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VANCOUVER - Willie Desjardins has built champions in major junior hockey and the AHL. Now hell get the chance in the sports biggest league. Desjardins was hired as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks on Monday. Its his first NHL head coaching job, and hell join new president of hockey operations Trevor Linden and first-time NHL general manager Jim Benning as the Canucks rebuild following a disappointing 2013-14 campaign. "Ive been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time," said the 57-year-old Desjardins, whose coaching career has taken him from Japan to the Canadian national program, and from the WHL to the minor leagues, since he was first hired as an assistant with the University of Calgary in 1985. "To be part of such a great organization and NHL city is just a real honour." Desjardins was also rumoured to be a candidate to take over in Pittsburgh, where the Penguins boast a roster that includes superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The former coach of the WHLs Medicine Hat Tigers said a chance to return to Canada was too good to pass up. "Sidney Crosbys a heck of a hockey player obviously, but for me, when I looked at what was here — I looked at the two guys who are leading this (Benning and Linden), I looked at the quality of the players ... Canadian market, Vancouver fans — it was the right choice to come here." Desjardins, a native of Climax, Sask., most recently led the AHLs Texas Stars to a Calder Cup championship. He spent two years with Texas, winning the AHLs coach of the year award in 2012-13 when he led the Stars to their first ever South Division regular season title and the number one seed in the Western Conference for the 2013 playoffs. Prior to his tenure in the AHL, Desjardins spent two seasons as an associate coach with the Dallas Stars from 2010 to 2012. He also served as head coach (2002-2010) and general manager (2005-2010) of the Tigers, where he led the team to two Memorial Cup tournaments, including an appearance in the 2007 final. Desjardins was named WHL coach of the year for the 2005-06 season, and was also the recipient of the Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award as the top coach in the Canadian Hockey League in 2006. Desjardins resume also includes stints on Canadas staff at two world junior tournaments and one world championship, as well as time coaching with the University of Calgary and in Japan. "Ive watched Willies teams play over the last 12 years," Benning said. "His teams play fast and work extremely hard. They play an up-tempo hard-skating kind of game. His teams play with that relentless attitude that we want our players to play with." Desjardins becomes the 18th head coach in club history and succeeds John Tortorella, who was fired after just one year behind the Canucks bench. Tortorella and former Canucks president and general manager Mike Gillis were casualties of Vancouvers disappointing season that saw the Canucks miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Desjardins says he thinks the Canucks can become a playoff contender again. "We have so many great leaders on this team, and to get to be part of that group, Im looking forward to it," Desjardins said. "Theyve won in the past, theyll win again." Nikita Kucherov Jersey . The club says its first-choice centre back "underwent medical tests on Wednesday morning" which confirmed he has injured his right hamstring. The injury was caused in the second minute of Tuesdays 4-1 league win over Real Sociedad in the Camp Nou when teammate Sergio Busquets accidentally struck Mascherano just above the knee with an outstretched boot. Martin St. Louis Jersey . Venable and Jeremy Hermida drove in three runs apiece, and the Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 7-2 on Sunday to snap a nine-game losing streak. http://www.hockeylightning.com/authentic-ryan-mcdonagh-lightning-jersey/ . Thats the feeling that eight Canadian Football League teams are experiencing right now in advance of the expansion draft to stock the Ottawa Redblacks. Steven Stamkos Jersey . And while taking highly-touted Simon Fraser offensive lineman Matthias Goossen second overall on Tuesday night will definitely help in an area of need for the club, it was a swap of draft picks that may prove to be his most shrewd move. "When Jesse Briggs started to fall a little bit, you could just see Kyle perk up in his chair. Custom Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys . Langer appeared to be in trouble when his second shot on the par-5 18th ended up in the rough short of the green. He hit a brilliant pitch to 5 feet and made the putt after Slumans birdie attempt rolled just wide.SILVIS, Ill. -- Brian Harman admitted he felt the pressure. The 27-year-old, in his third full season on the PGA Tour, hadnt been in the final twosome in the final round until Sunday. He held the lead entering the final round of the John Deere Classic, and looked at the scoreboard after hitting a poor shot into the eighth green. "I saw the guys were playing well, so thats when I felt it, but I was able to hit three really good shots on No. 9 to birdie, and that kind of got me going," Harman said. He kept going all the way to his first victory on the Tour, using three straight birdies down the stretch to hold off Zach Johnson by one stroke. Harman had a 5-under 66 in the final round for a 22-under-262 total to earn $846,000 and the last exemption for next weeks British Open. Johnson had the best round of the day at 7-under 64. "It was very hard, probably one of the hardest things Ive ever tried to do in my life," Harman said. "Just trying not to let your mind run wild is the hardest part out there." Two years ago, Harman played with Johnson in a late pairing of the Deere that Johnson won, and learned a great deal about how to handle the heat. "I talked to Zach about it, and he felt I was trying to get out of his way a little too much and that I needed to stake my ground a little bit," Harman said. He did so Sunday beginning on the par-5 second hole, sinking a 4-foot putt after a 223-yard approach. That jumped him to 19 under and set the tone. His bogey on No. 5 became only a momentary speed bump once he birdied No. 9. He led Johnson and Scott Brown by a stroke at the turn and was ahead by as many as three strokes after his final birdie, a 6-footer on No. 16. Jhonattan Vegas had a 65 to finished tied for third with Jerry Kelly (66) at 265. Scott Brown (68) and Tim Clark (67) tied for fifth another shot back. Three-time winner Steve Stricker fell off the pace set by Harman on the front nine, then fell off the leader board with a double-bogey on the par-3 12th. His approach ended up in high brussh behind and below the green.dddddddddddd "It was hard to play after that," Stricker said. "I was just trying to get it in without getting in Brians way." Stricker finished with a 72 and a tie for 11th at 269. Brown was tied with Johnson and Clark briefly midway through the round, but played the back nine in par 36 and fell back. Clark, the lone contender with a long putter, bogeyed No. 9 to fall out of the joint lead. Harman, whose best previous finishes were ties for third place, also earned his first invitations to the Masters and the Tournament of Champions. He tried to block that out along the way. "When those thoughts enter, its like whats the best way to get those things you want," Harman said. He got his third eagle in 19 holes when he eagled the par-5 second for the second straight day. He sank a 4-foot putt after a brilliant approach from 223 yards. A bogey on No. 5 was offset by a birdie on the ninth, the most difficult hole on the front nine. Harman stood 19-under at the turn, and added a birdie at No. 10 to go to 20 under. Johnson started three strokes behind Harman, but caught him by the 14th hole, when he tapped in from 10 inches for his third birdie in five holes and sixth of the day. Harman came to the drivable par-4 14th minutes later, and after watching Stricker scramble for a par, got up and down from a greenside bunker with a 14-foot birdie putt. He added birdies on the next two holes to pull away from the field. With a two-shot cushion on the 18th tee, a bogey on the final hole didnt hurt him. "Hes always been known as a gritty player that plays pretty simple golf," Johnson said of Harman, a neighbour on St. Simons Island, Georgia. "To me it was just a matter of time." Defending champion Jordan Spieth finished in a tie for seventh after a closing 66 for 268. He was joined by Bo Van Pelt, Ryan Moore and Johnson Wagner. Jordan Niebrugge of Mequon, Wisconsin, the only amateur to make the cut, fired his third straight round in the 60s and finished at 10-under 274. 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