Bergevin led the Canadiens to the Northeast Division title and a No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs in his first season as an NHL general manager. Montreal, 28th last season in the 30-team NHL, was the league’s most improved team before being ousted by No. 7 Ottawa in the postseason’s first round.

Bergevin hired Michel Therrien as head coach and added defenseman Francis Bouillon and forwards Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong to the roster. He also acquired forward Michael Ryder in a midseason trade.

Murray helped guide Anaheim to its best regular-season finish in franchise history. The Ducks won the Pacific Division and earned the No. 2 seed in the West, but they were eliminated by No. 7 Detroit in a Game 7 loss at home on Sunday night.

Shero made key additions to an already-strong Penguins roster throughout the lockout-shortened year that helped propel the Penguins to their first Atlantic Division title since 2008 and the No. 1 seed in the East.

He obtained center Brandon Sutter and goalie Tomas Vokoun in offseason trades and brought in defenseman Douglas Murray and forwards Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Jussi Jokinen before the trade deadline.

The Penguins eliminated the New York Islanders in six games in the first round of the playoffs and will face Ottawa in the Eastern Conference semifinal series that will begin Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

Voting for the award was conducted among the 30 club general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. The winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup finals.

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Cam Atkinson scored two goals and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves and the Blue Jackets stayed alive in the Western Conference playoff race with a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

Mark Letestu snapped a 1-1 tie in the third period for the game-winner.

Before the game ended, the Stars were eliminated from playoff contention when Detroit defeated Nashville 5-2, moving past Minnesota into seventh in the Western Conference.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, I don’t think,” said goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who made 32 saves in a losing effort. “It feels bad right now and I’m sure it feels even worse tomorrow.”

The Blue Jackets are even in points with the Wild, who hold eighth place due to the non-shootout wins tiebreaker.

Columbus needs to beat the Predators on Saturday, and have the Stars beat the Red Wings in regulation on Saturday, or have the Wild earn no more than one point in their two remaining games, to earn just the second postseason berth in franchise history and first since 2009.

“Our players have earned this opportunity,” Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. “Granted, we still need some help, but it’s going to make for a great environment on Saturday in our building.”

Making the playoffs would cap off a remarkable turnaround for Columbus, which started the season 5-12-2 and was last overall in the NHL in late February, before reeling off an 18-5-5 run since to make an improbable bid for a postseason berth.

“It feels great. You can only control what you can control and that’s what we’re doing,” said Atkinson, who had a game-high seven shots on goal. “We’re doing our job and that’s all we can do. I felt like I probably should have had six or seven tonight but I scored when it counted. It’s exciting to score but it’s even better to win games.”

The Blue Jackets, which concluded a six-game road trip with a 5-1-0 record, got two third-period goals from its league-worst power play to secure the triumph.

“We came in here, did our job and we won our game,” said center Brandon Dubinsky, who added two assists. “We’re going to have to do it again on Saturday. Hell of a job by these guys, six-game road trip, 5-1 against some damn good teams, really proud of these guys. The job’s not done, but we gave ourselves an opportunity.”

Jamie Benn scored for the Stars, who have lost four straight (0-3-1) to miss the playoffs for the fifth straight season, the longest drought in franchise history.

“We were in every single game and the guys battled so hard for that last stretch,” winger Eric Nystrom said. “We just came up a little short and got zero help — it was just the combination of everything going against us. We got so many good, young guys coming up, so much character, that we’re going in the right direction.”

The Stars knew their fate by the time the third period started and that’s when Columbus seized control of the game.

“To be honest, we knew after the second period and I think most of our players did too,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “However, at the moment, the loss stings. You’re focused on this game. And we were a little flat in the third, maybe for a reason though.”

Letestu’s 13th goal of the season snapped a 1-1 tie at 7:56 of the third, just three seconds after Stephane Robidas entered the penalty box for an interference penalty. Dubinsky won the faceoff, pulling the puck back to Letestu at the right point for a slap shot that appeared to nick off Nystrom’s stick and sailed over Lehtonen’s glove.

“If they win the draw, it’s 30 seconds off the kill. So he makes a good draw and I just try to get it on there as quick as possible,” Letestu said of Dubinsky. “We try to make an effort to get a lot of pucks on the net on the power play and it just happened to hit Nystrom’s stick on the way through and changed direction.”

The goal snapped a 1-for-22 power play drought for Columbus.

