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Montreal Canadiens to hire French-speaking GM to pair with Jeff Gorton – ESPN

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Owner Geoff Molson believes that fixing the Montreal Canadiens is a two-person job.

The Canadiens have stumbled to a 6-15-2 start after making the Stanley Cup Final last season. Marc Bergevin was dismissed Sunday after having served as Montreal’s general manager since 2012.

It was a total housecleaning that saw assistant GMs Trevor Timmins and Scott Mellanby also leave the organization in the past few days.

Former New York Rangers GM Jeff Gorton was hired to a long-term contract as executive vice president of hockey operations. But Molson said “he’s one of the two people that are going to do the job” of getting the Canadiens on track.

Gorton is an English-speaking executive, hired by a franchise with a long-standing commitment to having bilingual coaches and general managers because “in our own market, we have to respect the language, but we also have [English-speaking] fans all over the world,” Molson said.

Hence, Gorton will hire a French-speaking general manager to work with him.

“The two of them will be working together to make good decisions for the good of the organization. When something has to happen that’s team-related, the general manager has to be the final responsible person in making that decision and be accountable for it,” Molson said.

While Molson said he’s yet to ask any other NHL teams for permission to speak with their executives, Tampa Bay Lightning director of hockey operations Mathieu Darche and ECHL Maine Mariners GM Daniel Briere — both former Canadiens players — are among the names already being connected to the opening. Briere’s team was a minor league affiliate of the Rangers when Gorton was in New York.

“I strongly believe this organization needs a fresh start,” Molson said. “Not at the team level, but at the management level.”

The fresh start begins with Gorton, who went from a successful stint as a player personnel executive with the Boston Bruins to the general manager’s chair with the Rangers from 2015 to 2021. Gorton was credited with helping to lead New York’s quick rebuild, albeit one aided by multiple draft lottery wins and players like Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox choosing to play in New York.

“Nobody’s perfect in the hockey world, but I look at [the Rangers] today and it seems to be performing pretty well, so he must have done something right,” Molson said.

The Canadiens owner that he spoke with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman for advice on hiring Gorton.

“Someone like Gary has a valued opinion,” he said.

Molson sees this new management regime as a chance to innovate within the organization. On Monday, he spoke about creating a medical team dedicated to the mental health of players — a decision that comes after star goalie Carey Price missed the entire season thus far after entering the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.

Molson also talked about a dedication to more diversity on the hockey operations side of the organization.

“We have a pretty diverse group of people and many diversity programs [on the business side]. But on the hockey side, there’s a big opportunity to introduce different perspectives into the organization. It’s not easy to do, but it is certainly is a priority,” he said.

Molson said he’ll value the opinions of his new two-headed executive branch, while staying out of the day-to-day hockey operations of the team. That goes for their decision on head coach Dominique Ducharme, who signed a three-year extension through 2024 before the season, as well as for the ultimate direction for the Canadiens.

Molson said the Canadiens don’t need a fresh start at the player level “at this stage.” But if Gorton and his general manager want to tear down what Bergevin built, Molson isn’t afraid of a rebuild.

“I’m not afraid of that word, and I think our fans wouldn’t be afraid of that word, either,” he said.

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

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EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mahomes throws 3 TD passes, unbeaten Chiefs beat Buccaneers 30-24 in OT

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.

Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.

Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.

Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.

It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.

The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.

Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.

UP NEXT

Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Chiefs: Host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

AP NFL:

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