Rejean "Ray" Shero GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins was born on 7/28/62 in St. Paul Minnesota. He is married to wife Karen and has two sons, Christopher and Kyle. He is the son of the late Fred Shero, former GM of both the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. Fred was the architect of the Stanley Cup Champion Flyers of 1974 and 1975. When Ray won the Cup as GM of the Penguins, he and father Fred became one of only four father/son combos to have their names inscribed on the Stanley Cup. Shero was a speedy left wing in college playing for St. Lawrence University and becoming captain for the 1983-84 season, and the 1984-85 season. Shero was drafted in the 11 round of the 1982 NHL entry draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He would never play a single game in the NHL. Instead, Shero became a player agent until he was given the opportunity to be the assistant GM of the expansion Ottawa Senators.
In 1993 shortly after his father died of stomach cancer, Ray Shero was given an opportunity to be the assistant GM in Ottawa. As part of his duties, Shero was in charge of the Senators top AHL affiliate and was given evaluation duties for the Senators drafts. Despite some big misses, such as selecting Alexder Daigle first overall in 1993, Shero had more hits than misses including getting team star Daniel Alfredsson in the 1994 draft with the 133rd overall pick. With solid drafting led by Shero's talent evaluations, the Senators made their first playoffs in 1997, and became perennial contenders.
Next up for Ray was an assistant GM position for expansion Nashville for 8 years under David Poile. Just like in Ottawa, Shero was in charge of the top AHL affiliate in Milwaukee, the Admirals, leading them to the Calder Cup in 2004. In Nashville Shero learned the importance of building the AHL affiliate, and in one playoff season for Nashville, counted 10 players on the roster who had spent time the previous year with the Admirals. In addition, he was part of a very patient approach to building the Predators through the draft. They stuck with Head Coach Barry Trotz despite missing the playoffs for their first five years. The last two years of Shero's stint with Nashville, their patient approach to building the team paid with playoff appearances for the Predators. They have remained perennial contenders ever since. Shero learned his craft well under well respected boss David Poile.
In May of 2006, the Penguins beat out Boston for the right to have Ray Shero take over as their new GM. The sticking point was Shero's span of control. The Bruins loss was the Penguins gain. Shero replaced Craig Patrick, the architect of the two time Stanley Cup Championship teams, as well as the subsequent firesale to dismantle the team. Patrick did however put the building blocks in place for Shero to build on. Pittsburgh was a great place for Shero to ply his trade. They had the building blocks noted in place with Marc Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Whitney. In addition, they only had one expensive long term contract to saddle Shero in his efforts to mold the club into a Stanley Cup Champion, that of Sergei Gonchar. He was given free reign to do what he needed to in order to accomplish that mission by the ownership group led by Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle. So Shero began the project to rebuild the Penguins entire organization at both levels.
In his first offseason in 2006, Shero was a busy man. His first move was to draft Jordan Staal with the second overall pick in the draft, a move that led to the three center model that won them the Cup in 2009. Shero takes some heat from the locals for the Staal pick, who note that the Penguins could have drafted Stanley Cup winning captain of Chicago Jonathan Toews, high scoring center Nicklas Backstrom, or speedy scoring winger Phil Kessel. It is important to note that Central Scouting Bureau had Staal rated above Jonathan Toews and Kessel as far as North American skaters, behind only defenseman Erik Johnson. Backstrom was the top rated European skater. Despite the fact that Backstrom has the scoring accumen of a Malkin type player, and Toews is a Stanley Cup champion captain of the Hawks, Staal was and is a great fit for the Penguins. He may not have scored as many points as the other two centers, but his defensive play and penchant for big goals made him the perfect complement to Crosby and Malkin. I would consider the 2009 Stanley Cup to be the proof in the pudding. The Kessel argument stems from the fact that the Pens are loaded at center and short on talented wingers, but again give me Staal over Kessel. Staal is a definite shutdown center, who is STILL only 23 years old, and he has scored 29 goals once already in the league. I still believe as he matures he can resemble the player his brother Eric is. Other key 2006 moves included signing Jarkko Ruutu, Mark Recchi, and Mark Eaton to free agent contracts. At the 06-07 deadline, Shero brought in veteran winger Gary Roberts for defenseman Noah Welch, and tough guy Georges Laraque in return for Dan Carcillo. The blueprint for the tougher Pittsburgh Penguins was in place. This team went on to make its first playoff appearance in four years, after making one of the largest one year turnarounds in history, going from 22 wins the prior season, to 47 before losing to Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs.
