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LONDON -- Canadian Vasek Pospisil and American partner Jack Sock earned a berth in the Wimbledon mens doubles final Friday with a 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4 upset victory over Indias Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic. Pospisil, from Vancouver, and Sock will compete for the title against defending champions and top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States, who defeated the 12th-seeded French duo of Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2. Pospisil and Sock are playing together for the first time and may have surprised even themselves with their progress. The fifth-seeded Paes and Stepanek had beaten Torontos Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in the quarter-finals a day earlier. It has been a breakthrough tournament for several Canadian players at the All England Club. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., was scheduled to play Roger Federer in the mens singles semifinal later Friday. Eugenie Bouchard from Westmount, Que., will play the womens final on Saturday against 2011 champion Petra Kvitova. Nestor and French partner Kristina Mladenovic, the defending mixed doubles champions, have reached the semifinal and will next play Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan. The Bryans did not reach the final at any of the last three Grand Slam tournaments -- after winning four major titles in a row before that. Left-hander Bob and right-hander Mike have a record 15 Grand Slam doubles titles, including three at Wimbledon. .com) - SirDominic Pointer posted career highs of 24 points and seven steals to lead No. .Y. - Major League Soccer is prepared to start its season this weekend even if there isnt a labour deal with its referees and other on-field officials. . Winners of two straight, the Flames will try to become the first team in 25 years to go three consecutive games without taking a penalty Saturday night in San Jose. . The Italian football federation announced the appointment, three days after new president Carlo Tavecchio was elected. Tavecchio and Conte spoke on the phone early Thursday. . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning.SUNRISE, Fla. - Gerard Gallant needed no sales pitch from the Florida Panthers. Hes aware that they have not won a playoff series in nearly two decades, that they missed the playoffs by a mile last season and that they change coaches on an all-too-regular basis. None of that deterred him, either. "You look at their roster, you look at their team, you look at their core players," Gallant said. "I think its a great opportunity and Im looking forward to working with this hockey club." He now has that chance, after being introduced as the 13th coach in Panthers history and the teams eighth bench boss since 2003. Gallant hasnt been an NHL head coach since 2006, but has plenty of experience as an assistant and a very successful stint as the head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. His best player there was current Panthers winger Jonathan Huberdeau, whos considered a key part of Floridas plan to turn things around. "Of course I was excited to hear that news," Huberdeau said of his reaction to Gallants hiring. "Gerard has been a great coach for me. He taught me a lot of stuff when I was in juniors and its because of him that Im in the NHL right now." When Gallant and Huberdeau were paired in juniors, their team won just about every night, or so it seemed. No ones expecting that in Florida, but some parallels will exist from that team and now, Gallant said. "Jonathans a great kid," Gallant said. "I knew the kid for tthree years and we worked well together.dddddddddddd Were going to have 23 players who are going to work hard and compete." Panthers general manager Dale Tallon called the search exhaustive, and the team was linked to plenty of other candidates throughout the two-month process, most notably the likes of Peter Laviolette, Barry Trotz and Dan Bylsma. When he met with Gallant, Tallon expected him to be in a downtrodden mood — the first interview was two days after the Montreal Canadiens, with whom Gallant was an assistant coach the past two seasons, were eliminated from this years playoffs. Instead, Gallant was high-energy, eager, excited. Tallon was impressed. "Ive never heard a negative word said about Gerard Gallant in any capacity in hockey," Tallon said. Its the start of a hectic time for Florida, which holds the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NHL Draft — one they could trade away — and is expected to be a busy player when free agency begins July 1. And Gallant knows very well how quickly things can turn around. When he was hired in Montreal, the Canadiens were coming off a season where they finished with the fewest points in the East. With Gallant on the staff, the Canadiens won a division title in 2012-13, and topped the 100-point mark in the standings last season. The Panthers would enjoy nothing more than him being part of a similar turnaround in Florida. "The league is so close," Gallant said. "The teams are so close together now." ' ' '
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