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The Washington Capitals solidified their front office and coaching positions on Monday, with assistant general manager Brian MacLellan promoted to the GMs office and former Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz taking over behind the bench. MacLellan is entering his third season with the club, spending the last two as assistant general manager after spending several years with the teams AHL-affiliate Hershey Bears. MacLellan spent 10 years in the NHL as a player, including winning the 1989 Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames. He becomes the sixth GM in team history. "We are extremely pleased to name Brian MacLellan the teams general manager and welcome Barry Trotz to Washington as the Capitals coach,” said owner Ted Leonsis in a release. “After conducting an extensive search for a general manager, we determined that Brian was the best candidate to help us reach our ultimate goal, winning the Stanley Cup. We have witnessed his abilities firsthand, and we have tremendous respect for how he manages people and situations. We feel he has relevant, in-depth knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of our franchise and will be forceful in addressing them. Brian always has displayed tremendous professionalism, passion and commitment to the Capitals. He has his own unique approach, and we are confident in his abilities to lead this organization to new heights." McLellan is also looking forward to assuming his new position. “I am extremely honored and excited about the opportunity I have been given with the Capitals,” said MacLellan in a release. “Over the course of my career I have worked in acquiring the necessary skills to excel in this position. We have built a solid foundation, and I look forward to implementing my ideas to get us back to competing for the Stanley Cup. Also, it is a great pleasure to welcome Barry to Washington as the new head coach of the Capitals. Barrys teams have always played with structure, discipline and intensity, and I look forward to him leading us to success for many years to come.” Trotz was fired by the Nashville Predators at the end of the season after 16 years as the only head coach in franchise history. Trotz coached 1,196 games with Nashville, second only to Gregg Popovich of the NBAs San Antonio Spurs for longest active coaching tenure in the four major sports. Trotz says he welcomes his new challenge. “I am very excited to join the Washington Capitals and want to thank Ted Leonsis, Dick Patrick and Brian MacLellan for this opportunity,” said Trotz in the release. “This is a great organization with a strong foundation and a tremendous fan base. I look forward to working with this group of talented players and the quality front office staff this team has assembled.” Trotz is the only NHL coach to make the playoffs with the same team in seven of eight seasons between 2003-04 and 2011-12 and becomes the Capitals 17th head coach. The Capitals fired head coach Adam Oates and did not renew the contract of general manager George McPhee at the end of the season after the team missed the playoffs with a record of 38-30-14. William Nylander Jersey . According to the Globe and Mail, a decision between the NHL and the Players Association should come within the six months. "I can tell you, (a decision) shouldnt take all that long," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Globe and Mail. Auston Matthews Jersey . Brad Malone had the other goal for the Monsters (1-1-0), while Elliott chipped in an assist for a three-point night and the games first star. Bryan Lerg also had two assists. Corban Knight and Max Reinhart scored for the Heat (1-1-0), who opened their season Friday with a 5-2 win over the Monsters in Cleveland. http://www.officialmapleleafsfanstore.com/authentic-borje-salming-maple-leafs-jersey/ . "Im proud of him," Jones said in an interview from Sacramento, site of the UFCs weekend televised card. "I think hes listening to his body and hes doing what makes him happy and thats what life is about ultimately. Curtis McElhinney Jersey . Im very excited about the playoffs, particularly in the Western Conference with amazing match-ups, as well as the wonderful local story in the Toronto Raptors. It should be a blast. Here are my predictions, but based upon my lousy prognostications during the NCAA Tournament, you might be better off going the other way on some of mine - particularly with the Raptors, who I hope and pray are able to win an incredibly difficult match-up. Kris Versteeg Jersey . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. LOS ANGELES -- Jeff Hornacek and Doc Rivers played against each other for 13 seasons in the NBA. This was the first time they matched up as head coaches in a game that counted, and Hornaceks Phoenix Suns gave the Los Angeles Clippers a not-so-subtle reminder of how quickly turnovers can turn into fast-break points. Goran Dragic had 26 points and eight assists before sitting out the fourth quarter, Gerald Green added 21 points off the bench, and the Suns ended the year with a 107-88 rout of the Clippers on Monday night. The Clippers went up against a team that began the day averaging a league-best 19.1 fast-break points, and allowed 18 for the game. Phoenix scored the first nine points, seven off three Clippers turnovers. The Suns converted 20 turnovers into 20 points overall, including a three-point play by Dragic that gave them a 45-34 lead with 4:55 left in the first half. "This is our game. We try to play a fast, up-tempo game, and I think things are going to be much better if you play like that," Dragic said. "Playing a half-court game is really tough for us, so we have to push the ball and try to get everybody involved. And when we get into the open court, we have all those open shooters." The Suns have won 10 of their last 12 after a 9-9 start and trail the defending Pacific Division champion Clippers by a half-game for the top spot. "It was a huge win for us, especially in L.A.," Dragic said. "We knew it was going to be a hard game. Theyre a really good team, a playoff team, and they have a lot of stars. So our job was to play them strong -- especially in the first half -- and force them to play our rhythm. We did a good job of that." Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford each scored 15 points for Los Angeles, while Chris Paul had 11 points and seven assists. It was the most lopsided loss of the season for the Clippers, who beat the Suns the previous three times they hosted them -- by an average margin of 20 points. "I think we did a good job of being really unselfish and looking for each other," said Channing Frye, who put the clamps on Griffin following his 40-point effort over Utah on Saturday night. "We had 26 assists, so we did a better job of pushing the pace and executing. Its not like wwere shooting off the wall, but guys are taking the right shots most of the time.ddddddddddddHopefully we can remember how hard we played tonight and can continue that into the new year so we can stay in that groove were in." The Suns were 12 for 31 on 3-pointers against the Clippers, who came in with the leagues best defence against 3-point shooting (32.7 per cent). Dragic, who averaged only 9.2 points in his 17 previous games against the Clippers, powered the Suns to a 61-40 halftime lead with 20 points. Green added 14 in the second quarter, including a trio of 3-pointers that helped fuel a 16-4 run in the final 4:08 of the half. "We have a tendency every once in a while to go into a lull and give up some easy baskets, but tonight I thought we were really alert," Hornacek said. "When they rolled to the basket, we were there to help. And when they kicked it out, the guys were rotating. We just challenged every shot, and they didnt have a lot of easy shots." Los Angeles got no closer than 16 in the second half. Griffin and Paul both sat out the fourth quarter with the Clippers trailing 88-59 through three. "They just kept pushing it at us," Paul said. "On a night like this when our offence isnt going, we have to be able to rely on our defence. Tonight we couldnt. I dont think they caught us off guard. We knew how they were going to play. They hit us in the mouth early, and they just dominated us through and through. Luckily it only counts as one loss." Eric Bledsoe, who came in as Phoenixs leading scorer with an 18.4 average, played his first game against the team he spent his first four NBA seasons with and finished with seven points and four assists in 31 minutes. NOTES: This will be the first time in franchise history that the Clippers make it to New Years Day without a losing streak of more than two games in a full season. ... Griffin has drawn a league-high 123 fouls. The Suns fouled him six times. ... None of the Clippers other 11 losses were by more than 14 points. ... Los Angeles C DeAndre Jordan played 21 scoreless minutes in the first half with 12 rebounds. He finished with two points and 19 boards. ... The Clippers took their only lead, 14-13, on a pair of free throws by Griffin. ' ' '