Devils Hire Canadiens’ Lemaire as Coach

The New Jersey Devils, a team in search of a winning identity, tapped into the tradition of the Montreal Canadiens on Monday when they hired Hall of Famer Jacques Lemaire as their coach.

Lemaire, 47, signed a two-year contract.

He was a surprise choice to replace Herb Brooks, who resigned May 31 after one season behind the bench. Brooks was the fifth coach in the last six seasons for a team that has been plagued by poor attendance and playoff failure.

After a long career as a Canadien player and several other coaching jobs, Lemaire took over as Montreal’s coach for the final 17 games of the 1983-84 season and coached through the 1984-85 season before moving into the front office, where he has been serving in various capacities.

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The Washington Capitals released two-time Norris Trophy-winner Rod Langway.

Pro Basketball

Forward Billy Owens of the Golden State Warriors underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove torn cartilage from his right knee.

Owens, who sat out 45 games last season because of the injury, suffered a recurrence last Friday while participating in his summer reconditioning program.

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Bosnia-Herzegovina, a makeshift team from a country troubled by war, and Germany qualified for the final two spots in the eight-team medal round of the European Basketball Championships at Berlin.

Sabahudin Bilalovic had 36 points for Bosnia-Herzegovina in its 102-97 victory over Latvia.

Germany advanced with a 77-64 victory over Turkey.

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P.J. Brown reached a contract agreement with the New Jersey Nets, a year after the 29th pick in the 1992 NBA draft rejected an offer of $140,000, the NBA minimum, from the team and went to play in Greece. Brown will earn $660,000 next season and $2.4 million over the length of the three-year contract.

Pro Football

Troy Aikman wants assurances that he is not going to have to prove himself on the practice field before he will get to play in the Cowboys’ season opener Sept. 6 against Washington.

Aikman, who returned to Dallas last weekend after back surgery June 19, took issue with Coach Jimmy Johnson’s recent statement: “The players who practice will be the players who are playing. Whoever is in training camp is the group we’ll go beat Washington with.”

Said Aikman, noting previous exceptions: “I don’t see why quarterback should be any different than any other position.”

Miscellany

The Clippers will hold a silent sports memorabilia auction during their annual draft party Wednesday at the Sports Arena, with all proceeds donated to the Clippers’ “Neighborhood PRIDE” program for needy students. The event is free and open to the public.

Nine anglers returned to San Diego with 10 bluefin tuna and seven yellowfin tuna taken aboard the sportfishing boat Tracer from Fisherman’s Landing on a 1 1/2-day trip 120 miles south into Mexico.

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Katie Antolin, 13, won the all-around title in the under-15 division at the United States Gymnastics Federation Region I tournament in Fresno.

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Ruthie Bolton of Auburn scored 19 points and Lisa Leslie of USC added 16 to lead the United States to a 97-54 victory over Mexico in the America’s qualifying tournament for women’s basketball at Sao Paulo, Brazil. The United States plays Cuba and Brazil and Canada meet in Wednesday’s semifinals. The four advanced to next year’s World Championships in Melbourne.