WEMBY GAME’STEALS THE SHOW Victor spectacular one-handed dunks as France opened preparations for its men’s bas- ketball gold medal bidat the Paris Olym Pics. The NBA’s Rookie of the Year wasall smiles after powerful dunks in a 96-46 rout of Turkey on Wednesday. He scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed six rebounds in front of a sold-out crowd of around 5,500 in Rouen, France. “Victor played a “Wemby game.’ He was imposing STRATFORD BEACON HERALD FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2024 : in defence and varied things in attack. It’ hi ver ene’ ly before in the France team,” captain Nico- las Batum said. “It’s a great asset for us.” The 20-year-old San Antonio tint star ‘It gives me a rush’ Tim Taylor looks to build Stanley Cup champion as St. Louis Blues' assistant GM CORY SMITH Nothing will compare to the feel- ing ofan NHL career that lasted 12 seasons and more than 800 games. But Tim Taylor’s new role as St. Louis Blues’ ‘aaa general manager is a close seco: “Tt gives me a rush,” he said Thursday after returning to Stratford for an extended break. “It’s not the total rush you have as a player, but it still gives me the rush of trying to build a Stanley Cup champion and finding out whatmakesa perfect team. There’s alot aie goes into it, but it’s very intri; Taylor, 55, had been doing the job in an unofficial capacity since midway through the 2022-23 sea- son. Blues general manager Doug Armstrong pushed him in that di- rection as the club laid out a front office succession plan that willsee Alexander Steen take over as GM "(Armstrong) guides me and helps me out and, at the end of the day, he doesn’t leave me doing it by myself,” Taylor said. “It’s been a growth in my development and I’ve grown quickly. I look at the game differently even from three or four years ago.” e league has evolved since Taylor hung up his skates fol- lowing the 2006-07 season with Tampa. Retirement grew old, and he joined the Blues in 2011 as their director of player develop- ment. That morphed into direc- tor of player personnel until the nudge from Armstrong, who has also brought Taylor into the inner circle of Hockey Canada’s men’s program. The transition has been rela- tively smooth, thanks to an NHL resume that includes 75 goals, 181 points and two Cups. He helped a eee win their first title in ret has helped me step into be oe and made it easier, and ing how players feel,” Taylor said, “People think these are mil- \ Stratford's Tim Taylor won a Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 as om director of player development. | Taylor is now the team's assistant general manager. FILE lion-dollar players and they forget they’ve given their whole lives to this career. They want to win and .. and it’s trying to get the most out of people.” Instead of mentoring young players and working on that side of Fete Taylor i is watch- Cup, Buffalo for the NHL scouting combine, Las Vegas for the draft, ee ae back to St. vats for the zB | thing I always found intriguing.” | Now that he’s home, Taylor can reset for the 2024-25 season be- mp, pro er and free tes ‘It’s been a good learning expe- rience,” he said. The former NHL s Players’ asso- ciation ing to, tabson the Bree’ minor league affiliates, scouting NHL teams and figuring out who the club could target in trades or signings. Since the spring, he’s been to Prague for the world champion- ships, Saginaw for the Memorial orking knowledge of the finan- cial side of the game, which has changed drastically with the salary cap and other nuances that have become more of a focus for play- ers and teams. There’s still a lot to learn, he said, but “it was some- Gagne returns to Dodgers’ mound on 20th anniversary of milestone Canadian’s 84th consecutive save still stands as the MLB record LOS ANGELES With Welcometothe Jungle blaring like the old days, Eric Gagne took the mound and fired a strike Wednesday on the 20th anniversary of recording his 84th consecutive save for the Los fe Dodgers. ry time I step on this field, it’s pd a church to me,” he said. “It’s my office on top of that little ‘inhere with all las, the Sandy Kou- faxes of the world — it’s humbling” Catching Gagne was current closer Evan Phillips. bar Di erts turned down th request of his former teammate z to get behind the plate, but they eee a re hug on the field. 