In the 2007-08 offseason, the Penguins inked Petr Sykora to a 2 yr deal, extended Ryan Whitney to a 6 year 24M dollar contract, as well as signed Crosby to a 5 year exension worth 43.5M dollars. The team was having a great year, but was considered by most hockey experts to still be two years away from being a serious threat to win a Cup. At the trade deadline, Shero shocked the hockey world by moving very popular Colby Armstrong, along with Erik Christensen, the team's top prospect Angelo Esposito and a number one pick to Atlanta for star winger Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis. The move was bold in that the Penguins gave up what were at the time highly coveted assets along with heart and soul player Colby Armstrong(Crosby's best friend on the team) for a player who would most likely be a rental. Many thought that Shero gave up long term assets for a LONG shot at a deep run into the playoffs for a rental and a role player. I think what Shero did was tell this team, he believed in them, that they could win now, and here is the last weapon needed to do so. And guess what? They cut through the first three rounds of the playoffs like a hot knife through butter, avenging the prior season's loss to Ottawa, then beating the Rangers and Flyers with ease/1 After dropping the first two games of the Finals to a more seasoned Detroit team, the Penguins took the Wings to six games including an epic Game 5 won in multiple overtimes by a Petr Sykora goal before losing to the veteran wings on home ice. I remember vividly sitting there thinking how CLOSE they were seconds after a potential game tying shot by Max Talbot slid through the crease, inches from tying the game. The Penguins had learned what it would take in terms of commitment to get over the final hurdle, and the memory of the Wings celebrating on Pittsburgh ice left an indelble impression. Lost in the Hossa hyperbole was the addition of shutdown defenseman Hal Gill at the deadline as well. He would play a prominnent role in the upcoming season, one of "Unfinished Business."
The 2008-09 offseason was an eventful one for Shero. First, Hossa after appearing to be willing to sign with the Penguins, hung Shero out to dry, defecting instead to the Wings as he thought they had a better shot at winning the Cup. The uncertainty over Hossa put the Penguins in a bad spot, and they lost gritty netfront prescence Ryan Malone, along with Jarkko Ruutu, Gary Roberts and enforcer Georges Laraque. In other word, much of the sandpaper they employed to grind teams down. They replaced that grit with perimeter players Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko. Shero was widely criticized for missing the mark on his chances at keeping Hossa, while letting the sandpaper on the Pens leave the team. By the time he could react, Satan and Fedotenko were about all that was left for them. As part of the effort to replace that missing grit, Shero signed rugged agitator Matt Cooke as well. Cookie fit right in! Other moves that would prove to be key to the future included the addition of Dan Bylsma to coach the WBS Penguins, a move that would prove to be a MUCH bigger move than anyone anticipated at the time. He also locked up Evgeni Malkin to a 5 year extension at 43.5M dollars, cornerstone defenseman Brooks Orpik to a 6 year 22M dollar contract that was less than other teams offered, and Marc Andre Fleury to a 7 year 35M dollar contract, also under possible market value. Shero had helped build a team and work environment that had key players willing to sign long term contracts under possible market value for a chance to stay together and win together. He treated the players and their families well, and Pittsburgh suddenly became a very desirable NHL destination for players.