Bobrovsky came up with a big pad save at 10:10 to preserve the Columbus advantage, denying Ray Whitney’s wrist shot from the slot.

A Nystrom interference penalty with 2:49 remaining put the Blue Jackets back on the power play and Atkinson capitalized on the opportunity with 1:40 to go.

After Lehtonen stopped Jack Johnson’s shot from the left point, the rebound came out to the left of the crease, right to Atkinson, who tucked it just inside the left post for his eighth goal of the season.

“It ended up being the difference in the game,” Richards said of the power play. “We got two and we had changed some things. And we had a good play there in the third period, shooting the puck, simple plays, getting the puck to the net.”

After falling behind on the game’s opening shift, the Stars tied it on the power play at 8:43 of the second period. Erik Cole’s pass into the slot from the right faceoff circle deflected off Atkinson’s stick and bounced right to Benn at the left post for an easy tap-in.

Benn’s 12th goal of the season — and fourth in the past six games — swung the momentum Dallas’ way and it continued to press throughout the period, but Bobrovsky shut the door.

The Blue Jackets jumped on top immediately, as Atkinson scored just 19 seconds into the opening period. Lehtonen stopped Blake Comeau’s wrist shot from the slot, but left a rebound next to him in the crease and Atkinson pounced on it, jamming it home for a 1-0 lead.

“Of course, that’s not what you want to do right on the first shift,” Lehtonen said. “I felt like I made a couple of good saves right before that, and then I just lost the puck.”

Game notes

Bobrovsky, considered a Vezina Trophy candidate as the NHL’s top goaltender, entered with a 16-5-3 record since March 1, with a 1.65 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage, as well as four shutouts. … The Stars honored former D Richard Matvichuk as part of their 20th anniversary all-time team. Matvichuk, who played in Dallas from 1993-2004 as part of a 14-year NHL career, was part of the franchise’s only Stanley Cup team in 1999.

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Johansen scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:37 remaining after a turnover by Joe Pavelski, and the Blue Jackets overcame a blown two-goal lead in the third period to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Sunday night.

“It feels like a little bit of destiny with this team,” said forward R.J. Umberger, who assisted on the winning goal. “We’re just a very confident team. We feel like we are underdogs every night. We’re proving people wrong. This team believes a lot and it just feels like our destiny that we’re to make the playoffs. We want to make it more than anything.”

Mark Letestu scored twice and Vinny Prospal also scored for the Blue Jackets, who moved into a tie for seventh place with Minnesota in the Western Conference with 51 points — three points ahead of Detroit and Dallas for the final playoff spot. Columbus has played one more game than the Wild and Stars, and two more than the Red Wings.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves for the Blue Jackets, who won for the sixth time in seven games as they try for the second playoff berth in franchise history.

The game came down to that late turnover by Pavelski, who lost the puck trying to come out of his own zone, setting up Johansen’s second game-winner of the season.

“I was licking my chops,” Johansen said. “That was for sure. I just found a hole there. It was nice to be in the middle of the ice, it’s a great shooting area. I was just lucky to beat (Antti) Niemi on the shot. I felt like it was good scoring chance right away. This is the biggest goal I’ve scored in my career so far. It’s a great feeling.”

It was a wild swing of emotions in the third period, especially for Pavelski. The Sharks rallied from 3-1 down to tie the game on his power-play goal with 5:03 remaining only to miss a chance to clinch the playoffs when they lost in regulation at home for just the second time this season.

“It was right there for us obviously,” Pavelski said. “It’s tough. You never want to make a play like that at the end. You understand where you are in the game and you understand these things do happen once in a while. It’s tough when they do, but we have to move on and get better from this and I have to try to execute better next time.”

Martin Havlat and Andrew Desjardins also scored and Niemi made 18 saves in his 23rd straight start for the Sharks, who need one point to clinch their ninth straight playoff berth.

While San Jose still has three more games to clinch the playoffs, this loss dealt a blow to the team’s hopes to get home-ice advantage in the first round. The Sharks fell two points behind fourth-place Los Angeles in the standings, but remained one point ahead of sixth-place St Louis. San Jose would lose the tiebreaker to both teams based on fewer regulation and overtime wins.

“I wasn’t concerned with getting a point and putting an X by our name,” coach Todd McLellan said. “I was concerned about our game. It’s our game that will get us there or won’t get us there. Forget about the clinch part.”

