TORONTO - David Clarkson has had so many injuries in just over a year with the Toronto Maple Leafs that three-year-old daughter McKinnley is taking a keen interest in her fathers health on the ice.Before the game now instead of saying, Good luck, shell say, Dont get hurt, Clarkson said.Last year it was a foot injury followed by an elbow injury. Clarkson also suffered facial fractures last month in a fight with Buffalos Cody McCormick. The 30-year-old right winger couldnt help but think, Here we go again.Instead, Clarkson strapped on a cage mask and then a full shield — doctors orders so he could get back onto the ice. The result has been a strong start to his second season with the Leafs.Its a much different David Clarkson this year than what we had last year, coach Randy Carlyle said Thursday. We said its a reset situation and he felt that he needed that, and then the addition of the ice time and the fit with the line that he plays with and the minutes hes getting, hes getting a chance to make more of a contribution, but hes earning it.The biggest difference is Clarkson has had the opportunity to make a contribution at the start of this season. Last year he was suspended for the first 10 games after leaving the bench during a pre-season brawl with the Sabres.Clarkson made his debut in blue and white on Oct. 25, 2013 on the road against the Blue Jackets. On Friday night he and the Leafs return to Columbus, but this time the Toronto native is healthy and already in a groove.Its tough just to fire into a season 10 games in, Clarkson said. I think right now I feel pretty good. I feel back like myself again.Clarkson has two goals and an assist in a third-line role alongside Leo Komarov and Mike Santorelli and has seen some time on the second power-play unit. He had five goals and six assists in 60 games in 2013-14, a disappointing performance to say the least after signing a US$36.75-million, seven-year contract.But the weight of contract expectations paled in comparison to the way the suspension hampered Clarksons start.Youre coming from a different organization, youre trying to learn a new system, youre trying to learn new things and all of a sudden you get suspended and jump in, Clarkson said. I think I (injured) my foot right away and then my elbow. It was just one of those seasons that I chalk up as a nightmare and (I got) through it and got ready and trained hard this summer and spent time with my kids and got ready for this year.Carlyle praised Clarkson for putting time and effort into building up strength and getting a little thicker in the off-season. Even after a lower-body injury limited him at training camp and the facial fractures halted his progress, Clarkson managed to be in the lineup on opening night and got on track.Nine games in, Clarkson doesnt have a single fighting major after leading the team in the category last season. Thats because his facial injuries prevent him from dropping the gloves.For now I couldnt fight, he said. I think if I got hit there Id be in trouble.Carlyle said it would be foolish for Clarkson not to be over-cautious about his face because those are the types of injuries that one little bump again can set him back.Still, Clarkson is hoping to get back to fighting sooner than later.In Thursdays practice, Clarkson ditched the full shield in favour of a regular visor and hopes he can convince doctors to let him begin the transition in a game, be it Friday at Columbus, Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks or next week against Phoenix or Colorado.I dont think Im allowed yet, Clarkson said. I had something done the other day and I still have some things going on. Im trying to find a way that I could wear maybe a bigger visor — a SWAT team shield — something that is off of my face a little bit because Im having a hard time with this one.Clarkson said the full shield was an improvement from the cage. Problems arise when it fogs up and forces him to look through tiny holes in the mask.Its just tough when the pucks down low in your feet or when youre going for things, Clarkson said. But it was either that option or I didnt play.After his problems last year, not playing wasnt an option for Clarkson, who couldnt help but worry about the lingering effect of another injury.When I found out what was wrong, its tough to swallow, he said. It kind of puts you in a place where you start to think. For me personally that wasnt fun, but I made a decision to come back and play and I feel pretty good. The bones healing, so Im just waiting for the doctors to clear me to get back to normal.Back to normal for Clarkson, in his mind, also includes a return to some fisticuffs. Without Colton Orr or Frazer McLaren, the Leafs dont have an enforcer, and according to HockeyFights.com, their two fighting majors are tied for the second-fewest in the NHL.Clarkson still feels a desire to take exception to hits on himself and teammates but in the back of his mind understands with a full shield he cant do everything. Once he sheds it for good, its his plan to continue his fighting ways.I dont plan on changing, Clarkson said. At the end of the day Im going to go back to fighting and doing the things Ive always done.Notes: Forward David Booth skated Thursday for the first time since fracturing his right foot while blocking a shot in a pre-season game. Carlyle said Booth is working hard but is still a long ways away from making his regular-season debut. ... The Leafs have recalled Stuart Percy from the AHLs Marlies. It wasnt immediately clear if an injury necessitated the call-up or if Percy was just going to be the seventh defenceman in Columbus.