't know what he’s going to ee and I don’t want him to embarrass me,” said Roberts, who played with Gagne from 2002-04. Th i i From 2002-04, Gagne was the majors’ dominant closer and won the NL Cy Young Award in 2003. Hewasa three-time all-star during that stretch. He finished his career with 187 saves. stands as the longest such streak in major league history. It lasted 872, innings in which the Cana- dian struck out 139 batters while not allowing any of 123 inherited runners to score. He gave upatotal of two runs and no homers. “It was like cartoon stuff, guy had no chance,” Roberts said. “I remember being out in centre field and I would kind of challenge myself by not having ps fas glove on when the pitch was t! Gagne signed with hie snblibers as a free agent in 1995 and began his career as a starter. But after in thatrole, he was con- in 2005 and 2006 after undergoing elbow and back surgeries. The Dodgers didn’t re-sign him. He pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 2007 when they won the World Series. That December, Gagne was linked to baseball’s steroids scan- dal after he was named in the Mitchell Report. In 2010, he ad- mitted to using human growth hormone, saying it was to recov- er from a knee injury. Deeply tanned from days spent playing golf and biking in Arizona where he lives, the 48-year-old credited his steanamates, including Roberts verted into a reliever. That’s where he blossomed. . for keeping the treak ali , lot had to go right and the ajob he can’t imagine not having. And he still gets to hit the ice ith his son in Stratford’s Over the Hill League on Sunday nights. “At some point I'd like to be a | GM,” he said. “If that doesn’t hap- | pen, I’m quite relaxed knowing Alex (Steen) and I can handle this situation and try to build another Cup team.” cosmith@postmedia.com Eric Gagne defence behind me was unbe- lievable,” Gagne said. “People call it a save, I call it more of a pre- served win. That’s kind of how I went about my whole approach. I didn’tfeel the rere that much because I wasn’t ly focused on me messing up. ike focused on helping the guys.” | Roberts helped him, too. One | night in Houston, he robbed | Lance Berkman of a home run in the ninth tokeep the streak going. | “T’mcertain that he said he owes | me a dinner,” Roberts said. “I'm | still hungry.” | Gagne plans ee ‘up next year | at spring trainin; | “We got to find a es steak | house worth it,” he saic | The Associated Press recently pes a France-USA final, against Le likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry. “As a basketball player, it’s also a dream to play against Team USA,” he said. The Associated Press SECTION B Ten Hag to stay with Man United Manager says ‘hard work ahead’ Manchester United manag- er Erik ten Hag has signed a contract extension through to 2026, the Premier League club said Thursday. The Dutchman has won back-to-back trophies in his first two years at Old Trafford, but faced uncertainty over his position after leading it to its worst league finish in 34 years last season. After a performance review, United decided to stick with ten Hag and he has agreed to a one-year extension on his previous contract, which was due to expire at the end of the upcoming season. “Looking backatthe past two years, we can reflect with pride on two trophies and many ex- amples of progression from where we were when I joined,” ten Hag said. “However, we must also be clear that there is still ard work ahead to reach the levels expected of Manchester United, which means sna for English and European titles. In my dis- cussions with the club, we. mae Erik ten Hag found complete unity in ourvi- sion for reaching those goals.” Ten Hag joined United from Ajax in 2022 and won the En- glish League Cup in his first year. He followed that up last season with a win over Man- chester City in the FA Cup final. He stays on in the face of a major overhaul of United’s soc- cer operations bynewco-own- er Jim Ratcliffe. British billion- aire Ratcliffe bought a 27.7 per cent stake in the club in Febru- ary and has hired a new CEO, sporting director and technical director in a bid to return the 20-time English champions to the top of European soccer. “With two trophies in the past two seasons, Erikhas rein- forced his record as one of the most consistently successful coaches in European football,” said United sporting director Dan Ashworth. The Associated Press Correction In the story ‘Merchants defend provincial U23 fastball title’ in the July 4 Beacon Herald, it mistakenly named Tye Boyd as hitting a three- run home run in the final. Derek Erb hit the home run. The Beacon Herald apologizes for the error.