Longtime Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee has become the first general manager of the NHLs expansion franchise in Las Vegas.After an exhaustive process that included interviews with as many as seven candidates, owner Bill Foley -- with the help of adviser Murray Craven, a longtime NHL player and close associate of Foleys -- opted to go with McPhee. He was announced as team GM at a news conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon.The Las Vegas team, as yet unnamed, was awarded the NHLs 31st franchise in June, shortly before the leagues annual awards ceremony held in Las Vegas.Our mission here is clear: Were going to build an organization and a team that people in Nevada and Las Vegas will be proud of, and were going to do it quickly, and were aiming at the Stanley Cup, McPhee said Wednesday. Its that simple.Prior to the expansion announcement, Foley had said in an interview that hiring the right GM was a crucial step to building a team that can be competitive early in the process. Although there were a number of current assistant general managers or top player personnel executives considered for the job, McPhees experience was a key factor in his earning the post, those close to the process said.We all want to win, and hes going to win for us, but I like to have people that I really get along with and that I can communicate with, Foley said of McPhee. We had great candidates; they were all good. I just felt there was a little something extra with George.Among those also considered for the post were associate?Pittsburgh Penguins?GM Jason Botterill, assistant?Tampa Bay Lightning?GM Julien BriseBois, and Paul Fenton, who holds a similar position in?Nashville. The Las Vegas team also asked for permission to speak to former Florida GM Dale Tallon, who recently moved into a?more senior position with the?Panthers, but its believed the two sides did not speak about the job.McPhee, a 58-year-old native of Guelph, Ontario, was most recently an adviser to New York Islanders GM Garth Snow.?One of McPhees top priorities will be to build a scouting staff, a source close to the process said.Many NHL scouts have a window in their contracts that would allow them to seek other employment opportunities, and it will be key for the Las Vegas franchise to move quickly to assemble a top-notch scouting staff for the coming season.The Las Vegas franchise will begin play in 2017-18. In advance of its first season, the team will draft players from the current 30 teams in an expansion draft that will be held next June, shortly before the annual entry draft.Each NHL franchise can expect to lose one player in the draft, and it will be up to McPhee and his staff to assess which players might be made available to them, as well as any potential deals that could be made in advance of the expansion draft.McPhee said tearing down and rebuilding a team can be negative fun and called taking over a brand-new team a phenomenal opportunity.Here you come in and its a clean slate and you get to pick everyone in your organization, McPhee said. This is what every GM wants to experience at some point in his career, to be able to start with a new franchise.McPhee began his NHL management career with Vancouver?and was part of a Canucks team that advanced to the 1994 Stanley Cup finals.He was named GM of the Capitals in 1997 and guided the team to its first and only trip to the Stanley Cup finals the following spring, when the Capitals were swept by the Detroit Red Wings.McPhee was forced by ownership to sell off the teams high-priced players during the 2003-04 season. He then rebuilt the team behind homegrown stars, such as?Alexander Ovechkin?and Nicklas Backstrom,?a process that no doubt was a factor in his hiring for the Las Vegas position.He took Washington from being a team that was scrambling and sort of turned it around, so I think that experience will be a big plus, said Doug MacLean, who was the?Columbus Blue Jackets GM when they entered the league in 2000. I think its a real good fit.Under McPhee, the Capitals became a regular-season titan, winning seven Southeast Division championships and a Presidents Trophy as the NHLs top regular-season team in 2009-10.Apart from the obvious selections of players such as Ovechkin, McPhee was also responsible for drafting and developing key Capitals personnel, including defending Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby (drafted 93rd overall in 2008), highly skilled forward?Evgeny Kuznetsov (picked 26th overall in 2010) and promising young netminder Philipp Grubauer (selected 112th overall in 2010).Although the Capitals could not replicate their significant regular-season success in the playoffs during McPhees tenure -- ultimately leading to his dismissal in the spring of 2014 -- the Capitals under his watch became one of the most vibrant hockey markets in the United States.In a short period of time after the 2004-05 lockout, fans began flooding to the Verizon Center in Washington to support the Capitals, and they continue to do so to this day.I think Ill be hopefully even better the second time around, McPhee said. There are lots of GMs in this business that have done a good job in one place and gone to the next place and won Cups. Id like to be one of those guys.For all his talk about wanting to win right away, McPhee has shown restraint and patience as a GM. A title is his goal, but first its about putting a team on the ice that will thrill the 15,000-plus fans who signed up for season tickets to make the NHL in Las Vegas happen.The whole thing is a process, McPhee said. Well play a brand of hockey that people will like. Ive never enjoyed that sit-back style of hockey. I like a team thats attacking all the time, pressuring pucks all over the ice. I love the way Pittsburgh played this year, and they won the Stanley Cup. Well be doing the same sorts of things.McPhee played for four years at Bowling Green State University and won the Hobey Baker Award as the top collegiate player in 1981-82. He went on to play 115 NHL games as a forward, all but one with the New York Rangers.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.? Adidas Ultra Boost 2018 . Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead. Cheap Ultra Boost Shoes . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. http://www.cheapultraboostshoes.com/ .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. 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Youve got to enjoy it while it lasts ... it shows you how good we play this season, enjoy it.The Flyers last won 10 straight games in 1985.Philadelphia has been the hottest team in the league for a month and special teams have been a key factor. It is second in the NHL on the power play and converting at 23.5 percent.The Flyers scored on three of their four power plays against the Stars on Dec 10. Claude Giroux leads the NHL with 15 power-play points. Wayne Simmonds is second in the league with 14 power-play points and leads the NHL with eight goals with the man advantage.Weve all played together for a long time, Simmonds said. Its kind of like second nature with the puck and knowing where all your options are. We often have two to four options per guy, no matter who has the puck. I think thats the key for us and makes it a lot easier.The Stars are on the other end of the spectrum and trying to bounce back from a 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday. After entering the season as one of the trendy picks to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, the Stars are outside of the playoff picture after 32 games and the offense hasnt been firing on a consistent basis.dddddddddddd.Its been particularly frustrating on the power play, where the Stars had looks but couldnt convert on five opportunities against the Rangers.We need results now, Stars forward Jason Spezza said. Id much rather have a an ugly 2-for-5 (on the power play) than a pretty 0-for-5.Dallas will be without center Cody Eakin, who was suspended four games by the NHL Player for charging Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.With Eakin out, Spezza will move back to his traditional role of center, while Curtis McKenzie will be back in the lineup after missing back-to-back games with an upper-body injury.McKenzie had four points in his past five games before he sustained the injury.It was a bit frustrating with how I had been playing, McKenzie said. I feel good (today). 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