Mellanby, a Montreal native, spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues.

The announcement followed the hiring of management veteran Rick Dudley as assistant general manager.

“Scott has an impressive background and a commanding knowledge of the league, having played for 21 seasons in the NHL before holding various management positions over the last four years,” Bergevin said in a statement. “Scott is known for his character and his leadership, which made him a great team captain during six seasons with the Florida Panthers and the Atlanta Thrashers.

“He has extensive knowledge of the game, is well respected in the hockey circles and will become an important asset for our organization.”

Mellanby played 1,431 NHL games, amassing 364 goals and 476 assists as well as 2,479 penalty minutes. He also played 136 playoff games with 24 goals, 29 assists. He retired after the 2006-07 season.

He worked for the Vancouver Canucks as a special adviser to GM Mike Gilles for a year and as a pro scout for another before moving to St. Louis.

DeBoer cites goalie Jonathan Quick, defenceman Drew Doughty and the size and skill of the Los Angeles forwards as some of the things the Devils will have to deal with in the Stanley Cup.

The NHL championship opens Wednesday in Newark at the Prudential Center.

(All times Eastern)

NBA Playoffs

Eastern Conference final

Boston at Miami, 8:30 p.m.

(First game of series)

—

Baseball

American League

Boston 5 Detroit 1 (bot 4th)

Oakland 2 Minnesota 0 (bot 2nd)

Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay, 3:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Cleveland, 4:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Toronto, 7:07 p.m.

Seattle at Texas, 8:05 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees at L.A. Angels, 9:05 p.m.

–

National League

Philadelphia 4 N.Y. Mets 2 (top 6th)

St. Louis 6 Atlanta 0 (bot 4th)

Washington 3 Miami 1 (bot 6th)

Pittsburgh 4 Cincinnati 0 (bot 3rd)

Chicago Cubs 2 San Diego 1 (bot 1st)

Houston at Colorado, 3:10 p.m., 1st game

Arizona at San Francisco, 5:05 p.m.

Houston at Colorado, 8:10 p.m., 2nd game

Milwaukee at L.A. Dodgers, 8:10 p.m.

–

Coach Paul LaPolice says about 4,500 showed up last year and they’re planning more activities to draw fans.

He’s deflecting criticism the Bombers weren’t active enough in the free-agent or trade market in the off-season.

He says they continue to develop younger players and have increased the depth of their Canadian talent pool since he took over in 2010.

LaPolice says the team has to become more consistent if it wants to win a Grey Cup this year.

Winnipeg lost in the final last year to the B.C. Lions and he says the Lions were a more consistent team later in the season.

The 18-year-old Halifax Mooseheads forward is ranked 45th by The Hockey News for the 2012 NHL draft, a knock down from the No. 42 spot he occupied on International Scouting Service’s April ranking and a big slide from his No. 24 spot on TSN.ca’s mid-season list. He is also ranked 20th among North American skaters by Central Scouting.

The combine features physical, mental and medical testing.

“What the players have to keep in mind is that this will be their initial contact with many NHL teams, so they have the chance to make that initial impression,” NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr told NHL.com.

Frk had 16 goals and 13 assists for 29 points in 34 games this season after missing the first three months with a concussion. He added five goals and six assists in 17 post-season games, but four of those goals and one of those assists came in a first-round sweep of the Moncton Wildcats. He had just one goal and five assists in his final 13 playoff games.

After his abrupt departure from the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks two years ago, the Burlington native is back.

A slimmed-down Montoya, 24, made his triumphant return to Waterloo Region’s gridiron on Saturday night, dressed in Tri-City Outlaws’ black and gold.

Playing his first real game in two and a half years, a reinvented Montoya slashed and dashed his way to a touchdown and about 90 rushing yards.

And his Outlaws notched a 28-0 decision over their Northern Football Conference archrivals, the Sault Ste. Marie Steelers, in their season opener.

