By PERRY LEFKO and ARASH MADANI,
sportsnet.ca
The Montreal Alouettes have called a press conference for Wednesday to announce Ray Lalonde, former vice-president of marketing and sales of the Montreal Canadiens, will be named to succeed Larry Smith as the Canadian Football League team’s new president.
Lalonde’s name has circulated for several weeks as the top candidate to succeed Smith, who resigned after December 31 to run for federal politics.
Both sides have come to terms on a pact believed to be a three-year deal.
Lalonde left his position with the Habs, January 21, as part of a restructuring by Canadiens’ owner/chairman of the board, Geoff Molson, but remained in an advisory capacity through to the end of February.
Molson had credited Lalonde with playing a key role in the Habs centennial celebrations and he spirited the building of the Canadiens’ Hall of Fame, located in the Bell Centre.
Lalonde grew up in Quebec and played football for the McGill Redmen. He studied sports administration at Penn State University and he worked on the staff of legendary Nittany Lions’ head coach Joe Paterno.
He was director of football operations for the Montreal Machine of the World League of American Football and he later worked for eight years in a marketing capacity with the National Basketball Association in Europe.
