“Bryan is skilled, knowledgeable and respected across the NBA and will be a resource that we count on to help build the Raptors into Canada’s team,” said Leiweke.

With the assistance of Colangelo, Leiweke will conduct a search for a new GM and hopes to fill the vacant spot within the next 30 days. The new GM will be given the “final authority on all basketball-related decisions”.

Colangelo, 47, got off to a great start with the franchise after he signed on as GM/Team President in February 2006.

In his first full season with the Raptors, Colangelo made major chances to an underwhelming roster and led the Raptors to their first ever Atlantic Division title in franchise history during the 2006/07 season as the team finished with a franchise best 47-35 record. As a result of the team’s success, Colangelo won the 2007 Executive of the Year.

The team again qualified for the playoffs the following season with a 41-41 record, but have since struggled to remain relevant in the Eastern Conference picture. They have missed the playoffs and failed to reach a record above .500 for five consecutive seasons.

During his tenure as GM, Colangelo was heavily criticized for several questionable transactions such as trading Rasho Nesterovic, TJ Ford and Roy Hibbert to the Indiana Pacers for oft injured Jermaine O’Neal in 2008, signing Hedo Turkoglu to a five-year $53 million deal in 2009, and his inability to sign Chris Bosh to a contract extension before he bolted to the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010.

According to various reports, the Raptors are targeting Denver Nuggets GM and 2013 NBA Executive of the Year recipient Masai Ujiri to become Colangelo’s replacement.

Ujiri was previously with the Raptors franchise as their assistant GM in 2008.

Those are just the starters..

2. NBA    MLSE is reportedly targeting Denver Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri to run the Raptors’ basketball operations, yes he’s the guy who worked under Brian Colangelo, who’s tenure as president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors is over.

Colangelo will reportedly stay on with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment in a corporate, non-basketball role.   Doug Smith will join me and Bill at 840am to discuss

3. Jose Mourinho will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season after three years at the Spanish club, paving the way for his expected return to Chelsea.

His final season at Madrid was controversial in particular void of trophies, but he is free to leave three years early from his contract after the final match on June 1 without any compensation involved

4. NHL   A report posted on the Denver Post’s website last night says Roy’s younger brother, Stephane Roy, leaked the impending announcement that Patrick Roy is on the verge of being the next head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. Remember Roy played in Colorado for eight seasons before retiring in 2003. He won a Stanley Cup with the Avs in 1996 and 2001

He would take over from fired Joe Sacco, who was let go after Colorado finished this season last in the Western Conference with a 16-25 record.

5.   If the  Red Wings keep playing like they are, the special season Chicago produced may well be for naught. Last night they scored 31 seconds apart midway through the second period and Pavel Datsyuk restored a two-goal lead in the third to help Detroit beat the Blackhawks 3-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the  series.

6.  MEMORIAL CUP… All four teams at the Canadian Hockey League showcase now sit with 1-1 records after Derrick Pouliot and Chase De Leo scored 23 seconds apart in the third period yesterday as Portland picked up its first win at the tournament with a 6-3 victory over the London Knights.

The win guarantees a tiebreaker game on Thursday

7.  BLUE JAYS…  RA Dickey went 8 scrappy innings and Edwin Encarnacion provided the key offence, doubling home three runs in the seventh inning after Rays reliever Josh Lueke walked 3 Jays, Emilio Bonifaci0, Munenori Kawaski and Jose Bautista with the game knotted at 3-3. Encarnacion, who has reached base safely in 22 of his last 25 games, then slammed a swerving ball into left field to clear the bases and give Toronto a 7-5 win.

Bryan A  (files from BBC, Reuters, AP, CP)

1. IIHF World Championships..  Sweden beat an ever improving Swiss team 5-1 to win the gold medal in Stockholm as Henrik Sedin scored the winning goal, assisted on a third goal and scored into an empty net. Henrik compiled four goals and five assists and twin brother Daniel had a goal and five assists in four games

The United States defeated the Finns 3-2 in a shootout for bronze. Canada finished fifth after losing in the quarter-finals for a fourth straight year.