Tri-City quarterback Bryan Rosekat found receiver Aron Froese for TD strikes of 69 and 16 yards as the rebuilt defending national champs served notice they are contenders yet again.

Rosekat also connected with Jeff Nosal on a 20-yard TD pass, while Shawn Ashe and Froese hauled in two-point conversions before about 300 fans at Warrior Field.

Montoya, a sales rep for a national bakery, was lured to the Outlaws by linebacker Craig Davoren. While he is no longer the bulldozing force he once was, Montoya has improved his speed and agility.

“I felt pretty confident out there,” said Montoya. “Maybe I didn’t break the long runs I wanted, but I did produce.”

It’s no secret Montoya and the Hawks were not a snug fit, but he still hasn’t abandoned his hopes of playing pro.

“(Montoya) had a good game. I could see a bit of rust. Not just him, the O-line, too. It’s just a matter of getting our timing down,” said Outlaws head coach Chris Newsome.

Newsome said Montoya can “definitely” be the premier back the Outlaws are looking for in replacing workhorse Jon Nedeljkovic, who retired in the off-season.

The short-staffed Sault, winners of three NFC titles and one national championship through the past five years, went without a number of regulars, including receivers Matt Premo and Dan Leduc.

The Steelers were also without their perennial league all-star running back Josh Gauthier, 29, who has decided not to play this season.

“(Saturday) was good. It opened a few eyes as to what we need to do,” said Steelers offensive co-ordinator Paul Caldbick.

In other Week 1 Games, it was: Sarnia 28, Oakville 14; Toronto Raiders 41, Sudbury 6; and Toronto Titans 38, Ottawa 24.

The Outlaws entertain Sarnia on Saturday at 7 p.m.

“Stay at home, watch it on TV. Don’t even risk it … because you could end up coming back in a coffin,” Campbell, who is black, told the BBC.

The families of two of England’s black players, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, have already indicated they are unlikely to travel to the Euros because of fears of racist abuse.

After witnessing footage in BBC’s Panorama program, to be broadcast later Monday, of fans from the host nations giving the Nazi salute and taunting black players with monkey noises, Campbell said UEFA was wrong to award the tournament to Poland and Ukraine.

“I think that they were wrong, because what they should say is, ‘If you want this tournament, you sort your problems out. Until we see a massive improvement … you do not deserve these prestigious tournaments in your country.’”

The documentary also shows a group of Asian students being attacked at the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv, one of the host venues.

In a statement, UEFA — European football’s governing body — said the tournament “clearly creates an opportunity to address and confront such societal issues.”

Police swept through the squad’s training camp near Florence on Monday as part of a wide-ranging investigation into match-fixing, and the Italian football federation later announced Criscito would not play in the European Championship from June 8 to July 1.

Prandelli says “Criscito would have experienced a pressure that no human being can deal with.”

Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci is also reportedly being investigated but Prandelli has opted to keep him in his squad as there has not been any official notification.

Juventus coach Antonio Conte is also under investigation for fixing.

The 19th-seed from Thornhill, Ont., opened with a win on another sunny day at Roland Garros after losing in the first round a year ago to German Michael Berrer.

Raonic will next face American qualifier Jesse Levine, who beat Benjamin Becker of Germany 7-5, 6-2, 6-4.

The Canadian dominated from the start, breaking his Spanish opponent five times with 12 aces.

Raonic ended with 58 winners against just 10 for Ramirez Hidalgo.

Earlier, fellow Canadian Frank Dancevic exited the tournament after less than 30 minutes on the court, retiring due to a back issue.

The Niagara Falls, Ont., native was down 4-0 to Martin Klizan of Slovakia when he pulled out of the first-round match.

Dancevic said he was afraid to risk aggravating a back injury he suffered last month in Florida.

“I was petrified out there, I didn’t know what would happen. I started feeling twinges even during the warm-up and it only got worse during the match,” said Dancevic. “I didn’t want to mess up my whole summer, it was just not worth it for me.”

