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MONTREAL -- After leaving the presidents office vacant for 18 months, the Montreal Alouettes opted to hire from within. The Canadian Football League club announced Tuesday that Mark Weightman, the former Chief Operating Officer, will be the new president and CEO. Weightman, 41, had been filling the presidents duties anyway since Ray Lalonde stepped down in May 2012 after only 14 months on the job. "We asked Mark to lead our franchise," said Andrew Wetenhall, the son of owner Bob Wetenhall who was unable to attend the announcement due to a flu. "Hes proven himself time and again." Weightman has been with the franchise since 1995 when he worked for the defunct Baltimore Stallions. The native of St. Andre dArgenteuil, Que., moved with them to Montreal the following year and stayed on when Wetenhall bought the team from Jim Spiros in 1997. His first priority will be to fill Percival Molson Stadium, which has had empty seats since it was expanded from 20,202 seats to 25,012 in 2010. The Alouettes used to sell out the smaller stadium every game, but have generally drawn about 23,000 since the expansion. "Its a pretty high priority," said Wetenhall, a New York investment banker who is a CFL governor. "Its a marker of our commercial success and our on-field and community success to secure that support. "At the same time, were not in an at-all-costs type of mentality. We need to correctly approach the marketplace and put a winning team on the field to enable people to say Ive got to go to that event." The Alouettes went 8-10 this season and lost the East Division semifinal to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. They have not won a playoff game since winning back to back Grey Cups in 2009 and 2010. The empty seats suggest the Alouettes popularity is waning, but Weightman said the future looks bright. The season ticket base has remained at about 17,000, but they hope to increase sales through partial season tickets, family packs and other offers. "Were still going through a transition where we have a bigger stadium and people think were not doing as well because the stadiums not full," said Weightman. "We had 23,000 where we had 20,000 for 10 years. "If you look at TV ratings and how much were followed on social media, youll see our fan base is as strong and healthy as ever. But we need to do a better job of reaching out to all our fans." He also hopes to boost the teams community involvement and its support for minor football in Quebec, which are priorities for the Wetenhall family. "In reality, we didnt have a president, so I cant say my role will change a lot, other than that Ill have to get some new business cards," added Weighman. "The important thing is the transition weve done over the last year or so. "Weve refocused on the things weve done well over the last 15 years -- winning on the field, the great experience in the stadium, and being involved in the community. Now we have to bring that to the next level." A large media contingent turned out to the news conference expecting an announcement on whether general manager Jim Popp will remain as head coach after taking over from the fired Dan Hawkins five games into the season, or on whether 41-year-old quarterback Anthony Calvillo will retire. Instead, it was a day for the men in suits. Weightman said there is no timeline for a decision on the coach, although they would prefer to make one soon so that preparations can start for the 2014 season. The future of veterans like Calvillo, who suffered a season-ending concussion in August, all-star guard Scott Flory or defensive end Anwar Stewart are not expected to be decided until after the CFL expansion draft on Dec. 16. Flory lauded Weightmans appointment. "Theres a lot of stuff going on around the league," said Flory. "Its not just our team. "The thing is, to have leadership from the top, you have to have the right people in place. The Alouettes have got it right so many times over the years. Ive been here 15 years and played in eight Grey Cups, so were doing something right." The experiment with Hawkins, who joined the team without any pro coaching experience, was a setback. Another may have been Lalondes one-season tenure as president and CEO. He left citing personal reasons, but there were reports the former Montreal Canadiens marketing guru was feuding with Popp and former coach Marc Trestman. Lalonde had replaced popular former Alouettes player Larry Smith, who left after the stadium expansion was completed in 2010 to try his hand at politics. Andrew Wetenhall said his familys commitment to the Alouettes and the CFL is as strong as ever. "I certainly am," he said. "We make decisions like this one in a family format. Were