TORONTO -- The first practice of Toronto Maple Leafs training camp was brought to you by the letter "D." "Probably the whole year," forward Matt Frattin said. "Defence wins championships." Forget about a championship for a second. The Leafs are just trying to win more games and make the playoffs. After giving up almost 36 shots a game last year, the most in the NHL, coach Randy Carlyle and his staff spent Saturday installing a new defensive-zone system. Its not a drastic difference, but there are tweaks that players hope will make them more effective and less vulnerable this season. "Were going to try something a little different," winger Joffrey Lupul said. "I think its going to take a little bit of the second-guessing out of it. .. Its nothing that no ones never seen before. "I think maybe last year was something weve never seen before. This is more back to kind of how you grew up playing." Most kids dont grow up playing a style that sees them get outshot by eight per game, and one of the goals this season is to have the puck more and, as a result, put goaltenders Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer under less pressure. Step one is changing some responsibilities. Bernier described it as players swarming the puck less and needing to be more patient. Much of the change has to do with wingers cheating more to the point than collapsing toward the net. "Sometimes last year it worked, sometimes it felt like that puck was always getting up top and they were getting a lot of shots because of it," Lupul said. "Its systematically a little different, but at the end of the day it comes down to those one-on-one battles." Along with new assistants Steve Spott and Peter Horachek, Carlyle said the staff went over different scenarios this summer and didnt make too many major changes to systems. Like everything else, defence is about the little things. "The difference is, where do you move your winger? Do you move him down the wall to squeeze or do you hold him tight to the point coverage? Do you hold a guy in the middle of the ice?" Carlyle said. "Those are things: your rotation when the puck changes sides, who goes. "Theyre all basically based on the same thing, other than the fact that we have to do a better job of being stiffer and harder to play against." Carlyle said veteran Roman Polak, acquired during the draft from the St. Louis Blues for Carl Gunnarsson, can help in that area. But Polak is just one defenceman, and the Leafs know as a group they have to be better defensively than last season. One area is communication. "Any time you can have a group of guys that communicate, it makes the game a lot easier and it makes it a lot easier to make plays," defenceman Cody Franson said. "I think thats one area we can definitely improve in, and itll help us break out of zones a lot quicker." One simple goal for the Leafs is to have the puck more than they did last season, but thats easier said than done. When they dont have it, they know they have to be better at cutting down on quality chances. Centre Nazem Kadri said "its going to take some time to wrap our heads around" the new defensive system. But Carlyle isnt worried about players picking it up. "Theyll get it," Carlyle said. "That what this is about, thats what the exhibition games are about. "As a coaching staff, you pick your poison on the things that youre going to shove at the players, and I guarantee you every coach is shoving defensive-zone coverage." Notes -- Centre Tyler Bozak and right-winger David Clarkson are out with what Carlyle called lower-body injuries. The players got hurt during pre-training camp workouts, and theres no time frame for their training-camp debuts. Carlyle said he did not foresee them being long-term problems. ... The Leafs signed Quebec Remparts defenceman Cody Donaghey to a three-year, entry-level contract. The 18-year-old from St. Johns, N.L., impressed at rookie camp in London, Ont., to earn a spot in main camp. Swell Wood Water Bottle .C. Lions. The clubs former starting quarterback, assistant and head coach returned Thursday as its receivers coach. Cheap Hydro Flask . TSN2 December 18 Knicks at Bulls 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 December 18 Thunder at Warriors 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 December 21 Pacers at Timberwolves 7pm et/4pm pt. 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Hydro Flask Cyber Monday Sale . Dancevic won his singles match on Friday, defeating Go Soeda 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-1, to even the best-of-five series at a game apiece. World No. 18 Kei Nishikori defeated Peter Polansky in the opening match, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Hydro Flask Black Friday Sale . The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders are giving it a try, too.BEIJING -- Canadas Kevin Koe won both of his games at the world mens curling championship on Monday to move into sole possession of second place in the round-robin standings. Koe started the day with a 9-1 blowout victory over Russias Evgeny Arkhipov at Capital Indoor Stadium and then came back for a 10-6 win over Jiri Snitil of the Czech Republic in the late draw. "For sure, you have to pull some games out," said Koe. "We werent struggling as bad (as on Sunday). The sheet was a lot better than yesterday, but no excuses. The Czechs were playing really well and making some big shots. "I was proud of the guys. We really stayed in there, tried to stay positive and keep it close." Koe, who suffered his only loss to Japans Yusuke Morozumi on Sunday morning, improved to 4-1 after eight draws. Norways Thomas Ulsrud was the lone undefeated team at 5-0. Germany, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland were tied for third place at 3-2 in the 12-team round-robin standings. The Calgary-based team of Koe, lead Nolan Thiessen, second Carter Rycroft and third Pat Simmons shot 96 per cent as a team against Russia. Thiessen and Rycroft both scored perfect games. "That felt way better," said Rycroft. "We threw some stinkers yesterday, and we were lucky to get away with 1-1 (on the day). Finally today we felt like we got a bit of a handle on things. "We were throwing them properly. Still missing a few, but at least were throwing them with conviction. The results? You cant worry about them too much because you still get caught onn certain spots.dddddddddddd" In the late game, Snitil controlled the early ends and built a 6-3 lead. Koe scored a pair in the sixth end and pulled even with a steal in the eighth on a nice hit and roll. The Canadians followed up with arguably their finest end of the tournament, making eight perfect shots in the ninth end. Koe, sitting four and guaranteed a steal, forced Snitil to attempt a wide outturn draw to bite the outside of the four-foot to limit the damage. However, the Czech rock caught debris outside of the house and ground to a halt, giving the Canadians a steal of four and ending the game. "That ninth end was real unfortunate for them, but we were stealing one at worst," Koe said. "We would have been one up coming home and it would have been anybodys ball game, but this was a big one." Even as the Czechs built their lead through five ends, Koe said his teammates never lost their focus. "Weve talked with our coaches about it off the ice," he said. "If were going to lose, lets at least keep battling and stay positive. We did that very well in that game. Its easy to get frustrated after the first few ends, but we hung in there and Im really proud of the guys for battling that hard." Canada will play the United States and Norway on Tuesday. Round-robin play continues through Thursday. The playoffs begin Friday and the medal games are scheduled for Sunday. Koe won gold in 2010 at his only previous appearance at this event. Canada has won gold in three of the last four years. ' ' '