McLellan was upset about his team’s sloppy, lackluster play for much of the night. San Jose had 17 giveaways in the game with a bad pass by Brad Stuart setting up Prospal’s goal that made it 2-0 and Pavelski’s turnover leading to Johansen’s game-winner.

“Our forecheck is a strength of ours,” Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. “If we are forechecking hard and we’re after pucks and using our speed and our size that’s playing to our strengths. Turnovers in this game whether it was them or us. Turnovers are huge.”

The Blue Jackets swept the three-game season series from San Jose, winning for just the third time in 22 games at the Shark Tank.

After falling behind 2-0 when Prospal scored on a breakaway following Stuart’s turnover, the Sharks got back into the game when Logan Couture fed Havlat in front for a tip-in midway through the second period.

But San Jose then allowed a rare power-play goal at home to fall back behind by two. With Matt Irwin in the box for interference, Letestu beat Niemi with a blast from the left point for his 12th goal of the season and first multigoal game since March 8, 2012, against Los Angeles.

Columbus had been 0-for-17 on the power play over the last eight games.

Game notes

San Jose had been 16-1-5 at home, with the only regulation loss coming to Chicago on Feb. 5. … The Sharks have allowed seven power-play goals at home this season. … Columbus C Artem Anisimov (concussion), F Matt Calvert (broken finger) and D Nikita Nikitin (lower body) sat out with injuries. … San Jose D Jason Demers, who was hurt in the third period on Thursday, missed the game and was replaced by Scott Hannan.

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The team announced the decision following a morning practice.

Hayward was unavailable Monday as well when the Jazz suffered their most lopsided home loss in franchise history, 125-80 to the Houston Rockets.

Hayward is the team’s third-leading scorer. He has averaged 13.5 points this season and 14.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists in January.

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New York At Philadelphia
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 26, 2013
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia
Prediction: Knicks 98, 76ers 94.

Oddsmakers currently have the Knicks listed as 5-point favorites versus the 76ers, while the game’s total is sitting at 190.

Carmelo Anthony has outscored the rest of New York’s starting unit over the past five games, so Felton’s return will provide an offensive boost. Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert have rejoined the rotation since Felton was injured, giving the Knicks the roster they envisioned entering the season. Stoudemire continues to make a big impact off the bench, averaging 15.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in his last three games. He had a season-high nine rebounds against Boston on Thursday.

New York won its last outing, an 89-86 result against the Celtics on January 24. The Knicks covered in that game as a 1.5-point favorite, while the 175 combined points took the game UNDER the total.

Team record: 26-14 SU, 22-18 ATS
is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 6 games
is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 6 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
When playing on Saturday are 6-4
Before playing Atlanta are 4-6
After playing Boston are 2-8
After a win are 4-6

Philadelphia point guard Jrue Holiday was named as a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Thursday. The youngest player in franchise history to earn an All-Star nod, the 22-year-old Holiday has averaged 20.7 points and 9.4 assists in his last 13 games. He told PhillyBurbs.com that the selection signifies what every players seeks: respect. “When you’re good at your craft and somebody respects that,” Holiday said. “That’s an awesome feeling. Everyone was saying I had a really good chance.”

Philadelphia was a 110-102 loser in its last match on the road against the Bucks. They failed to cover the 6.5-point spread as underdogs, while the total score of 212 sent OVER bettors to the payout window.

Team record: 17-25 SU, 18-24 ATS
Current streak: lost 2 straight games.
The total has gone OVER in 13 of last 15 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 6 games when playing at home against New York
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of last 12 games when playing New York
When playing on Saturday are 4-6
Before playing Memphis are 5-5
After playing Milwaukee are 4-6
After a loss are 4-6

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Reid, the winningest coach in franchise history who was fired after a disappointing 4-12 season, reached out to Kelly, owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman in the club’s first coaching search since the end of the 1998 season.

Kelly made it a point to mention Reid during his introductory news conference Thursday.

“One person I want to thank, in terms of advice in this whole thing, is Andy Reid,” said Kelly, who decided to leave Oregon after going 46-7 in four seasons. “And the fact that Andy reached out to me and told me about his experience here just told me what this organization is all about. There’s not a classier guy. When Andy texted me (Wednesday) when I accepted the job, I told him I had really, really, really big shoes to fill. And in typical Andy fashion he said, ‘Just be yourself and you’ll be fine.’ So I publicly just want to thank Andy, because that really spoke to me about what this organization is all about.”

