© Reuters Real Mallorca have reached a preliminary agreement with Joaquin Caparros for the former Athletic Bilbao coach to take over from Michael Laudrup, who resigned last week, vice president Llorenc Serra Ferrer said on Monday.

Former Denmark international Laudrup quit after clashing with the board over transfer policy.

The cash-strapped Balearic Islands club are in administration and the appointment of Caparros, whom local media said was asking for 1.3 million euro ($1.73 million) to take over until the end of this season, would need the approval of the officials overseeing the process.

“We have an agreement in principle with Joaquin Caparros for him to be the Real Mallorca coach,” Serra Ferrer, who is also the majority shareholder, said after a board meeting.

“We hope to sort out the last details tomorrow,” he added.

As well as to discuss the appointment of a new manager, Monday’s board meeting was called to try to resolve a dispute between Serra Ferrer and director general Pedro Terrasa over the direction of the club.

Assistant coach Miguel Angel Nadal, an uncle of tennis world number two and club shareholder Rafa Nadal, took charge of the team for Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Osasuna and Serra Ferrer said he would remain part of the technical staff.

Mallorca have been seeking an injection of cash and president Jaume Cladera said on Monday the club had been talking to a potential investor. He gave no further details.

© Reuters Following are brief profiles of the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference ahead of the 2011-12 National Hockey League (NHL) season.

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ATLANTIC DIVISION

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Head coach: Peter DeBoer

2010-11 Record: 38-39-5

After missing the playoffs for the first time since 1996, the Devils will look forward to having high-scoring Zach Parise, who missed all but 13 games last season, back in the lineup while Ilya Kovalchuk will aim to rediscover his scoring touch after his worst offensive campaign since his rookie year.

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NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Head coach: Jack Capuano

2010-11 Record: 30-39-13

Finished second last in the conference despite being one of the better teams in the second half of the 2010-11 campaign and will try to build on that momentum with 21-year-old John Tavares coming off a season that showed why he was the first overall draft pick in 2009.

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NEW YORK RANGERS

Head coach: John Tortorella

2010-11 Record: 44-33-5

The offseason signing of Brad Richards, who was the top prize in the free agency pool, reunites the skilled playmaking center with coach John Tortorella after the pair won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004 when Richards won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player in the playoffs.

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PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Head coach: Peter Laviolette

2010-11 Record: 47-23-12

The Flyers are banking on the offseason signing of Ilya Bryzgalov, a possible Vezina Trophy candidate as top goalie, to put an end to the revolving door of netminders that has been blamed for denying the team a championship.

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PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Head coach: Dan Bylsma

2010-11 Record: 49-25-8

Penguins played the last half of the season without Sidney Crosby but still finished a point behind Washington for first in the conference. The rest of the team will have to carry the load a bit longer as their captain’s return from a concussion is still unknown.

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NORTHEAST DIVISION

BOSTON BRUINS

Head coach: Claude Julien

2010-11 Record: 46-25-11

The core of the team that hoisted the Stanley Cup last season returns, including Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas in goal, and their younger players have the added benefit of playoff experience following a championship run.

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BUFFALO SABRES

Head coach: Lindy Ruff

2010-11 Record: 43-29-10

Former Vezina Trophy winner Ryan Miller returns in goal while a passionate new owner has allowed the team to beef up the payroll, resulting in a slew of offseason acquisitions, including the signing of defenseman Christian Ehrhoff to a 10-year, $40 million contract.

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MONTREAL CANADIENS

Head coach: Jacques Martin

2010-11 Record: 44-30-8

After losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Bruins in a decisive game seven of the first round last season, Montreal added power forward Erik Cole for some offense. With Andrei Markov still recovering from knee surgery, the Canadiens also signed Chris Campoli to fill his role. Carey Price will again be counted to shut the door in goal.

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OTTAWA SENATORS

Head coach: Paul MacLean

2010-11 Record: 32-40-10

Captain Daniel Alfredsson is fully recovered from back surgery after missing most of the second half of last season and will be counted on to provide leadership to a young team in a rebuilding process.

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TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Head coach: Ron Wilson

2010-11 Record: 37-34-11

Missed the playoffs for six straight seasons but the mood is upbeat after a strong finish to the 2010-11 campaign. Leafs signed Tim Connolly during the offseason and will need the former fifth overall draft pick to live up to expectations on the top line for playoff dreams to become a reality.

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SOUTHEAST DIVISION

CAROLINA HURRICANES

Head coach: Paul Maurice

2010-11 Record: 40-31-11

Narrowly missed the playoffs last season but hope veteran leadership from Eric Staal, solid netminding from All-Star Cam Ward and the return of Jeff Skinner, last season’s rookie of the year, will help them qualify this time around.

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FLORIDA PANTHERS

Head coach: Kevin Dineen

2010-11 Record: 30-40-12

Lackluster campaign left Florida out of the playoffs for a 10th straight year but the Panthers have a revamped roster after a highly-active offseason that including the signing of Tomas Fleischmann, who could lead the team in scoring.

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TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Head coach: Guy Boucher

2010-11 Record: 46-25-11

After coming one win shy of playing for the Stanley Cup last season, the Lightning return with sniper Steven Stamkos, coming off back-to-back 45-plus goal campaigns, signed to a five-year deal.

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WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Head coach: Bruce Boudreau

2010-11 Record: 48-23-11

After winning the Eastern Conference for a second straight season but again falling early in the playoffs, the team will be counting on sniper Alex Ovechkin and offseason acquisition of Tomas Vokoun in goal to help lead the team to a maiden Stanley Cup title.