After such success in the post season the prior year, and the long term signings of the team's young core, the Penguins entered the 08-09 season fully expecting to be a force from start to finish. Whether it was a Stanley Cup hangover, loss of desire to play for sometimes dour Michel Therrien, or the loss of the grit that made the Penguins tough to play against, this team was just off from the beginning of the year. By mid February the Penguins were mired in 10th place in the conference and looking more like road kill than contenders after getting blown out by Toronto in mid February. In a gutsy move, Shero fired the coach who had taken the team on one of the biggest single season turnarounds improving from 22 wins to 47 in one season, then led them to the Stanley Cup Finals in the next and replaced him with a man who had half a season of experience as a head coach. Oh, and that half season was not in the NHL, but the AHL! Season over right? Shero believed that this team would respond to an uptempo, forechecking game, and Bylsma's positive attitude, and may have bet his own job on it. Talk about the courage of your convictions! Next, Shero moved Ryan Whitney, formerly considered part of the core and untouchable to Anaheim for speedy winger Chris Kunitz and prospect Eric Tangradi. Kunitz is a very physical forechecker who wins battles against the wall and in the corners. Despite not being the prototypical first line winger, Kunitz complements Crosby's game perfectly, and the star center has never played better than he has with Coon. Then he picked up gritty PK specialist Craig Adams off of waivers, and added veteran scoring and grit in Bill Guerin at the deadline. Suddenly the Penguins were hard to play against again. All of this meshed into a wondrous spring and early summer, starting with eliminating Philadelphia in a much anticipated rematch, then self proclaimed favorites Washington, before sweeping Carolina, and culminating in the franchise's third Stanley Cup on June 12,2009. Fittingly the Cup was won on Detroit's home ice in a Game 7, while Hossa watched for the second year in a row! The Penguins single handedly avenged the previous season's bitter defeat AND Hossa's defection in one fell swoop! This never happens without Shero having the guts to pull the trigger on the Hossa deal the season before, which showed the team that management felt that they had arrived NOW, and gave them experience in making a run at the Cup. They now knew what it would take. Follow that up with the gutsy coaching swap late in the season, and Ray Shero's fingerprints are all over this Cup. As his late father Fred told his Flyers team prior to winning the clincher in Game 6 of the Finals, "Win together today, and walk together forever!"
While Penguins nation celebrated, Shero had to be ready for free agency, and he had to prepare his team to lose many key players. Gone from the Stanley Cup Champs' blueline was both parts of shutdown pairing Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi, along with steady back up Phillippe Boucher. In addition, wingers Miroslav Satan and Petr Sykora left the team. The Penguins got Bill Guerin to stay on a one year reduced contract, along with Ruslan Fedotenko. They signed Alex Goligoski to a three year extension worth 1.8M per year and added veteran defenseman Jay McKee. In addition backup goalie Brent Johnson and physical forward Mike Rupp were added to the team. These were the typical solid, little fanfare signings Shero consistently makes to build a hockey TEAM, not a collection of players.
The Penguins had a good season, and found themselves to be one of the teams that had a shot at the Cup as they hit the trade deadline. Their weaknesses were a lack of scoring on the wings, and a mediocre defense. Shero sent prospect Luca Caputi to Toronto for big winger Alexei Ponikarovsky to address their lack of scoring from the wing, and bolstered their defense by adding Jordan Leopold, as their defense had been lacking with the loss of Gill and Scuderi. After defeating the Senators in the first round of the playoffs, the Penguins ran into red hot goaltender Jaroslav Halak and the Montreal Canadiens, losing in 7 games. The Habs used their hot goaltender along with a defensive strategy that took away center ice and dared the Penguins to beat them with their wingers. The Penguins could not. Ponikarovsky was invisible, and Leopold played okay but was injured by Andy Sutton in the first round series. All in all their defense gave up many great scoring chances, Mike Cammalleri owned them, and their lack of depth was exposed, along with the weakness on the wings.
The offseason leading up to the 2010-11 season was key for the Penguins. They knew they had to address both the winger situation, and more importantly their defense. Their biggest concern was that defensive leader and power play quarterback Sergei Gonchar was an unrestricted free agent, and looking for big money. He had become injury prone, and he was soft in his zone, but the Penguins were not sure they could afford to let Sarge go, as they were not sure that they had a replacement for his offensive production on the blue line. In addition, they were hurting defensively. They were likely to also lose Jordan Leopold, Jay McKee and steady veteran Mark Eaton from their blue line. Finally, they would lose wingers Guerin to retirement and Fedotenko to free agency. What does Shero do? He signs Kris Letang to another under market value extension as his power play quarterback, along with extending WBS defensemen Deryk Engelland and Ben Lovejoy. He had targetted defenseman Dan Hamhuis whose rights were owned by Philadelphia as his top FA target on defense, and hoped to bring Gonchar back for a more reasonable number. He was not sure about Hamhuis interest so he traded a 3rd round pick for his rights so he would know prior to free agency if he could get Hamhuis. It was a good move, as Hamhuis really wanted to go west. In addition, he realized that Gonchar wanted too much money and too much term to be signed here. So, instead of wasting valuable time, Shero goes out and gets the two best defensive UFA's on the market in Zybnek Michalek and Paul Martin to shore up his defense on day one of free agency and allowed Gonchar to go to Ottawa. He also inked Matt Cooke to a three year extension, which he never does for "role" players, but in my opinion made a very smart exception. Shero also added gritty forward Arron Asham fresh off of a SCF run with Philadelphia, where he played a solid role, and scoring forward Mike Comrie for league minimum. The Penguins were poised to christen the Consol Energy Center with another Cup run.
