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TORONTO -- Paul Ranger really likes pizza. Not just any pizza, but the kind that he can get from the Riverside Restaurant in Cornwall, Ont., with his uncle. Now in Toronto and closer to family than he was as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning years ago, he can spend time away from the rink debating what pizza joint is best and finding balance in life. Because of that, Ranger has begun to write the second chapter of his NHL playing career and was named the Maple Leafs Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy nominee for "perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey." Ranger learned that he was chosen for that honour Wednesday morning, 49 games into what he considers the renewal of his career more than four years after abruptly leaving the Lightning for personal reasons he still wont reveal. What the 29-year-old does say about version 2.0 of his hockey-playing life only hints at why he left and what made him come back. "What makes it easier for my second go-round is just that experience on how to handle different pressures from the outside, pressures on the ice and really just how to go about it and live your life and balance," Ranger said. "Balance is huge. It makes for a much healthier lifestyle. It makes for a much healthier, I think, mind, on the ice, as well." On the ice, the defencemans game is still rounding into form but isnt quite as good as hed like it to be. But his mind seems to be at peace with the sports importance in his life because Ranger has been able to spend time reflecting and placing value on different things. "You get away, you try different things, you do different things, you focus on other areas of your life that you love and that make you good," he said. "Too much of one good thing it can kind of become a mental battle sometimes. ... When you have that balance, everything seems to work a lot more smoothly, a lot more comfortably and positively." One of those positives is family, like being able to have his mother and father closer than they were when he was in Tampa. Friends make the support group even bigger. "Once in a while Ill get to see some of my closest friends, my high-school friends, my best friends," he said. "Everyone needs a break outside of work and outlets for different parts of life, and thats one of them for me." Outlet from what, exactly, Ranger wont say. Asked at the end of a 13-minute conversation with reporters to shed even a bit of detail on what caused him to leave the Lightning early in the 2009-10 season, he politely but firmly responded: "No. Im not willing to go there. Thank you, though." In general terms, Ranger repeatedly talked about "challenges" on and off the ice. That included playing last year for the AHLs Toronto Marlies, then signing a one-year deal with the Leafs and making the team out of training camp. "Lots of challenges, but when you overcome them, thats the coolest part of it," Ranger said. "Thats the most fun. You look at yourself in the mirror and say you did it. And thats huge, for everybody. Every person in the world goes through that kind of thing at some point in their lives, and I think its important to be able to challenge yourself and to recognize and give yourself some credit." Ranger noticed and appreciated the credit and recognition opponents around the league and former teammates have afforded him this season. He took special pride in reconnecting and building "genuine" relationships with a couple of players he spent time with in Tampa, too. Very little of Rangers time talking about his journey back to the NHL had anything to do with hockey, other than to say it has been a success. The Whitby, Ont., native said he never had any doubts about returning after such an extended absence. "No. This is the right thing for me to do," Ranger said. "This is the thing for me to do to grow and to overcome all the challenges that Ive had on and off the ice. This is the path, and Im committed to it. "I cant really put it all into words, but this is it. Its going to help me until I reach 150 (years old) and riding my Sea-Doo around somewhere and Im going to look back and smile and just say I did it." As hes in the process of doing it, hes earning respect along the way. "When a guy misses that amount of time and claws himself (onto a roster) and grabs an opportunity, youve got to take your hat off to him," Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "Any individual thats gone through what hes gone through, now hes playing the highest level of hockey there is in the world and hes earning his stripes." Whether earning those stripes means Ranger will be back with the Leafs next season is unclear. He insists he hasnt pondered that possibility and immediately brought the focus back to the present and what he and his teammates need to do in the final games of the season. Even if the Leafs season ends without a playoff berth, thats not the end of Rangers world, though he brought up Wednesday that he has a theory on how to win a championship in a city like Toronto. Hes just not willing to reveal that quite yet, either. "I cant say Ive figured it out because it hasnt been put to the test yet," he said. "But I just know for me it works. Im in no way ready to comment on it. This is something that perhaps I would tell you after we win the championship." Wholesale NCAA Football Jerseys . -- Downcast before the final game of what had been a difficult road trip, the Ottawa Senators found a way to dig out a little momentum in the desert before heading home. Cheap College Basketball Jerseys . The club was unable to retain hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, who is bound for Atlanta. Seitzer replaces Greg Walker, who was assisted by Scott Fletcher this season as the Braves finished 79-83. http://www.cheapncaaauthenticjerseys.com/. Matt Carkner got back into the Ottawa lineup, and made his presence felt right away by settling his clubs score in a one-sided fight with Rangers forward Brian Boyle. Cheap NCAA Jerseys China . “Im not sure well get Melky Cabrera at all,” said Gibbons. The 29-year-old left fielder struggled all season with knee and hamstring problems. Cabrera was first on the disabled list from June 27-July 20 with tendinitis in his left knee. Cheap College Jerseys China . Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday.KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- The rain and the delays were all worth it for Ryan Moore, who seems to play his best golf this time of year. Moore won the CIMB Classic in a playoff with Gary Woodland on Monday, birdieing the first hole for his third PGA Tour victory. Thunderstorms, resulting in about 3 1/2 hours of delays, and fading light Sunday forced organizers to complete the tournament the next day. Moore scrambled just to make the playoff, hitting an awkward 60-yard wedge shot on the 18th hole Sunday that dropped within several feet of the hole and allowed him to salvage par. He and Woodland finished regulation at 14-under 274. In the playoff, Moore hit a strong approach with an 8-iron to the same green. The ball stopped about 5 feet from the cup, setting up his winning putt. "I had a great opportunity there on 18 with my third shot and it was just an absolute perfect number," he said. "It was coincidentally the exact shot I was working on on the range." It had been about a year since he won his second title, at the 2012 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. "Ive always enjoyed playing in the fall. Im not sure why," he said. "Its actually kind of funny. I won a week before my son (Tucker) was born last year. I won a week after (his birthday) this year." Woodland, also trying to win his third PGA Tour title, had a chance to end things as dusk was descending in a steady rain Sunday evening. But he missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th that would have given him the title. "I hit it where I wanted to," Woodland said. "It just broke more. I can see it now. It was a little lighter out right now. I can see it broke a little more, but it is what it is." He pulled his approach shot tto the 18th green wide Monday, leaving himself a difficult chip from the rough that he couldnt hole for birdie.dddddddddddd Still, its been a remarkable turnaround the past few months for the American. He has struggled with wrist injuries in recent years and his world ranking plunged to 268th this summer. Woodland began making changes to his game last January when he started working with new swing coach Butch Harmon. He later switched to Harmons son, Claude, hired a new short-game coach, Pat Goss, and then added a new psychology coach, Julie Elion. The results finally started to come in August: Woodland won his second PGA Tour title at the Reno-Tahoe Open and a couple of weeks later shared second place at The Barclays. Starting the new wraparound PGA Tour season this month, Woodland also added a new caddie, Tony Navarro, who previously worked with Greg Norman and Adam Scott. "I put a lot of hard work in," he said. "Its been a process with the changes Ive made, switching to Butch and his son, and its finally starting to come together, which is nice. I put a lot of work in on the short game, a lot of work on the middle game, and were starting to put it together now." Moore is also hoping to build on the victory at the $7 million Malaysian tournament, which became an official PGA Tour event this year, awarding FedEx Cup points and a spot in the Masters. Given how well he has played at this time of year, hes glad the new wraparound season is starting in October. "Now that it counts, now that its a full FedEx Cup event and counts as a win on the PGA Tour, it does so much for you," he said. "To get a win this early in the season, its just incredible, to be able to get some FedEx Cup points racked up." ' ' '