PATRICK ROY BACK WITH THE AVS AS THE NEW HEAD COACH
DENVER (AP) – Patrick Roy has been hired as coach of the Colorado Avalanche. The team said Thursday it had reached an agreement in principle with the Hall of Fame goaltender to take over as coach and vice president of hockey operations. The 47-year-old Roy won two Stanley Cups with Colorado. He becomes the sixth coach in Avalanche history and the 14th in franchise history; the team began as the Quebec Nordiques and joined the NHL in 1979. Roy has spent the last eight seasons as coach and general manager of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, winning the 2006 Memorial Cup.
ROCKIES TAKE ON GIANTS IN BAY AREA
San Francisco—Tyler Chatwood (2-0) takes the mound tonight for the Colorado Rockies at AT&T Park in San Francisco against the Giants’ two-time Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum (3-3). The Giants and the Rockies are tied for first in the National League West.
BRONCOS SECOND YEAR RUNNING BACK BULKING UP
ENGLEWOOD (AP) – Coach John Fox declared in the aftermath of Denver’s loss to Baltimore in the playoffs that the Broncos needed to bulk up their backfield. Turns out they didn’t have to draft Wisconsin running back Montee Ball to accomplish that feat. Ronnie Hillman, who was down to 180 pounds by January, is pushing 200 pounds in his quest to get more playing time in 2013. That extra mass and muscle should help him better take on blitzers and linebackers in his second season in the NFL. Hillman’s rookie season was marred by a pulled hamstring in camp and weight loss during the season, two factors that combined to keep him from honing his blitz pickup skills that are a prerequisite for playing alongside Peyton Manning.
NUGGETS GM MAY BE LEAVING
DENVER (AP) – The Denver Nuggets are letting general manager Masai Ujiri, the NBA’s Executive of the Year, meet with the Toronto Raptors about their GM vacancy, Yahoo Sports is reporting. Yahoo reported that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke is prepared to offer Ujiri $3 million annually to return to Toronto, where he was assistant GM for three years before joining the Nuggets in 2010.
Ujiri is one of the league’s lowest-paid GMs, making less than $1 million annually in Denver, where he has reshaped the Nuggets into a Western Conference contender following the 2010 trade of Carmelo Anthony. His contract with the Nuggets expires June 30, and the 42-year-old Ujiri has said he wants to stay in Denver.
