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• Blues sack coach Drew Bannister, hire Jim Montgomery

  The NHL’s in-season coaching carousel has made another turn.

  The St. Louis Blues announced Sunday they have fired Drew Bannister and replaced him with the newly available Jim Montgomery.

  Team president and GM Doug Armstrong announced the sudden change Sunday after the Blues’ disappointing 9-12-1 start to the season.

  Montgomery, the 2022 Jack Adams Award winner, was fired by the Boston Bruins just five days ago.

  Montgomery will join his new team in New York ahead of Monday’s game against the Rangers.

  St. Louis fired Stanley Cup-winning coach Craig Berube last season and named Bannister the interim bench boss.

  In May, the Blues removed the interim tag from Bannister’s title.

  Montgomery spent the last two full seasons leading the Bruins to 100-point seasons and play-off appearances, but both post-season runs ended against the Florida Panthers.

  Boston opened the season 8-9-3 under Montgomery before he was fired, and the Bruins have won both their games under new coach Joe Sacco.

  Among the NHL’s 32 teams, this is the 23rd coaching change since January 2023.

  After missing the playoffs last season, the Blues are 30th in the NHL in scoring this season at 2.36 goals per game. Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer haven’t fared much better in goal with a combined .885 save percentage.

   

• Harden goes second in all-time 3-pointers list, does not expect to catch Curry

  James Harden may consider himself one of the most confident players in the NBA, but he does not expect to overhaul Stephen Curry's all-time 3-pointer record after going second in the charts.

  Curry made a pair of 3-pointers as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz 116-105 on Sunday, finishing with 20 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.

  His first 3-pointer of the evening, made with around six minutes to go in the first quarter, was the 2,794th of his NBA career, the second-most in league history.

  Having surpassed Ray Allen's total of 2,973, Harden only trails Curry – who has hit 3,782 3-pointers ahead of his Golden State Warriors facing the Clippers on Monday.

  Asked about his feat after Sunday's game, Harden said: "Unbelievable accomplishment. It's just a testament to the amount of work that I've been putting in. 

  "As I get older and just chip away at an unbelievable career, I start to accomplish things like that. So I don't ever want to take it for granted.

  "I just want to give motivation to the youth and every other person that's chasing a dream to play professional basketball or whatever it is, so it's an honour."

  But when asked if Curry's mark was now within his sights, Harden – who is just a year younger than the all-time record holder – said nobody will ever take that honour, adding: "I'm one of the most confident guys that we have in this league, but no, I probably won't catch Steph.

  "I don't think anybody will honestly. He can shoot the s*** out of the ball. Granted a lot of these guys are on that list for being catch-and-shoot players, so they came off pindowns, they were spot shots or whatnot. 

  "Now, where the game has evolved, guys like Steph are coming off pindowns, he's creating off isos, he's coming off pick-and-rolls. 

  "There's so many different variables to be able to shoot the 3, make shots and do it at an efficient high level.

  "Somebody has to have an unbelievable career, shoot the ball well and make a lot of 3s. If it happens, it's going to be when we're not here anymore. So that'll be in there for a minute."

• Casado hails Barcelona's 'incredible' offside trap after Clasico win

  Marc Casado praised Barcelona’s daring high line following a resounding 4-0 Clasico victory against Real Madrid in LaLiga.

  The win put an end to Madrid’s aspirations of a record unbeaten run in the league as they were unable to equal Barcelona’s streak of 43 games without loss between 2017 and 2018.

  Instead, the Santiago Bernabeu witnessed a finessed Hansi Flick offside trap as the hosts were caught offside a whopping eight times in the first half, representing their joint most on record (since 2003-04) in a single LaLiga match, equalling their tally against Celta Vigo in March 2013. 

  They were ultimately caught out 12 times in total, and Barcelona midfielder Casado, who bagged an assist, was enamoured by his side's defensive display.

  "It's incredible, to have the b**** to have the defensive line this high," he said in the mixed zone.

  "We've been doing it all season, the defensive work of this team is spectacular. It's incredible and at the moment it's working for us."

  His delight was unsurprising. Barcelona managed to nullify the Real Madrid threat with forward Kylian Mbappe caught offside eight times through the duration of the match.

  It is the most by any player in a single game in Europe's top five leagues since Karim Benzema against Eibar in November 2018.

  Barcelona were firing at the other end too, as Robert Lewandowski bagged a brace before Lamine Yamal and Raphinha doubled their margin of victory late on.

  It means Barcelona now have 10 wins in 11 games so far this season under Flick, leaving them six points clear at the top of LaLiga.

  Goalkeeper Inaki Pena, who came through the ranks at Barcelona, has been impressed by the turnaround in form since the coach's off-season arrival.

  "I'm super happy now, I am a proper Culer. We suffered a lot towards the end of last season, it was a tough time," he told Barca's official media channels.

  "Flick came in and just told us how much we had to believe in ourselves, on a personal level and on a collective level."

  Both Casado and Pena came through La Masia, which remains a key source of talent for the Catalan giants.

  "We know that this club always brings out very good players from the academy, I don't know how it happens but it always comes out. The work at La Masia is spectacular and that's why we arrive so prepared for the elite," Casado added.