TORONTO -- After watching Paul Rangers head hit the glass, Toronto Maple Leafs players witnessed their teammate getting wheeled off the ice at Air Canada Centre on a stretcher. Before finding out that the veteran defenceman was "stable, conscious and alert" at a local hospital, the Leafs were left helpless to worry at the first intermission. "Its not a good feeling," winger Joffrey Lupul said. "He obviously didnt look great when he was leaving the ice. So youre trying to clear your head and focus on the next period. But you cant lie -- obviously part of you is wondering whats going on with him." Ranger suffered the injury with 4.1 seconds left in the first period when he was boarded by Tampa Bay Lightning forward Alex Killorn. It looked like the 29-year-old turned at the last second before Killorn finished his check, and then Rangers head made a violent collision with the glass and he went down to the ice. From Leafs goalie James Reimer to Lightning coach Jon Cooper, there seemed to a consensus that Killorn was not trying to injure Ranger on the play. "Its kind of a scary moment, one of those plays where I commit to hit someone without knowing if they are going to turn, so its just an unfortunate play," said Killorn, who added that he left Ranger a voice-mail message. "He kind of, as Im going in to hit him, makes a quick turn play and Im already committed at that point. Im trying to think of what else I could have done, in my head you look back to prevent that, but its just a tough, quick-bang play." Killorn was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct that the Leafs were not able to score on. It was expected that the NHLs department of player safety would take a look at the play, though that is standard procedure, especially when that kind of punishment is handed out on the ice. Any further discipline for Killorn was certainly not a prevalent post-game topic after the Lightnings 5-3 victory over the Leafs. Instead, there was concern over Rangers condition. Ranger was down on the ice for roughly seven minutes as medical personnel brought out a stretcher and officials decided to play the final few seconds of the first period at the start of the second. Leafs players huddled around close to end boards where he went down, while Lightning players Ryan Malone, Teddy Purcell, Mike Kostka and Nate Thompson remained on the ice and watched from afar. "When that stretcher comes out thats, I think, a whole nother level when you realize the severity of it," Leafs winger Mason Raymond said. "Obviously were just hoping the best for him right now." Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos, who had a hat trick in his seventh game back after missing four months with a broken leg, expressed empathy but saw no malicious intent on Killorns part. "Those are the plays we are trying to get rid of -- its such a bang-bang play, obviously Killer didnt mean to do it," Stamkos said. Toronto defenceman Tim Gleason, who was on the ice with Ranger when the incident occurred, said a similar thing happened to him during the pre-season when he suffered a concussion. "It probably doesnt look like much, but all it takes is a little bit," Gleason said. "Its a fast game, so it looked like he was going kind of face toward the glass or body toward the glass, I guess you could say. It just took a little extra nudge." Leafs coach Randy Carlyle got a look at a replay during the first intermission but didnt have a chance to study it. At first glance, he said it looked like a "textbook" hit from behind. Reimer called it "just one of those tough plays." "I dont think he meant to dummy Range from behind," he said. "Just one of those quick plays in hockey where the puck was there, he kind of turned around and he kind of came with speed. I dont think anyone tries to injure another person or hurt someone like that. Its too bad." Ranger, who was dressed for the 48th game this season, has four goals and eight assists. The 29-year-old made his return to the NHL this season after leaving his last team, the Lightning, abruptly early in the 2009-10 season. Discount Nike Air Max Plus . "Last year we were in a ton of situations, late-game situations we couldnt pull out. Wed kind of fold under the pressure, get frustrated or let a big shot frustrate us," guard DeMar DeRozan said. Nike Air Max Plus Wholesale .com) - Nicolas Colsaerts fired an 11-under 60 on Thursday and grabbed a 3-stroke lead with the opening round of the Portugal Masters suspended by rain. http://www.airmaxplusoutlet.com/. -- Terry Francona likened the atmosphere at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday to a playoff game in October. Air Max Plus Wholesale Cheap . 