2.  In Ottawa, with the Penquins leading 1-0, Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson wrote another chapter in his glittering career when he brought the sellout crowd to its feet with a short-handed goal with 28 seconds left to send the game into extra time.

Colin Greening then sent them all home on cloud nine when he scored the winner over 7 minutes into double overtime for the 2-1 win.  Pittsburg leads the series 2-1 and the next game is on Wednesday in Ottawa.

3.   In Boston at the TD Garden, the Bruins scored two goals by Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic in the third to beat the New York Rangers 5-2 and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

4.  There was more good news for home town fans at the Memorial Cup in Saskatoon where the Blades  picked up their first win of the tournament by beating the Halifax Mooseheads 5-2
5. NBA PLAYOFFS   The Memphis Grizzlies have made their mark this year with an outstanding defence and great play from their big man Zack Randolf. Yesterday in San Antonio their defence wasn’t up to its usual standards, allowing the Spurs to hit 53 per cent of their shots and a franchise post-season-record 14 3-pointers while Randolph struggled with just two points.

As a result Tony Parker had 20 points, Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points and the Spurs struck first winning 105-83

6.  The great Scottish comedian Billy Conn0lly has made a career out of his roots in the Govan shipyards, but yesterday at West Bromwich Albion it was the other famous son of Govan who was in the spotlight for the last time.

The son of a ship-builder and a top Scottish player from 1957-74, Alex Ferguson became a manager with East Stirlingshire in 1974, then to to St. Mirren later that year before being hired by Aberdeen in 1978, making his mark by breaking the dominance of Rangers and Celtic.

Ferguson was lured from Aberdeen to United in November 1986 and the rest is now history. He has won 13 Premier League titles, the Champions League twice, five FA Cups, four League Cups, the European Cup Winners’ Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and 10 Community Shields.

United and WBA drew 5-5 in a wild game at the Hawthorns, Ferguson was applauded off the pitch by players and fans from both sides for the last time.

7.  In other EPL news, Arsenal qualified for the Champions League for the 16th straight season after edging Tottenham to fourth place in the Premier League. Laurent Koscielny’s 52nd-minute volley sealed an unconvincing 1-0 for Arsenal at Newcastle, rendering Spurs’ 1-0 victory over Sunderland ,courtesy of a late screamer from Gareth Bale, meaningless

Chelsea finished third, and claimed the last automatic Champions League spot by beating Everton 2-1 thanks to Fernando Torres’ winner in Rafa Benitez’s last game in charge of the Europa League champions

8.  GOLF   Sang-Moon Bae won the Byron Nelson Championship for his first PGA Tour title on a windy Texas day, beating Keegan Bradley by two strokes after blowing a four-stroke lead. The 26-year-old South Korean closed with a 1-under 69 to finish at 13-under 267. Bae already had 11 international victories — winning on the Korea, Japan and Asian tours.

9.  Paul Henderson joined Mats Sundin in a class of IIHF Hall of Fame player inductees on Sunday, which also included Sweden’s Peter Forsberg, Finland’s Teppo Numminen and Canada’s Danielle Goyette.

Henderson, 70, received the Order of Canada earlier this month and the Order of Hockey in Canada last month.

BryanA  (files from BBC, Reuters, AP,CP )

In game 7 of the Toronto-Boston series the referees didn’t think an elbowing minor was necessary when Chris Kelly broke James vanRymsdyk’s nose in the 3rd period. After that, the Bruins thugged out their comeback . I don’t blame them; they took advantage of a situation the referees presented to them. The thing is, you see that and then you see the penalties called against the Kings Saturday night. The goaltender interfernce call to put the Kings 2 men down going into overtime was stunning. And disturbing. I know hockey referees have a tough job and I can appreciate that. But the fact is there’s no consistency. It doesn’t stop with the on-ice officials either. Brendan Shanahan suspended the Sharks Raffi Torres for the remainder of the second round for a legal hit. Shanahan’s explanation was, as Rob Ford might say, ridiculous. Torres is a repeat offender and that’s why he got it. I don’t blame Shanahan though. His is a thankless job with a lot of pressure and a lot of people on all sides pressuring him. The word you want to hear here is better. These guys may be good but they have to be better.

