It's Official - Shero is the Man

The Penguins held a press conference announcing the hiring of Ray Shero. It does seem to be a nice fit. He has experience building teams from the ground up, having been involved with two expansion teams.

Shero intends to bring a high tempo game to Pittsburgh, patterned after teams such as this years Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers or Carolina Hurricanes. He seems to have a great understanding of how the new NHL system works and stated that it isn't about going after high priced free agents and making one year runs at the Stanley Cup. He intends to build a team that will be competitive year after year. He also said that you have to earn respect in this league. A team needs to go out and take care of it's business on the ice, compete and win. With that comes the respect of others. Shero also said that he is going to see that the team adheres to that standard. They shouldn't go around whining about the arena situation etc. He seems to have a clear plan of what he wants to do this off-season. He does have faith in the scouting department and he trusts them to make the draft picks, but he takes the ultimate responsibility for it.

Shero also said that he has faith in Michel Therrien and he intends to keep him. He has seen Therrien in the minors, in the NHL and knows that he is a good coach. He liked the way the Therrien had the team playing at the end of last season and felt that they were disciplined and working hard, both things were attributed to Therrien. Shero said that he intends to win the Stanley Cup with the staff he has here.

Mr. Shero also mentioned getting a cell phone message from Mario Lemieux welcoming him to Pittsburgh. He got it around the time he was picking his sons up from school and he played the message for them. They were elated to hear their father getting a phone call from Mario Lemieux.

All in all this is great hiring for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The man seems to bring excitement to the organization and wants to win. He is young, experienced and will infuse the organization with new blood. Something that it hasn't had in quite some time. Hopefully the Penguins have done it right this time.