Lurie echoed Kelly’s sentiments, saying that Reid still wants the best for the franchise that he guided for 14 seasons.

“We have such a close relationship over the years that the trust is all there,” Lurie said. “It’s a very special rapport we have with Andy. He reached out to most of the top candidates to tell them what it’s like to work with myself, with (general manager) Howie (Roseman), with (president) Don (Smolenski), what the organization is all about, how obsessed with winning and doing it the right way.”

Lurie previously had said that potential coaching candidates wanted to speak with Reid to get a feel on how the Eagles’ organization operates. The Eagles were known to have interviewed 11 coaching candidates.

“If I’m a head-coaching candidate, the one person I really want to talk to is Andy Reid,” Lurie said. “Most of them did their due diligence and reached out to Andy. In that sense, it was an important part of the process that they would reach out to them. I have a close enough relationship with Andy where I can probably eliminate some candidates if Andy felt that they weren’t good enough in that sense. That’s how close we are. I know what he feels about Chip Kelly and it’s outstanding.”

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Reserves Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes each scored 16 points, and the Clippers easily routed the Grizzlies 99-73 Monday night with Paul missing his first game this season because of a bruised right kneecap.

“Missing the best point guard in the world in Chris Paul, we all had to play collectively and step it up, and I thought we did a good job of that,” Crawford said.

The matchup between two of the best teams in the West wasn’t close after the first quarter. While Paul watched from the bench, the Grizzlies were without their leading scorer: Gay was excused for his grandmother’s funeral in Baltimore.

This also was the Clippers’ first trip to Memphis since they won Game 7 of their opening-round playoff series last May. All they did was match their largest margin of victory on the road this season while holding the Grizzles to a season-low in points and their worst field goal shooting percentage on their home court in franchise history.

“That’s why I said before the game that they’re the best team in the West, maybe the best team in the league right now,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said of the Clippers.

Eric Bledsoe, starting for Paul, had 14 points, and Blake Griffin scored 10. Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was able to give nine players at least 17 minutes each before heading to Houston for the second half of a back-to-back Tuesday night.

“We want to be the best team we can, and that’s our goal as the season moves on,” Del Negro said. “I thought we were lacking a lot, but I thought we played well.”

Zach Randolph had 15 for Memphis, which lost its second straight blowout, after losing 104-83 at Dallas on Saturday night. Wayne Ellington added 11 in a rare start in place of Gay, and Darrell Arthur had 10 as the Grizzlies shot just 30.3 percent (27 of 89), a franchise-low at home. Randolph said they really missed Gay’s ability to drive and relieve pressure.

“They clogged up the paint on us, make us shoot from outside, make us pass the ball up because they’re doubling as soon as we catch it,” Randolph said. “They’re coming from every direction, and that makes us pass out to the perimeter.”

The Clippers had a 40-36 scoring edge in the paint as DeAndre Jordan and Griffin helped limit Randolph to 5-of-16 shooting and Marc Gasol to 4 of 13.

“That’s where most of their points were coming from since Rudy wasn’t playing,” Bledsoe said. “I think DJ and Blake, in taking Zach Randolph out of the game, that kind of stopped their offensive game.”

Both teams were coming off losses, but the Clippers responded much better to being without their point guard on the first night of back-to-back road games. The Clippers scored the first five points of the game and went on a 17-2 run in grabbing a 32-19 lead. When Memphis pulled to 36-30, the Clippers answered with a 17-4 spurt and led 53-34 at halftime.

Los Angeles got a big boost from its bench, which outscored Memphis 28-4 in the first half and finished with a 54-26 edge. The Clippers’ advantage was so big Griffin played only 25 minutes. The Grizzlies knew how good the Clippers have been on the bench and had their production written on the board in their locker room.

Memphis couldn’t match the Clippers’ intensity, and Hollins pointed out his Grizzlies couldn’t hit teammates for layups on the fast break or down in the post.

“That whole game summed up just that we weren’t competing on a high level,” Hollins said. “They came in here and wanted to show us, and they did.”

The Grizzlies brought back rookie Tony Wroten from Reno in the NBA D-League for depth. Hollins even joked before the game that he was unsure who he’d be subbing in since he started Ellington and Quincy Pondexter was out with an injured knee.