The 28-year-old took treatment after the third game but knew he could not go on.

“I wasn’t able to play at 100 per cent, I was not in it at all,” he said. “I played careful, I was scared to go for anything, I just knew there was no way I could go on.”

The Canadian is hoping to continue healing and could be a long shot entry into Wimbledon. If not, then he will plan to be ready for the Newport grass event in the U.S. which begins July 9.

“I’ve entered Wimbledon qualifying just in case I’m feeling really great,” he said. “I was playing so well in the spring and then I got this injury, for five days I lay on the floor with my legs on a bed, I was immobile. I only started training last week.

“But I’m still hoping to come back and play well,” said the 120th-ranked Dancevic. “I would like to crack the top 100.”

The Australian Open champion, who took over the No. 1 ranking by winning in Melbourne, struggled for long stretches but came back to beat Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2.

“Sometimes I felt it was not my day. Sometimes I thought, ‘yeah, maybe I still fight. I still have a chance,’” Azarenka said. “Sometimes it was like, ‘you know what? Forget it. I don’t want to do it.’”

Brianti, a 32-year-old veteran who has won one WTA title in her career, won the first set and then led 4-0 in the second before losing six straight games. She nearly served for the match but Azarenka saved two break points before making it 4-1 in the second set.

And although Azarenka rebounded over the final two sets, she finished the match with 60 unforced errors.

“I think it says it all. Bad days happen,” Azarenka said. “Unfortunately today I had way more mistakes than I usually do, but, you know, it happens sometimes.”

Both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer managed more straight-forward victories.

The top-ranked Djokovic, who is trying to win his fourth straight Grand Slam title, never faced a break point in beating Potito Starace of Italy 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-1.

“It’s just the first match here,” Djokovic said in French on court after the match. “It’s still a very long way to go before we talk about the final.”

Earlier, Federer beat Tobias Kamke of Germany 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.

The 16-time major champion equaled Jimmy Connors’ record of 233 career Grand Slam match wins in the Open era. Federer is 233-35 at tennis’ top four tournaments. Connors was 233-49.

“That’s a big one, because that was longevity,” Federer said. “Jimmy is obviously one of the greats of all time, and was around for 20 years.”

Defending women’s champion Li Na also won easily, beating Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 6-1.

Last year, Li became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title when she won at Roland Garros.

No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, No. 8 Marion Bartoli of France, No. 15 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia and No. 19 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia also advanced to the second round. But men’s No. 15 Feliciano Lopez retired from his match with a side muscle injury after losing the first five games of the first set to Florent Serra.

Former top-ranked player Lleyton Hewitt also lost, falling to Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, while No. 7 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, No. 10 John Isner of the United States and No. 11 Gilles Simon of France made it through.

The strangest finish of the day occurred when Alex Bogomolov Jr. retired from his match when he was one point from losing.

The Russian was trailing Arnaud Clement of France 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 5-4 when he quit the match on match point while serving.

“My whole leg was straight. I couldn’t bend it. I couldn’t walk,” said Bogomolov, who said his leg was cramping. “I didn’t want to risk a potential ligament damage or something.”

Azarenka was first up in the main stadium, and she didn’t look good at the start. In the first set alone, she had 28 unforced errors.

“She started well … but afterward she got a little bit tight. Things became a little bit more complicated for her,” said former French great Amelie Mauresmo, who has been working with Azarenka. “She managed to turn the match around at the last minute by digging deep and finding the resolve to win.”

The top-ranked Belarussian started the 2012 season with a 26-match winning streak. Her first loss came in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open.

No top-seeded woman has ever lost in the first round at the French Open since the tournament began to allow foreign entrants in 1925.

In the other Grand Slam tournaments, it has happened four times, most recently when top-ranked and top-seeded Martina Hingis lost in the first round at Wimbledon in 2001.