Wild hire Guerin as new general manager
The Minnesota Wild have hired Bill Guerin, who won two Stanley Cups as a player and two more titles in the front office with the Pittsburgh Penguins, as their new general manager.
Guerin was announced Wednesday as the fourth GM in the team’s 19-year history, three weeks after predecessor Paul Fenton was fired by owner Craig Leipold. Guerin spent the last five seasons as assistant general manager of the Penguins, who won consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. He also worked three years in player development prior to that for the club he skated for in the final two of his 18 seasons in the league as player. He was on Pittsburgh’s title-winning team in 2009.
Leipold, clearly stung by his whiff on a longtime lieutenant, initially said the Wild would be wise to hire a replacement for Fenton with prior experience as an NHL general manager, and former Flyers GM Ron Hextall was one of the reported candidates.
Former Ranger and ‘Miracle on Ice’ player charged in attack
GRAND MARAIS, MINN. » Mark Pavelich, a forward on the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey team who went on to play for the New York Rangers and two other NHL teams, has been charged with assault for allegedly beating a neighbor with a metal pole and breaking several of the man’s bones.
Pavelich, 61, attacked his neighbor last week at Pavelich’s home in the small Lake Superior community of Lutsen, Minn., after they returned from fishing, authorities allege in the criminal complaint.
Pavelich told investigators he believed the man had “spiked” his beer, leading to the alleged attack, it states.
First responders found the neighbor in shock with “obvious disfigurement of his leg,” KMSP-TV reported. He also had a bruised kidney, two cracked ribs and a fractured vertebra.
MLS’ Impact change coaches
MONTREAL » The Montreal Impact have fired coach Remi Garde and replaced him with Wilmer Cabrera.
The move Wednesday comes 27 games into the Garde’s second season with the team, which is struggling to hang on to a Major League Soccer playoff spot.
Montreal has a precarious hold on the seventh and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, tied on points at 34 with Orlando City and Toronto FC but owning tiebreakers over both clubs.
Isles agree to terms with Brassard
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. » The New York Islanders agreed to terms with Derick Brassard on a one-year contract Wednesday.
Brassard, who will turn 32 on Sept. 22, had 14 goals and nine assists in 70 games last season while with Pittsburgh, Florida and Colorado. He also had an assist in nine playoff games with the Avalanche.
White signs 6-year deal with Sens
OTTAWA » The Ottawa Senators signed forward Colin White to a six-year contract with an average annual value of $4.75 million.
White had 14 goals and 27 assists in 71 games last year in his first full season in the NHL, his 41 points fifth best among rookies.