Memphis had its lowest scoring half this season in what was just part of an ugly night all around. The Grizzlies passed 20 points only in the fourth quarter (21) and were so sloppy that at one point in the first half Mike Conley stole the ball off Griffin’s pass only to hit Tony Allen in the face with a pass on the other end.

The Clippers didn’t ease up in the second half either, opening the third quarter with a 15-6 run. They pushed their lead to 16 points, 68-42, on a pair of free throws by Bledsoe with 4:03 left in the third, and Ryan Hollins’ alley-oop dunk with 2:41 gave the Clippers their biggest lead of the night, 95-68.

Game notes

After missing this game, Paul is day to day. … The Clippers also won by 26 Dec. 15 at Milwaukee. … The Clippers are 22-6 when their reserves outscore the opponent’s bench. … The Clippers now are 23-2 when leading after the first quarter. They came in second-best in the NBA in that category. … The Clippers’ largest road victory was by 28 on Nov. 6, 2009, at Golden State. … The Grizzlies’ previous low first half was 37 points Dec. 29 against Denver, and they had just 36 against Atlanta on Dec. 8 in the second half. … Memphis scored 80 twice previously this season, winning Dec. 17 against Chicago the last time.

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Reserve forward Mike Scott scored 10 points to lead Atlanta as none of the starters reached double figures. Josh Smith and Kyle Korver had nine points each.

Jeff Teague had a layup with 7.9 seconds left to prevent the Hawks’ lowest scoring total in franchise history.

Atlanta has lost five straight on the road and six of seven overall.

The Bulls held the Hawks to just five points in the second quarter and led 48-20 at the break. Ivan Johnson had a basket for the Hawks with 2:54 left in the first quarter, and Atlanta did not score again until Al Horford’s tip with 5:15 left in the second. The Hawks missed 17 consecutive shots during the drought while getting outscored 14-0.

They finished the 2 for 21 from the field in the second quarter, with Smith making a free throw and a jumper for Atlanta’s other points. The Hawks shot 20.5 percent on 8-of-39 shooting in the first half. Josh Smith was 3 for 10 Horford 2 for 8 in the opening two periods.

Boozer had 14 points and Deng eight to help the Bulls to their halftime lead. Noah had 12 rebounds in the half and finished with 16 and nine points.

The Bulls set a record for the fewest points allowed, eclipsing the previous mark of 59 by Orlando last March 19. Atlanta’s 20 points in the first half also set a Chicago record for the fewest allowed in a half, bettering the 22 scored by the Knicks in 1999. The Bulls also limited New York to five points in the second quarter of that game.

The Hawks’ previous scoring lows were six points in a quarter (at Minnesota) in 1994, 25 in a half — accomplished three times, most recently against New Orleans in 2011.

Tensions heated up in the third quarter. After Hamilton was called for an offensive foul on Devin Harris, Harris pushed Hinrich hard to the floor as he was attempting a layup. Hinrich had to be restrained by teammates after he rushed toward Harris, who was called for a flagrant one. In seperate incidents, Teague and Smith were called for technicals in the third quarter.

Taj Gibson, who had five blocks, got fans on their feet with a thunderous dunk over Anthony Tolliver to put the Bulls up 79-47 with 7:13 left.

Game notes

The Bulls’ biggest lead was 44 points. … In the teams’ last meeting, the Hawks beat the Bulls 92-75 in Atlanta on Dec. 22. … Hawks G Anthony Morrow missed the game with a lower back injury.

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Whisenhunt, 50, was 45-51 in six seasons with the Cardinals after being hired in 2007. He led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl after the 2008 season, losing to the Steelers.

“I have great respect for the San Diego Chargers,” Whisenhunt told the team’s official website. “Every time I’ve played them, they’ve been good football teams and we had battles whether I was in the AFC or the NFC. (I’m impressed) with the way they do business, so I have a tremendous amount of respect for them…

“Playing here at this stadium, it’s always been a tough place to play. The fans from what I’ve seen, they’ve always been great. That’s something where any time you get home field advantage like that, it’s a big positive.”

Whisenhunt struggled to find a starting quarterback after Kurt Warner’s retirement after the 2009 season. In 2012, Arizona started three different quarterbacks and struggled after Kevin Kolb injured his ribs in Week 6. Both rookie Ryan Lindley and second-year QB John Skelton struggled in Kolb’s absence.

