Capitals hire Carbery as next head coach

Spencer Carbery got his start in coaching in the minors with the Capitals watching closely.

They liked what they saw, and on Tuesday they brought him back to fill the job they envisioned he would get.

The Capitals hired Carbery as their next coach, ending their search for Peter Laviolette’s successor by landing on a favorite of the organization who in recent years had become one of the NHL’s most intriguing candidates. He now is tasked with getting the Caps back in the playoffs with an aging roster and extending the organization’s run of success a few more years while Alex Ovechkin chases Wayne Gretzky’s goals record.

Carbery spent the last two seasons as an assistant with the Maple Leafs, running the power play that ranked second in the league over that time. Before the Leafs hired him, he was considered the heir apparent to Laviolette because of his time with the Capitals’ top minor league affiliate, the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears.

Carbery at 41 usurps the Leafs’ Sheldon Keefe as the youngest coach in the league after going from a Capitals’ homegrown prospect who began with their ECHL team in South Carolina to one of the hottest names on the market. He interviewed with the Sharks for their vacancy last year and multiple others this spring. College football: Bill McGovern, who was an assistant coach for 39 years in the college ranks and in the NFL, died due to cancer. He was 60. McGovern was the Bruins’ defensive coordinator last year but missed most of the second half of the season due to health issues. He remained on staff as director of football administration. McGovern was an assistant mostly in college, including 13 seasons at Boston College (200012). He also coached at Nebraska, Pitt, Massachusetts, Holy Cross and Penn. In the NFL, McGovern had stints with the Eagles, Giants and Bears.