TORONTO -

Troy Ryan, Carla MacLeod and Kori Cheverie were announced as head coaches of Canada's teams in the Professional Women's Hockey League on Friday.

Ryan will coach Toronto, MacLeod in Ottawa and Cheverie in Montreal.

Courtney Kessel (Boston), Charlie Burggraf (Minnesota) and Howie Draper (New York) round out the six-team coaching contingent for the PWHL's inaugural season starting January.

Ryan took over as head coach of the Canadian women's team during the 2019-20 season.

He navigated the squad to Olympic gold in 2022, back-to-back world titles in 2021 and 2022, and world silver this year in Brampton, Ont. Ryan signed a four-year contract extension with Hockey Canada last year.

The appointments shake up the university coaching ranks in Alberta as MacLeod, a two-time Olympic gold medallist in women's hockey, and Draper will leave their coaching jobs with Calgary and Alberta respectively.

The NHL Players' Association says its executive director and assistant executive director are in Columbus, Ohio, to investigate reports of Blue Jackets head coach Mike Babcock invading players' privacy.

Marty Walsh and Ron Hainsey were meeting with some Blue Jackets players on Thursday as part of the investigation.

Babcock said Tuesday he had done nothing wrong by asking players to show him family photos from their phones, clarifying he was trying to get to know them.

Ex-NHLer Paul Bissonnette said on the “Spittin' Chiclets” podcast he was told by an unidentified player that Babcock asked players to see photos on their phones and would then stream them on his television.

Babcock and Columbus captain Boone Jenner said in a joint statement released by the Blue Jackets that the report is “a gross misrepresentation of those meetings and extremely offensive.”

Babcock has spent nearly four years out of the league after being fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs, with former players criticizing the Stanley Cup winning coach after his departure.

BOLOGNA, Italy -

Vasek Pospisil downed Sweden's Leo Borg in a Davis Cup singles match to continue Canada's winning streak in the group stage of the finals.

Pospisil of Vernon., B.C., outlasted the the son of tennis great Bjorn Borg 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-2 in Bologna on Thursday.

Montreal's Gabriel Diallo was scheduled to meet Elias Ymer in the second singles match of the tie, with Pospisil and Alexis Galarneau, of Laval, Que., teaming up for a later doubles match against the Swedes.

Canada opened defence of its Davis Cup title by sweeping host Italy 3-0 on Wednesday.

The Canadians defeated Australia in last year's final to win the biggest men's team event in tennis for the first time.

Both countries qualified directly to the group stage of this year's finals, which consists of four groups of four teams. The top two in each group advance to November's final eight in Malaga, Spain.

(The Canadian Press)

LAVAL-SUR-LE-LAC, Que. -

Defenceman Mike Matheson has been named an assistant captain of the Montreal Canadiens, the team announced Monday.

The club said the decision was made by the Canadiens' management team.

Veteran Brendan Gallagher will continue to serve as an assistant captain, while forward Nick Suzuki retains his role as team captain.

The 29-year-old Matheson led the team's defencemen with 34 points (8-26) in 48 games last season. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound blue-liner also set career highs for assists (26), points (34), power-play points (9), and average time on ice per game (24:27).

In eight seasons in the NHL, the Pointe-Claire, Que. native has accumulated 172 points (57-115) in 465 games with the Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Canadiens.

Matheson, who was selected in the first round (23rd overall) by the Panthers in the NHL draft in 2012, was acquired from the Penguins along with a draft pick in exchange for defenceman Jeff Petry and forward Ryan Poehling on July 16, 2022.

CALGARY -

The closed door of the locker room and violence presented as toughness were among the themes kicking off Hockey Canada's Beyond The Boards Summit.

The two-day summit in Calgary tackles toxic masculinity in elite men's hockey as a root problem that causes racism, sexism and homophobia in the game.

Attendees also heard how toxic masculinity also hurts men playing hockey.

Hockey Canada is under pressure to change its culture and that of hockey following reports and allegations of sexual assaults and hazing in the game.

The audience at the summit includes leaders from minor and professional hockey.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2023.