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter. Sports Jerseys . Anything less than gold for either nation is considered a disappointment. Yet for Switzerland, advancing to the semifinal might be a victory in itself. Cheap Sports Jerseys . - Tom Brady and the Patriots routed the Bengals and quieted the doubters. https://www.discountsportsjerseyscheap.com/. The 20-year-old overager has appeared in 35 games for the Ontario Hockey Leagues Erie Otters this season, scoring 41 goals and adding 27 assists with a plus-28 rating. Clearance Sports Jerseys . Advancing to the Champions League quarterfinals should be a formality after Lionel Messi scored a penalty and Dani Alves added a late second to secure a commanding 2-0 advantage over City in the round of 16 on Tuesday. Authentic Sports Jerseys . The biggest collapse in franchise history was a long time ago, and he was too busy trying to make sure it didnt happen again.Chris Gayle’s brutal power rendered Zimbabwe’s attack powerless as he smashed his way to the highest ever World Cup score, says Mark Butcher. Gayle – who had registered just one fifty in his previous 19 ODI innings – cut loose to score 215 off just 147 deliveries as the West Indies ran up 372-2, Marlon Samuels contributing 133no. The opener smote 16 sixes – the joint-highest ever in an ODI innings – as he registered the third highest ODI score ever and the best in the World Cup, eclipsing Gary Kirsten’s 188no for South Africa against UAE in 1996.“If ever Chris Gayle was going to show the ball-striking that we know he can produce, then it’s going to be against a bowling attack that at times was absolutely hapless,” reflected Butcher.“There was nothing they could do against it – they simply didn’t have the talent to be able to stop him. Once the ball started finding the middle of the bat on a regular basis, it was a case of ‘how many?’“There’s no better player to watch in full flight than Chris Gayle, simply because of the pure power of the man. He has an extraordinarily brutal way of hitting the ball, which renders bowlers powerless.“The confidence that the rest of the team will gain from the fact that it has not just been the guys at six, seven or eight that has dug them out of trouble, or lifted their scores past 300, will be enormous.“All of the rest of the teams in that group – and perhaps in the quarter-finals if they get there, which is looking increasingly likely – will be very, very concerned about the West Indies batting power.”Gayle was slow out of the blocks after the West Indies chose to bat, surviving a strong lbw shout off his first ball, bowled by Tinashe Panyangara.Umpire Steve Davis gave it not out and Zimbabwe’s subsequent review failed – the replay showing the decision should stay with the umpire’s call on the basis of height.Gayle then eased into his work, scoring just 12 runs off his first 18 balls – a fact that did not surprise Butcher.“If you follow Chris Gayle’s batting, particularly in Twenty20 cricket over the last one or two years, it is no shock that he takes a little while to get himself in,” he said.“He quite likes his partner at the other end to go out and take a few risks; he might chew up as many as 15-20 deliveries in a T20 ggame before he plays his first shot in anger and then he decides that he’s going to go big and play all of the expansive shots that we’ve seen.dddddddddddd#8220;The difference has been that in 50-over cricket he hasn’t been able to get in – he’s been taking his time but then getting out without making any runs.“Looking at the bowling attack you thought ‘if he gets himself in today, it could be the day’ - but it could have be all over after just one ball.“In real-time, looking head on, it looks as though he’s plumb lbw first ball but Gayle, batting against bowlers of very little pace, decided to take his guard outside of the crease; he took a stride forward and that’s why Steve Davis gave him the benefit of the doubt.”Gayles record-breaking knock came days after he was inadvertently caught up in a Twitter gaffe committed by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Dave Cameron.“He’d been poked by Dave Cameron – the president of the West Indies Cricket Board – who re-tweeted somebody suggesting that Gayle ought to be sent for retirement,” explained Butcher.“This innings was a great answer to that particular accusation. If you are being questioned by people who are running your board, there ought to be a little bit of a sting there.“I don’t think that Chris Gayle has lost the ability to play like that over the years – perhaps what has been questioned is his desire to do it on a regular basis for the West Indies in longer form cricket or whether it was earning the bucks around the world in Twenty20 cricket that was floating his boat.”Gayle shared a partnership of 372 – the highest in ODI history - with number three Marlon Samuels, whose 133no came off 156 balls and featured 11 fours and three sixes.Butcher said it was a curious innings, reflecting: “He tried to give Gayle as much strike as possible – while trying to show the power that he has.“But to end up playing 53 per cent of your deliveries as dot balls against a bowling attack of this type - and basically having a strike-rate of about 50 per cent up until beyond the end of the 35th over – was quite extraordinary.“He’ll turn round and say ‘look, I ended up with 133no and we scored over 360, where’s your problem?’”Watch highlights of West Indies v Zimbabwe on Sky Sports World Cup at 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 8pm. 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