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"He just said its time, but he didnt really say," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman concluded after Jeter reported to spring training Wednesday for his 20th and final major league season. One week earlier, the Yankees captain surprised and saddened teammates with his announcement, revealed by posting a 15-paragraph, 644-word statement on his Facebook page, one relatively few people were aware he even had. "You cant do this forever. Id like to, but you cant do it forever," he said to a crowded room filled with Yankees management and players in addition to media. Jeter, who turns 40 in June, was limited to 17 games last season, hitting .190 with one homer and seven RBIs after breaking his left ankle in the 2012 AL championship series opener. While he returned last July, he wound up on the disabled list three more times because of leg ailments caused by a lack of strength after the ankle healed. "It wasnt fun because I wasnt playing. I think it forced me to start thinking about, well, how long do I want to do this? And thats how I came to my decision," he said. "It just became a job last year." He sounded much like Joe DiMaggio, who left the Yankees in December 1951 saying, "when baseball is no longer fun, its no longer a game." Just two years ago, Jeter led the big leagues with 216 hits. And after an off-season of intensive workouts, Jeter is confident he will regain his productivity this year and be an everyday shortstop -- only the fourth in big league history in the season they turned 40. Wearing a navy Yankees pullover and shorts, and a New York cap, he spoke directly and dispassionately, much like during every interview since he first reached the major leagues in 1995. He kept his arms crossed in front of him for much of the time, resting them on a table. He flashed those famous white teeth and smiled, displaying not a trace of melancholy. "Trying to get me to cry?" he said after one question. "I have feelings. Im not emotionally stunted. Theres feelings there, but I think Ive just been pretty good at trying to hide my emotions throughout the years. I try to have the same demeanour each and every day." Hes been clear that he doesnt reveal his deepest thoughts publicly, not in the tabloid, talk-radio and Twitter-driven tumult of the Big Apple. "I know I havent really been as open with some of you guys as you would have liked me to be over the last 20 years, but thats by design," he said. "It doesnt mean I dont have those feelings. Its just thats the way I felt as though Id be able to make it this long in New York." He made the announcement on Facebook to circumvent "cut-and-paste" media, to get out his full message and to draw attenntion to his Turn 2 Foundation -- a pun on middle infielders making double plays and on his uniform No.dddddddddddd2. He is a relic, the last of the single digits to wear a Yankees uniform, the last to be introduced before each at-bat by Bob Sheppard, the Yankee Stadium public address announcer from 1951-07. While Sheppard died in 2010, a recording is played when Jeter walks to home plate. In the second half of his life, Jeter could have a future in business or even baseball management -- hes earned enough to become an owner. Hes been among New Yorks most eligible bachelors. "Theres other things I want to do. I want to have a family. Thats important me," he said, without a hint of what "other things" might entail. Jorge Posada retired after the 2011 season, and Mariano Rivera spoke in the same pavilion behind the third base stands last March and said 2013 would be his final year. Andy Pettitte departed last fall, too, leaving Jeter as the last of the Core Four who helped New York win five World Series titles. Owners Hal and Hank Steinbrenner and Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal watched Jeter from the front row, manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman in the second. Teammates, who said his decision shocked and saddened them, were in the rows after that. Cashman called Jeter "a Secretariat, so to speak, that you can run in as many races as you can and win a lot." "Right now its kind of surreal and its strange to think of the Yankees without him in the lineup. But were not there yet," said Hal Steinbrenner, the teams managing general partner. When he spoke with Jeter hours before the Feb. 12 announcement, he didnt lobby for a reconsideration. "I respect when an individual makes a decision like this because I know how much time and thought they put into it. Its not my place to second guess," he said. Jeter wouldnt put an exact date on when he made up his mind. "I wanted to make this announcement months ago. I really did. But people -- I dont want to say forced, but they advised me to take my time before I said it," he said. He kept getting asked about his future. "Even walking down the street," he said, "people ask because I missed last year: Are you playing this year? How much longer are you going to play? How many years to do you have? You get tired of hearing it." He enters his 20th big league season with a .312 average, 256 homers and 1,261 RBIs. Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson already has Tweeted "for those booking early" the 2020 induction ceremony is scheduled for July 26. For Jeter, the titles mean more than the statistics. And most of all, he treasures getting to wear the pinstripes. "The thing that means the most to me is being remembered as a Yankee, because thats what Ive always wanted to be, was to be a Yankee," Jeter said. "I have to thank the Steinbrenner family thats here today and our late owner, the Boss, because they gave me an opportunity to pretty much live my dream my entire life. And the great thing with being a Yankee is youre always a Yankee. So in that sense it never ends." ' ' '