Forennews » Simonise with a 42-yard pass to help set up Hartys six-yard

Despite agreeing to terms less than a week before the teams regular season opener, newly signed defenceman Cody Franson feels like hell have no issues being thrust into the starting lineup Oct. 1 in Montreal. “Being able to get the reps back in practice before the season starts and get a couple exhibition games under my belt, I think I should be just fine,” Franson said on TSN 1050 Thursday afternoon. Practicing daily with the Ryerson Rams at Maple Leaf Gardens in addition to his own personal workouts has Franson optimistic he will need only the teams remaining two exhibition contests to get back into game shape. The time spent with Ryerson provided a sort of “silver lining” to the holdout for the 26-year-old, who grew up a Leafs fan and was excited to practice at an arena where some of his childhood heroes played in. Agreeing to a one-year, $2 million contract was something both he and his agent were more comfortable with, as opposed to the tw0-year deal initially proposed by the club. “With the cap situation it was obviously kind of tough for us to get a two-year deal, which is what they wanted and we were a little far apart on numbers. “A one-year term for us was where we were able to be most flexible to make everything work and it just made the most sense to us.” The decision to hold out was one Franson and his agent felt comfortable with, feeling the alternative of an arbitration case would not have been the best course of action at this point in his career. “As good as last season was for myself individually, my ‘arb case just wasnt that great. Me and my agent talked a lot about whether we should file and we came to the conclusion that we would want to try for a one-year (deal) with all the moves theyve been making. “Me and my agent just felt that the ‘arb case that we had in front of us just wasnt strong enough. If we had elected to go to ‘arb then we dont have the option to choose the term.” After enjoying a breakout, lockout shortened 2012-13 season in which he tied his career high with 29 points despite playing 35 fewer games, Franson is confident that with another solid season, the two sides will be in a better position to negotiate a longer term deal. “With the cap crunch, it just seemed like the one year was just going to be the most flexible for us to get something done,” he said. “I wouldve loved to get a longer deal -- I mean I love playing here in Toronto and this is where I want to be -- but given the circumstances with the cap, it just wasnt in the cards this year, and me and my agent felt like the best way to move forward and keep things going in the right direction was to do a one-year deal.” Bouncing back after an up-and-down initial season under Ron Wilson, Franson attributed his success to getting a “second chance” under Randy Carlyle, who immediately paired him with Mark Fraser and from then on the pair “just kind of clicked and developed a good relationship.” Franson said the combination of Carlyle and Fraser allowed him to gain confidence and most importantly, improve the defensive side of his game. “Ive always been criticized for the defensive aspect of my game and thats something Ive really tried to work on kind of and silenced those critics and playing with ‘Frase has helped me do that.” Heading into 2013-14, Franson said hes “very excited” about the new additions Dave Nonis brought in during the off-season and is also impressed with all the young talent the team has had in camp, including 19-year-old Morgan Rielly. But, at the end of the day, he pointed out he was just relieved that he was able to rejoin his teammates and concentrate on the upcoming season. “Im glad its over. It was a long, grueling process and unfortunately it went as long as it did, but Im happy both sides were able to find a common ground. “We were fortunate to get the one year and the price works for the team, so it all worked out.” Padres Jerseys China . Cabrera-Bello shot a 1-over-par 73 and was caught by Webster, who carded 70 at Doha Golf Club for three-round totals of 12-under 204. They were only one stroke ahead of Adrien Saddier of France, the biggest mover with six birdies in his opening seven holes in a round of 64, South African Thomas Aiken (70) and Denmarks Thorbjorn Olesen (68) on a packed leaderboard. Padres Jerseys 2019 . 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The Oilers jumped into the free agent market early by signing defencemen Keith Aulie (six-foot-six, 228 pounds) and Mark Fayne (6-3, 210 pounds) and left-winger Benoit Pouliot (6-3, 197-pounds). Two days earlier MacTavish traded lightweight forward Sam Gagner to Tampa Bay for 6-3, 203-pound right winger Ted Purcell. Stitched Padres Jerseys . The Blueshirts hope to stay alive once again when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins in Sundays Game 6 battle at Madison Square Garden. Custom San Diego Padres Jerseys . In the last race before the Sochi Olympics, Bjoergen followed up her win in the 10-kilometre classical race on Saturday by beating World Cup sprint leader Denise Herrmann of Germany by 0.43 seconds for her fifth victory of the season.QUEBEC -- The Laval Rouge et Or football machine keeps rumbling along like