Despite moves that addressed all of the Penguins issues except for another scoring winger, a series of injuries unlike any I have ever seen, will ensure that we will not really get to see how good of a team Shero assembled this season. This much we know. Despite playing 4 periods that had their core of Staal, Crosby, and Malkin on the ice at the same time, and other key injuries too numerous to list, the Penguins remain in the top 5 in the league as of this writing. Their PK leads the league, and their goals against is top 5 in the league. The offseason additions of Michalek and Martin fixed what ailed the Pens blue line. The "minor leaguers" Engelland and Lovejoy provided low cost steady performance at the NHL level, and Engelland became a noted enforcer to boot. The depth that Shero has assembled has been front and center in keeping this team in the top half of the playoff seedings. At the deadline Shero dealt from an area of surplus in moving Goligoski to Dallas to address an area of need upfront by bringing in James Neal, and he did not cripple the current blue line in the process as he also got very solid third pairing defenseman Matt Niskanen in the deal. The injury bug may prove to be too much for the Pens to realistically believe that they can win the Cup this season. One or two rounds would likely be the ceiling assuming that Crosby is gone for the year, as well as Malkin. Given their situation, I might be as proud of that accomplishment in this season, as I was of the Cup team. Especially if it involves ending the runs of Philadelphia or Washington. Especially Washington. The good news is that assuming both stars make a full recovery in the offseason, this team is LOADED for next year and the foreseeable future. Malkin and Crosby would be the equivalent of the two biggest off season acquisions a playoff team could make should they come back healthy next year as expected. Their entire defense is back next year, with the top 4 locked up for many years. They have maybe 11 guys who could play on most bluelines on the roster next year. Two of whom(Bortuzzo and Despres) are considered top 4 caliber players. They also have a top six that would include Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Kunitz, and Neal currently. That sixth spot could be filled in a number of manners. Their 3rd and 4th lines will be as good as any regardless of the UFA situation, as the injury bug gave them a good look at their depth in that department. Shero has all of the cards in that areanow. Letestu and Jeffrey give them two more quality centers and secondary scoring. Their goaltending is covered with Fleury under contract long term, Johnson signed another year, and Thiessen looking like a possible NHL ready goaltender in WBS. They have a power forward prospect in Tangradi who could step up next year, and enough depth to go get a mid level top 6 forward via free agency by moving some defensive assets where they are just loaded if he does not. In short this team has been positioned by Shero and this ownership group to be an elite team for the forseeable future. One can argue my take on the trades made, one could be more critical of the "bad" moves or non moves than I am, or less complimentary of the good ones on an individual basis, but you cannot argue with this. We have completed four seasons of the Shero regime, and are partly through the fifth. In the first four, the Pens have been to two SCF's and won the Stanley Cup. The Pens have accumulated such depth of talent, that while their NHL club was decimated by injuries and playing with half of the AHL club including all of its scoring depth at times, both clubs did very well in their respective leagues in the process. The NHL club remained in the top half of their conference with literally half of their lineup some nights made up of AHL players. The AHL club remains a Calder favorite despite losing half their roster to the Penguins. Next season the Penguins will be one of the favorites to win it all, and they may still make some noise this season. Through an astute use of the draft and a "win now without selling the future approach to free agency and trading," the Penguins are now one of the league's elite franchises. Their AHL/NHL success during this trying stretch quietly showcased the bricks and mortar of an elite organization, which sometimes goes unnoticed with the attention on the star power. "Lower level" moves, smart drafting and solid player development do not get the fanfare of the big splashes, but Shero and team have proven that this is the glue that binds a true team together. Thank you Ray Shero, Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle, and David Morehouse. We appreciate your commitment to winning and the skill you have shown in making the Pittsburgh Penguins one of the league's top franchises.