The Cardinals, who started the season 4-0, went on to lose their next nine games, including the most one-sided loss in franchise history, a 58-0 drubbing at Seattle.

Whisenhunt had a second interview with the Cleveland Browns on Thursday, league sources confirmed to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

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The length of the deal is five years, sources told the Associated Press. A news conference to introduce Reid is scheduled for Monday.

The deal reportedly will give the longtime Eagles coach broad authority over football decisions. His deal came hours after the Chiefs announced they had parted with general manager Scott Pioli after four tumultuous seasons.

The Chiefs held a meeting with the coaching staff on Friday morning, presumably to talk about Kansas City’s job search and ongoing talks with Reid, according to sources.

Reid spent 1999-2012 as Philadelphia’s coach, leading the Eagles to the playoffs nine times during that period. He won 130 regular-season games and 10 playoff games. The Chiefs, meanwhile, had 98 wins, three postseason appearances and no postseason wins under five different head coaches, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

“I’m definitely excited. You don’t accidentally win 100 games over 10 years in this league. Obviously, the guy knows how to coach and win. It’s definitely something we need,” Chiefs offensive lineman Eric Winston said on “SVP & Russillo” on ESPN Radio.

Reid will inherit a team that went 2-14, matching the worst record in franchise history. But he’ll also have the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, and with five players voted to the Pro Bowl, Kansas City has building blocks in place to make a quick turnaround.

Reid has experience turning around franchises, too.

He took over a team in Philadelphia that was just 3-13, but two years later went 11-5 and finished second in the NFC East. That began a stretch of five straight years in which Reid won at least 11 games and included a trip to the Super Bowl after the 2004 season.

“Congratulations to Clark Hunt and the Kansas City Chiefs for hiring a good man and a good coach,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said Friday night. “We wish Andy, (wife) Tammy and their entire family all the best in their new home.”

The fresh start afforded by the Chiefs should be welcomed by Reid.

Despite a 130-93-1 record and the most wins in Eagles history, he was just 12-20 in the past two seasons. Reid also dealt with personal tragedy when his oldest son, Garrett, died during training camp after a long battle with drug addiction.

Reid will have more authority in Kansas City than any previous coach. While he will have authority in personnel decisions, it’s expected that he will pursue longtime Packers personnel man John Dorsey to work with him as general manager.

“Congrats Big Red on taking your talents to KC. Big Red fans get ready to cheer on your new boss and new team from 2013 and on. Good Luck,” tweeted former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.

Pioli, 47, joined the Chiefs in 2009 after nine seasons with the Patriots, where he helped to build New England’s dynasty. But he failed to turn around the Chiefs, who were 23-39 in his four seasons, including a woeful 2012 campaign under Romeo Crennel, who was hired to replace Todd Haley during the 2011 season. Crennel was fired Monday.

“I would like to thank Norma, Clark and the Hunt family for the opportunity that they gave me four years ago,” Pioli said. “I’d also like to thank the players, coaches, scouts and countless other employees, throughout the organization and at Arrowhead Stadium that have worked so hard during my time here. I would also like to genuinely thank Chiefs fans.

“The bottom line is that I did not accomplish all of what I set out to do. To the Hunt family — to the great fans of the Kansas City Chiefs — to the players, all employees and alumni, I truly apologize for not getting the job done.”

The Chiefs’ season was marred by a tragic murder-suicide — linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, and then took his own life in the parking lot of Arrowhead Stadium after thanking Pioli and former coach Romeo Crennel for everything they had done for him.

One of Pioli’s first significant moves in 2009 was trading for quarterback Matt Cassel, who’d been impressive as a fill-in for injured Patriots starter Tom Brady. Pioli proceeded to sign Cassel to a six-year, $63 million deal. Cassel didn’t live up to his contract in Kansas City, however, and lost his starting job to Brady Quinn in 2012.

“After several productive conversations, we made the difficult decision to part ways with Scott Pioli and allow him to pursue other opportunities,” Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said in a statement. “Scott has been an invaluable member of the Chiefs family since joining us in 2009, and we sincerely appreciate his tremendous contributions over the last four years.

“I know that this was a difficult decision for Scott as well. He has a great deal of appreciation for the history of this franchise, for our players, coaches and employees, and especially our great fans.”

The Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since 1993. This season was Kansas City’s fifth losing season in six years.

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