatants, Jake Gardiner and Jonathan Huberdeau dropped the gloves 6:31 into the second period in a fight that was more of a wrestling match than a typical NHL scrap. "It wasnt much of a fight," said Gardiner. "Stuff happens in the game, you get emotional and sometimes you have to fight." Just how unlikely was it for Gardiner to find himself in a scrap? To the best of his recollection, he could only come up with one other instance where he dropped the gloves. "It was in practice when I was in college (at the Univversity of Wisconsin), it was a while back," Gardiner recalled. Kyrie Irving Shoes From China. 4) Clarkson Hoping To Hit "Reset Button" After missing the first ten games of the season due to a suspension, another two contests in mid-December to a second suspension, a game on January 7th against the Islanders because of a foot injury and most recently, eight games because of an elbow injury, David Clarkson marked his fourth separate return to the line up on Tuesday against the Panthers. With 25 games left to go, Clarkson is looking to hit the reset button and put all his nagging issues behind him. "Im hoping, Ive had a chance to hit that button a couple times," said Clarkson, who has just four goals and five assists in 37 games. Coach Randy Carlyle insisted patience is the right approach for Clarkson, who seems like he has continually been trying, unsuccessfully so far, to live up to massive expectations this season. "I dont want to put too much emphasis on Clarkson when a player is coming back into your line up after missing an extended period of time," said Carlyle. "Were more suited to let the player get his feet underneath him before we make these great proclamations of what hes going to do and where hes going to be at." While sitting and watching, Clarkson has admitted, is never easy for him, the Leafs solid run, going 6-1-1 in the eight games he missed made it somewhat tolerable. "The fact that weve been winning, it makes it a lot easier sitting there because youre not in the stands or after the game upset," Clarkson explained, who has watched the Leafs amass a record of 14-6-1 without him in the line up compared to 16-16-5 with him dressed. As for what set Clarksons season off on the wrong foot, Carlyle didnt have to think long for an explanation. "I think the ten game suspension obviously had an effect, simple as that," said Carlyle. 5) JVR Plays Despite Battling Flu Bug James Van Riemsdyk seems to have it all figured out. The Middletown, New Jersey native has not participated in a full practice since January 24th in Winnipeg – he left part way through on January 26th – but has not missed a game during that stretch. Last week, JVRs absence was due to an undisclosed injury. On Monday, it was a bout of the flu that forced him to miss the teams workout at MasterCard Centre and subsequent charter flight to Fort Lauderdale. But there was still one Van Riemsdyk on the teams flight on Monday; James father Frans, who accompanied the other dads on the Leafs annual fathers trip. "I made the decision to send him along on the charter so he gets that whole experience and Im sure he had a great time last night," said James. James made his way down to Florida early Tuesday morning on a 6:30am commercial flight and received well wishes from other travellers. "I got a couple tweets in the airport, a couple good lucks," he explained. Asked how his day of recovery from the flu went on Monday, James smiled, laughed and said, "I dont want to get into it." Stats Pack - 9-0: Shot total in favour of Panthers when Carl Gunnarsson registered first shot for the Leafs at the 7:19 mark of the 1st period - 19-4: Shots in favour of Panthers after 1st period - 37-12: Shots in favour of Panthers after 2nd period - 44: Stops made by Jonathan Bernier, his second highest total this season behind only the 48 stops he made on Dec. 5 against Dallas - 16:30: David Clarksons ice time in his return to the line up after an 8 game absence - 7: Hits Clarkson registered, leading the Leafs in that category - 3: Leafs win streak snapped at three games; Panthers losing streak snapped at three games - 16: Number of times the Leafs have allowed more than 40 shots - 2: The amount of power play goals the Panthers have scored in their last 53 opportunities after Tom Gilberts goal against the Leafs Quote of the night: - Mason Raymond on whether the team felt added pressure with playing in front of their fathers, who are along on the annual dads trip: "No, again, were professional athletes. Were expected to have mental preparation and be prepared for the game and we werent, we were flat from the start. Thankfully Bernie was playing well at the start or it would have been a lot worse." Up next: The Leafs are in Tampa Bay on Thursday for their second of four head to head meetings with the Lightning. Toronto won the first game on Jan. 28 3-2 at Air Canada Centre. ' ' '