Sports in brief

OTTAWA The University of Ottawa says one of its football players died shortly after a game over the weekend. The school says fifth-year-engineering student Francis Perron died not long after the Gee-Gees game against the University of Toronto on Saturday. Perron had one tackle in an 11-10 loss to the Varsity Blues. The school has not said how Perron died. School president Jacques Frémont says the Sherbrooke, Que., native excelled on the field and in the classroom. The president says the school will hold a memorial for Perron in the coming weeks. THE CANADIAN PRESS

ZAJAC SIGNS ONE-DAY DEAL TO RETIRE A DEVIL

NEWARK, N.J. Long-time New Jersey Devils centre Travis Zajac has retired. Zajac signed a oneday contract with the Devils on Monday so he could retire as a member of the organization where he spent all but 27 games of his 15-year career. The 36-yearold Zajac plans to remain with the Devils in a player-development and consulting role. He also will help to develop the club’s youth hockey initiatives. The 20th player taken in the 2004 draft, Zajac played in 1,037 career regular-season games and had 203 goals and 349 assists. He served as an assistant captain in seven of his past eight seasons. Zajac finished his career with the New York Islanders after a trade in early April. He played 13 regular-season games (one goal, one assist) and 14 playoff games (one goal, one assist) for the Islanders.