Ray Shero, the son of a coach of the Hockey Fame of Hockey who grew up to become CEO of Stanley in the Cup, died, the NHL announced on Wednesday. He was 62 years old.
Shero spent three decades to work in the NHL offices, notably as director general of New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins, where he was the architect of the first Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin era team in 2009.
He was the second shero to have his name engraved in the Stanley Cup, according to his father Fred.
“Whenever we run into a ice rink when he was scouting, it was clear that he loved what he was doing and I have always amazed his contagious enthusiasm,” said the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, in the announcement. “The whole family of the National Hockey League mourns its death and sends our deepest condolences to the Shero family and Ray’s many friends in the world of hockey.”
Born in St. Paul, Minn., On July 28, 1962, Shero honestly came his early love for the game.
His father was an innovator who became the first NHL head coach to hire an assistant and presented the practice of holding a morning skate before the games. Fred also encouraged his boys to accompany him to practices, which Ray did regularly. He spent his years of training around the philadelphia flyers teams that his father led to Stanley’s consecutive cuts in 1974 and 1975, learning to know Terry Crisp, Pat Quinn and Jacques Plante – All the assistant coaches of Flyers – during this period.
A hockey career has gone.
Shero then played four years at St. Lawrence University, as team captain for two of them, but thought that his future would be forged from ice even after being selected by the Kings of Los Angeles during the 11th round of the 1982 project.
“I do not think I said:” Gee, I think I want to do something different “, told Shero in ESPN in 2013, when his father was closed posthumously at the renowned hockey temple in the manufacturer’s category.
Shero never pursued a career in professional hockey. Instead, he worked as a hockey agent for seven years after graduating from Saint-Laurent before moving on to management with the Ottawa senators in 1993. He was hired as Deputy Director by former teammate Randy Sexton, the GM sense, and was responsible for overseeing his minor league system.
Shero worked in Ottawa until 1998, the date on which he became assistant GM of the expansion of predators of Nashville. He spent eight seasons in Nashville under the GM of the David Poile renown temple. This installed Shero to get the GM Penguins work in 2006.
When Shero arrived in Pittsburgh, the Penguins had not qualified for the playoffs for five years. However, they had already written Crosby, Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-André Fleury and would take Jordan Staal with the choice No. 2 shortly after hiring.
This young nucleus quickly transformed the franchise into a championship candidate and was supported by the daring trade of Shero for Marian Hossa on the 2008 commercial deadline. Pittsburgh reached the Stanley Cup final that year, losing in six games against the Red Wings of Detroit, before returning to beat the Red Wings in the match 7 in the following Made by GM, the most notable among them Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin.
Shero stayed with the Penguins during the 2014 playoffs when the team lost against the New York Rangers in the second round, marking its fifth consecutive season during elimination by a seeded old -fashioned opponent.
His next job came to New Jersey, where he succeeded Lou Lamoriello as managing director and spent five seasons supervising a period of reastilling for Devils. The brand of Hautes Eaux was a surprise appearance in the playoffs in 2018, mainly motivated by a superlative season of Taylor Hall, which won the Hart a year after being acquired by Shero in a business with the Edmonton Oilers.
Many key players who remain in New Jersey have been added during his mandate, including Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt.
Shero was hired by Guerin, now Minnesota Wild GM, as a main advisor in 2021 and remained in this position until his death.
Well known and extremely appreciated in the hockey industry, Shero was also part of the constitution of many national teams for the United States.
(Photo: Brandon McCauley / NHLI via Getty Images)