very committed to this league and its success. Weve invested 20 years almost in Montreal and were hopeful there will be another 20 or 50 to come." Tim Duncan Jersey . Playing in his 19th career final, the second-seeded Tsonga was favourite to win the Open 13 for the third time and to secure an 11th career title, but he struggled with Gulbis attacking approach. Bruce Bowen Jersey . -- Masahiro Tanaka knows that first appearance in a spring training game for the New York Yankees will be scrutinized. http://www.cheapspursjerseys.com/ . The Kings paraded the Stanley Cup through downtown Los Angeles on Monday to celebrate their second NHL title in three seasons. Cheap Spurs Jerseys China . Red Sox outfielder Jonny Gomes, the bandleader of the beard brigade during Bostons run to the 2013 World Series title, said he will be shaving his off before spring training so that he can file it "in the archive" with his memories of the teams improbable championship. LaMarcus Aldridge Jersey . 15-23, the Ottawa Senators will by hoping to avoid going five straight games without a victory for the first time since a 0-3-2 drought from Oct.VAL-DOR, Que. - Alec Jon Banville scored three times and Philippe Cadorette made 47 saves as the Baie-Comeau Drakkar defeated the host Val-dOr Foreurs 5-1 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau and Charles Poulin also scored for the Drakkar (26-12-4) while Felix Girard and Denis Gorbunov each tacked on two assists. Thomas Gobeil scored the lone goal for the Foreurs (27-16-1). Antoine Bibeau started in net for Val-dOr, but left the game in the third period after allowing four goals on 22 shots. Keven Bouchard replaced Bibeau and stopped five-of-six shots in 13 minutes of relief. --- ISLANDERS 4 CATARACTES 3 (SO) CHARLOTTETOWN -- Anthony Cortese scored the only goal of the shootout and Mason McDonald stopped 44 shots as the Islanders edged Shawinigan. Craig MacLauchlan had a goal and an assist for Charlottetown (17-21-5) and Daniel Sprong and Bradley Kennedy each scored once. Sebastien Gauthier scored once for the Cataractes (10-27-6) and assisted on goals by Gabriel Slight and Alexis DAoust. Shawinigans Storm Phaneuf made 28 saves in a losing cause. --- WILDCATS 5 MOOSEHEADS 1 HALIFAX -- JC Campagna and Christophe Lalonde had a pair of goals apiece as Moncton toppled the Mooseheads. Josh Puglsey also scored for the Wildcats (23-19-2), Ivan Barbashev had three assists and Campagna tacked on an assist for a three-point night. Darcy Ashley scored the lone goal for Halifax (26-16-1) while defenceman MacKenzie Weegar led his club with five shots on goal. Kevin Darveau turned aside 28-of-33 shots for the Mooseheads. --- SAGUENEENS 4 PHOENIX 3 (SO) CHICOUTIMI, Que. -- Laurent Dauphin scored once in regulation and then the shootout winner as the Sagueneens slipped past Sherbrooke. Nikita Liamkin and Domenic Beauchemin also scored for Chicoutimi (22-21-1). The Phoenix (14-25-5) got goals from Jeremy Roy, Jean-Christophe Laflamme and Chase Harwell.dddddddddddd Julio Billia made 34 saves for the Sagueneens while Sherbrookes Maxime Lagace stopped 31 shots in a losing cause. --- OCEANIC 6 REMPARTS 3 QUEBEC CITY -- Samuel Courtemanche and Sebastien Sylvestre each had two goals and an assist as Rimouski doubled up the Remparts. Peter Trainor and Felix-Antoine Savage also scored for the Oceanic (26-11-7), who improved to 10-0-2 in their last 12 outings. Anthony Duclair had a goal and an assist for Quebec (23-12-8), which lost in regulation for the first time in eight games, while Adam Erne and Zachery Moody scored once. Rimouskis Philippe Desrosiers made 32 saves for the win as Francois Brassard allowed six goals on 30 shots for the Remparts. --- SCREAMING EAGLES 4 ARMADA 3 BOISBRIAND, Que. -- Maxim Lazarev broke a 3-3 deadlock at 17:17 of the third period to lift Cape Breton over the Armada. Justin Hache and Cameron Darcy had a goal and an assist each for the Screaming Eagles (21-17-3) and Charles-Eric Legaire scored once. Christopher Clapperton, Nikita Jevpalovs and Frederic Bergeron scored for Blainville-Boisbriand (27-8-7) while Samuel Hodhod chipped in with two assists. Alex Bureau made 23 saves for Cape Breton. Etienne Marcoux stopped 24 shots for the Armada. --- TIGRES 1 OLYMPIQUES 0 GATINEAU, Que. -- Samuel Blais scored the games only goal at 8:46 of the third period as Victoriaville blanked the Olympiques. Blais goal came by way of power play for the Tigres (17-19-6) while goaltender Francois Tremblay stopped 35 shots for the shutout. Simon Tardif-Richard led all Gatineau (27-15-1) skater with five shots on goal. Anthony Brodeur kicked out 33-of-34 shots for the Olympiques, who had their three-game win streak halted. 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