an unstoppable tank. Pascal Lochard led a running game that piled up 449 net rushing yards as the Rouge et Or wore down the young Calgary Dinos for a 25-14 victory in the Vanier Cup game on Saturday afternoon. It was Lavals second Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship in a row, their third in four years and their record eighth overall in only 17 years since its well-financed football program started. "Its incredible to go back to back and win it here in front of our fans," said Laval quarterback Alex Skinner, who got nowhere trying to throw the ball against a tough Calgary defensive secondary and just ran it on nearly every play in the second half. Among Lavals trio of running backs, the 2012 Vanier Cup MVP Maxime Boutin got 190 yards, Lochard had 198 and Guillaume Bourassa had 30, while graduating receiver Guillaume Rioux had a 31-yard run. The team set Vanier Cup records for rushing yards -- breaking their own mark of 373 set last year -- and rushing first downs with 26. Lochard had Lavals only touchdown in the fourth quarter. Boris Bede, despite struggling with his kicking all afternoon, managed to tie a Vanier Cup record with five field goals. The win on a chilly, windy day in front of a raucous, overflow crowd of 18,543 at 12,000-seat Telus Stadium kept Laval undefeated at 12-0 this season. Calgary fell to 11-1. Jake Harty and Chris Dopko scored touchdowns for the Dinos, who were looking to avenge a 29-2 loss at Laval in the 2010 Vanier Cup game. Calgary has not won a Vanier Cup since 1995 and was not expected to reach the title game this year after losing 19 starters, including 11 on defence, from last years squad. But they found a way to stay in the game and took over momentum in the third quarter when quarterback Andrew Buckley got the passing game going for a pair of TDs and a brief 14-12 lead. But Lavals running game took over the rest of the way, eating up the clock with long drives. "For a while, things were going good, but there was no way we were able to compete on the line of scrimmage," said Dinos coach Blake Nill. "To be honest, we made two big plays. "We had a screen play to (Mercer) Timmis and a long pass to (Rashaun) Simonise, and we were able to put the ball in the end zone twice. But at the end, we just couldnt stop the run. We tried putting bigger people in and to make adjustments, but we just flat out couldnt stop them." Buckley went 19-for-29 for 247 yards and also rushed for 82 yards, but there was little else to the Calgary attack besides Hartys nine catches for 112 yards. Lavals top-ranked rush defence held Timmis to 33 yards on 12 ccarries.dddddddddddd The Rouge et Or dominated territorially, but ran into a bend-but-dont-break Calgary defence that kept the visitors in the game until the final quarter. Skinner was 8-for-21 for only 93 yards. The Dinos got through the first half down only 6-0 thanks partly to some bad Laval penalties and place kicking. A 42-yard TD run by Maxime Boutin and an 80-yard punt return by Guillaume Rioux were called back for holding. "We let them in the game," said Laval coach Glen Constantin, who got a seventh Vanier Cup title to go with one loss -- an overtime setback to McMaster in 2011 in Vancouver. "We had our opportunities in the first quarter. "There were 14 points called back and we knew that if those guys kept close wed be in difficulty. But our kids showed a lot of grit. They just took over. Theyre proud guys." The Rouge et Or moved to the Calgary 23 on the opening drive, but Bede missed right on a 30-yard field goal attempt and settled for a single. A 37-yard attempt with the wind to open the second quarter hit an upright and fell for no points. Bede finally made one from 40 yards midway through the second quarter, but Constantin took the points off the board due to a roughing the kicker call. Three plays later, Bede was good again from 19 yards. The Dinos conceded a safety with 2:18 left in the half. Lochard, the game MVP, carried on seven consecutive plays to the Calgary three to open the second half and Bede was good from 10 yards. The Dinos bounced back, as Buckley hit Simonise with a 42-yard pass to help set up Hartys six-yard TD run around the right side at 7:59 to cut Lavals lead to two points. Laval blocked a punt to set up a 16-yard Bede boot, but the Dinos marched back on a 39-yard screen pass to Timmis to set up Buckleys six-yard TD toss to Dopko. Laval answered with Bedes fourth field goal of the day. Skinner kept the ball on the ground all the way as Laval marched 89 yards on seven plays for Lochards eight-yard TD run at 9:12. Constantin did not look pleased as his players doused him in Gatorade with time still on the clock, but another drive that ended with Bedes fifth field goal of the game from 12 yards clinched it in the final minute. Despite the loss, Nill saw the Vanier Cup as prime experience for a young team. "Thats the nature of the beast -- were not mature enough yet to compete here when it counts," he sad. "This will be a huge experience for them. "But like I told the kids: thats the fifth time Ive ended up No. 2 and I cant deal with that. If you want to be No. 1, youve got to beat these guys (Laval). We were doing it on their home turf and I thought our guys did very well." ' ' '