Graeme McDowell won the Volvo World Match Play today at the magnificent Thracian Cliffs Golf and Beach resort 2&1 over Thongchai Jaidee. It was his second win this month and he now goes into this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth as one of the favourites to win

2. NHL  .. Red Wings coach Mike Babcock told a group of Detroit reporters to relax, his team would be just fine after they had lost game one 4–1 to the Black Hawks. He knew what he was talking about as Damien Brunner and Brendan Smith scored in the second period as Detroit beat Chicago 4-1 to even their Western Conference semifinal series.

3. There are 2 games in the NHL on Sunday. First in Boston, the Rangers will try to bounce back from an overtime loss for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Tonight Jason Spezza returns to the Senators line-up as they return home down 2-0 to Sydney Crosby and his Pittsburg Penquins..

4. NBA  The Conference finals are set in the NBA with Miami getting set to host Indiana on Wednesday, after they beat out the Knicks 4-2 last night with a 106-99 win.

Today San Antonio opens their Western Conference Final against Memphis, who traded star Rudy Gay to the Raptors in mid season, and just got better..

5.  MLB   For the full slate of games today just check out our ticker. The Blue Jays have lost 8 of the last 9 against the Yankees including a sloppy 7-2 decision yesterday. RA Dickey takes the hill against CC Sabathia at 1pm.

6.  MEMORIAL CUP   Most of Canada watches junior hockey twice a year, at Christmas for the World Juniors, and in May for the Memorial Cup. Last night in Saskatoon they were not disappointed as highly touted Nathan McKinnon grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the second period, scoring at even strength, on the power play and while shorthanded as the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champions exploded for five straight goals to cruise past the Portland Winterhawks 7-4 in both teams’ first game at the tournament

Today  Saskatoon plays Halifax..

7.  IIHF World Championship..  This afternoon Switzerland will play for the first gold medal in their history against Sweden who want to be the first host country to win a world title since 1986.

The Swiss extended their unbeaten run at this year’s men’s world hockey championship to nine wins with a 3-0 victory over the United States in one semifinal Saturday night. The Swedes downed Finland 3-0 in the afternoon semifinal.

8. TENNIS   Minutes ago in Rome, Rafael Nadal continued to dominate Roger Federer as he controlled the final from start to finish to win 6-1, 6-3 for his seventh Italian Open title.

Nadal improved to 20-10 in his career against Federer, and showed once again that he’ll be the player to beat when the tournament at Roland Garros starts next Sunday. It was the fifth-ranked Spaniard’s fifth title since returning earlier this year from a seven-month layoff

Earlier on the women’s side, Serena Williams won her fourth consecutive title of the year in dominating fashion beating third-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-3

The top-ranked American will enter the French Open, which starts next Sunday, on a career-best 24-match winning streak

9.  PREAKNESS   If you missed it yesterday, Orb, winner of the Kentucky Derby and pre race even money favorite didn’t seem to have much left in the tank, but the story soon became a horse trained by one not so over-the-hill Hall of Famer and ridden by another took control of the Preakness. The result: a huge upset and the end of any hopes for a Triple Crown attempt at the Belmont Stakes.

Thanks to Oxbow’s wire-to-wire win Saturday over Kentucky Derby winner Orb, trainer D. Wayne Lukas and jockey Gary Stevens who retired 7 years ago, have themselves another classic to add to their stellar resumes.

