CALGARY -- With less than two months to go until the Sochi Olympics, Kevin Dineen will have to hit the ground running as the new head coach of the Canadian womens hockey team. Rick Nash Jersey . Dineen was named to the post Tuesday, just a few days after Dan Churchs surprise resignation. Dineen was signed for the remainder of the season and will guide the defending champions at the Feb. 7-23 Winter Games. "This has been a whirlwind few days but when this opportunity presented itself I immediately jumped at it," Dineen said at a news conference. Its the first international coaching job for Dineen, who served as head coach of the NHLs Florida Panthers for parts of three seasons until he was fired last month. He previously served as head coach of the AHLs Portland Pirates for six seasons (2005-11). "Were very excited that Kevin will join the coaching staff of Canadas national womens team and bring his unique perspective to the dressing room," Hockey Canada chief operating officer Scott Smith said in a statement. "Kevin has had success in both the AHL and NHL, and were looking forward to him being a part of the staff for the final push towards Sochi." Dineen, a 50-year-old who was born in Quebec City and raised in Toronto, also played in 1,188 NHL regular-season games, scoring 355 goals and adding 405 assists. He succeeds Church, who unexpectedly stepped down last week. Church said he felt there was a lack of confidence in his ability to coach Canada to a gold medal at the Games. Assistants Lisa Haley and Danielle Goyette handled the coaching duties in Canadas 5-1 loss to the archrival United States in an exhibition game last Thursday in Calgary. The two womens hockey powers meet again Friday in an exhibition game in Grand Forks, N.D. As a player, Dineen represented Canada on six occasions. He made four appearances at the IIHF world hockey championship, winning silver in 1985 and 1989. He won a Canada Cup in 1987 and just missed the podium at the 1984 Winter Games, when Canada settled for a fourth-place finish at Sarajevo. "I am a product of Hockey Canada," Dineen said. "Ive had the opportunity to represent my country on the international stage. I may have a little unfinished business from my Olympic experience." The Canadian womens team is aiming to win Olympic gold for the fourth straight time. "This is a critical time for Canadas national womens team with the start of the Olympics less than two months away, and we feel Kevin is a terrific fit with our staff as we get ready for Sochi," said general manager Melody Davidson. "His experience, both on the ice and behind the bench, will be invaluable over the coming weeks." Dineen, Goyette, Haley and Davidson will work together to finalize Canadas roster for Sochi over the coming weeks. "Things are happening pretty quickly," Dineen said. "I know Im hopping on a moving train here and will rely heavily on the whole coaching staff, and Lisa and Danielle, to help this initial stage for a couple of weeks." Twenty-four players remain in centralization, including three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 14 forwards. Canadas final roster for the Sochi Games will include 21 players, including three goaltenders. Steven Kampfer Jersey . - Novak Djokovic beat John Isner 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open, where hell resume his longtime rivalry with Roger Federer. Mika Zibanejad Jersey .Morse gets a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $7 million next season and $8 million in 2016 under the agreement announced Wednesday. http://www.rangershockeyonlineshop.com/sergei-nemchinov-hockey-jersey/ . The 17-year-old had four goals and four assists in 38 games for Liberec in the Czech pro league this past season. Zacha had three goals and two assists in seven games at the world mens under-18 championship in April when the Czech Republic took the silver medal.MELBOURNE, Australia - Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso set the fastest time in Fridays opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix, while pre-race favourite Lewis Hamilton was one of several drivers to strike trouble as entire field struggled to master their all-new engines and radically redesigned cars ahead of the Formula One season opener. Hamilton was unable to complete a single lap after his Mercedes engine automatically shut down due to an oil pressure alarm on his first tour of the Albert Park circuit. With repairs to the complex V6 turbo hybrid engines taking much longer than last years powertrains, Hamilton was unable to emerge in the next 90 minutes. McLarens Jenson Button was second fastest, ahead of the Williams pair of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. World champion Sebastian Vettel had limited running in his Red Bull as it plays catch-up after a troubled preseason testing, going out for only 10 laps, although there was some encouragement for the team as Daniel Ricciardo got through 26 laps and was fifth fastest, two places ahead of the four-time world champ. Walt Tkaczuk Jersey. Lotus Romain Grosjean did not emerge from the garage at all, and his teammate Pastor Maldonado only came out in the final 15 minutes and promptly spun off. Lotus was among the Renault-powered cars that were severely restricted in their preseason testing and are a long way behind schedule in developing their cars for Melbourne. The Caterham cars likewise did not complete a single lap, nor did the Marussia of Jules Bianchi, while his teammate Max Chilton made only a fleeting and off-pace appearance. McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen was eighth fastest in his maiden F1 appearance, while Kimi Raikkonen was ninth in his first season back at Ferrari and Toro Rossos Jean-Eric Vergne completed the top ten.