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WINNIPEG JETS*

Head coach: Claude Noel

2010-11 Record: 34-36-12

The excitement surrounding the long-awaited return of the Jets to Winnipeg guarantees a party-like atmosphere at each home game, but the former Atlanta Thrashers have never won a playoff game and are not expected to make much noise in that department this season.

© Reuters Five players to watch out for during the upcoming National Hockey League (NHL) season.

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SIDNEY CROSBY, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

The hockey spotlight rarely strays from Sidney Crosby and is firmly focused on the Pittsburgh Penguins captain again as the 2011-12 season gets set to begin without him.

Crosby may be the NHL’s most recognisable player but the 24-year-old Canadian has been almost invisible since suffering a season-ending concussion last January.

His recovery has been worryingly slow with the Penguins careful not to rush the league’s former most valuable player (MVP) back into action until he is completely symptom free.

Crosby has resumed training with his team but no date has yet been set for his return to full contact.

When Crosby does finally suit up it will be remembered as one of the most important dates of the season, no doubt drawing massive a sigh of relief from NHL headquarters and hockey fans everywhere.

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ALEXANDER OVECHKIN, WASHINGTON CAPITALS

The NHL’s other marquee name, Alexander Ovechkin has scored 50 or more goals in four of his six seasons, including 65 in the 2007-08 campaign, but last year finished with a career low 32 while placing a greater emphasis on defense.

Many are looking for the flashy Russian sniper to reload this season and return to the edgier style of play that made him a fan favourite and two-time league MVP.

The Capitals captain must also answer some questions about his ability to lead and prove he can deliver when it matters most.

Washington has won four straight division crowns and topped the Eastern Conference the last two season but has flopped in the playoffs failing to make it past the conference semi-finals twice and crashing out in the opening round on the two other occasions.

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MARTIN BRODEUR, NEW JERSEY DEVILS

A four-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top goalie, Martin Brodeur has played in more games (1,132), posted more wins (625) and shutouts (116) than any other netminder.

But entering his 19th season time may finally be catching up with the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer, who is coming off one of the worst campaigns of his decorated career.

For 10 straight seasons from 1997, Brodeur played in 70 or more games.

It is no longer certain, however, that Brodeur is capable of shouldering such a heavy workload appearing in just 31 games in the 2008-09 season and 56 contests last year.

Make no mistake, Brodeur remains New Jersey’s number one netminder and will get as much work as he can handle, but the three-time Stanley Cup winner turns 40 this season and this could be the year Devils start auditions to find their goaltender of the future.

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BRAD RICHARDS, NEW YORK RANGERS

Like the New York Yankees, the Rangers are not afraid to spend big when they see something they want and opened up the checkbook to sign playmaking centre Brad Richards, the jewel of the off-season’s free agent market.

Richards will be the NHL’s top earner this season banking $12 million but the Rangers will consider it money well spent if the All-Star centre can lead the Blueshirts back to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1994.

A superb setup man, Richards has averaged close to 50 assists a season throughout his 10-year NHL career and can also score, potting a career best 28 goals last season.

Richards will be slotted into New York’s top line alongside their 2009 prize free agent signing Slovakian sniper Marian Gaborik, who scored 42 goals in two of the last four campaigns but saw his production tail off to just 22 last season without a top quality playmaking centre to provide him service.

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THE ENFORCERS

Following an off-season of tragedy that witnessed three deaths in four months of players who earned their living as NHL enforcers, the spotlight is once again focused on fighting in hockey and the men who dispense on-ice justice.

Nearly every team in the NHL employs at least one player whose job it is to make sure the other team does not take liberties with their skilled players and if that line is crossed make sure retribution is paid in spilled blood.

The need for tough guys such as New York Islanders Zenon Konopka, Ottawa Senators Chris Neil and Toronto Maple Leafs Colton Orr and their roles will continue to be the subject of heated debate this season.

It has not been determined if there is a link between the recent deaths of enforcers and the their jobs as fighters, but the eerie similarities set off alarm bells at NHL headquarters, who will be watching intently this season.

© Reuters Barcelona finally had some positive news on the injury front on Monday when medical staff said midfielder Andres Iniesta was about to be declared fit after three weeks out with a muscle tear.

The Spain playmaker’s return would be a welcome development for coach Pep Guardiola, who has lost midfielders Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) and Ibrahim Afellay (knee surgery), forward Alexis Sanchez (thigh) and defender Eric Abidal (hamstring) to injury in recent weeks.

Iniesta was “already on the verge of receiving the all-clear,” club doctor Ricard Pruna said at a news conference following Afellay’s knee operation on Monday.

© Reuters France coach Marc Lievremont named the following team to play England in the World Cup quarter-final at Eden Park on Saturday.

15-Maxime Medard, 14-Vincent Clerc, 13-Aurelien Rougerie, 12-Maxime Mermoz, 11-Alexis Palisson, 10-Morgan Parra, 9-Dimitri Yachvili, 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7-Julien Bonnaire, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5-Lionel Nallet, 4-Pascal Pape, 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-William Servat, 1-Jean-Baptiste Poux.

Replacements: 16-Dimitri Szarzewski, 17-Fabien Barcella, 18-Julien Pierre, 19-Louis Picamoles, 20-Francois Trinh-Duc, 21-David Marty, 22-Cedric Heymans.