10.  AHL  If you were wondering if the Toronto Marlies were done for the year the answer in “No”

They staved off post-season elimination Saturday with a 4-1 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins in Game 5 of the American Hockey League Western Conference semifinals to send the series back to Toronto. The Griffins still lead the series 3-2, but Toronto will host Game 6 on Tuesday, and if necessary, Game 7 on Wednesday

11.  SOCCER   Here are the results from today’s play in the EPL

Swanson, 42, was trying to dribble a soccer ball 10,000 miles for charity from Seattle to Brazil in time for the 2014 World Cup, but tragically passed away after being struck by a car:

David Beckham started his career with Manchester United and also played for Real Madrid and the Los Angeles Galaxy, winning titles with all those clubs and also making a record 115 international appearances for an England outfield player. This year he won another title with PSG and now he has announced his retirement with 2 games left to go.

“If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over one hundred times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy,” said Beckham, who also played on loan at AC Milan. “I’m fortunate to have realized those dreams.”

2.  NHL   Raffi Torres has been suspended for the remainder of the second round for his illegal check to the head on Jarret Stoll of the Los Angeles King

3.  The last time Boston played the Rangers in the playoffs guys like Bobby Orr, Derek Sanderson, johnny Pie Face Mackenzie, Rod Gilbert, Vic Hadfield were in the line ups, but last night in Boston it was Brad Marchand who scored with 4:20 left in the first overtime as the Bruins beat the Rangers 3-2 in the first playoff game in 40 years

4.  It looked to us all like the Sharks were going to tie up the series, leading by a goal late but they took back to back penalties, the latter a questionable delay of game, then Dustin Brown tied it with 1:43 left and Trevor Lewis scored the go ahead marker 22 seconds later, propelling the Los Angeles Kings to a stunning 4-3 victory over San Jose for a 2-0 series lead

5.  IIHF  In Stockholm, Canada was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the World Championship for a fourth straight year with a 3-2 shootout loss to host Sweden. Fredrik Pettersson sent the hometown crowd home happy when he scored the winner in the fourth round of the shootout as Sweden moved on to a semifinal meeting with archrival Finland

6.  NBA  In the end the San Antonio Spurs were too strong for Golden State, and last night in Oakland Tim Duncan had 19 points, Kawhi Leonard added 16 points as the Spurs held off a furious final rally to beat the Warriors 94-82 in Game 6 on Thursday night and advance to the Western Conference finals

7.  Meanwhile in New York the Knicks were facing elimination, but as he has all year, Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points and he led the Knicks to an 85-75 victory over the Indiana Pacers

Reserves J.R. Smith and Chris Copeland each had 13 points for the Knicks, who now trail 3-2 and will need a victory Saturday in Indiana to force a seventh game

8.  MLB   Consider this, twelve Yankees already have been on the disabled list this year, costing a total of 332 games yet they still lead the AL East at 25-16, and open a 3 game series against the Jays tonight.

Last night Andy Pettitte had to leave in the fifth inning with a back injury, then Chris Stewart went off after seven with a gimpy leg, the 3-2 loss to Seattle was secondary in the fans minds as they will need a new program to acquaint themselves with some of tonight’s team

9. GOLF   Keegan Bradley shot 10-under 60 to break the TPC Four Seasons course record and match the best round ever at the Nelson. He topped his career PGA Tour best by three strokes and equalled Phil Mickelson’s opening 60 at Phoenix as the best round on the tour this season. The 60, with 10 birdies and an eagle 3 at the 542-yard seventh, gave Bradley a three-stroke lead

10.  Shawn Chaulk owns a hoard of everything Wayne Gretzky and this weekend he is auctioning most of it off. Millions of dollars are likely to change hands. This may be the world’s largest game-worn collection of memorabilia from the world’s best player from the sport’s last dynasty.

Chaulk from Fort McMurray now 45 started his collecting  with 50,000 signed hockey cards in his collection, many accompanied by letters.

11.  David Stern said he expected the Sacramento Kings to have a new owner within 48 hours and late last night the Maloof family reportedly has reached an agreement with a Sacramento group headed by software tycoon Vivek Ranadive to sell a 65 per cent controlling interest in the Kings at a total franchise valuation of $535 million.