The Pittsburgh Penguins’ jam-packed front office got one person lighter today, as assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald left to take the same position with the New Jersey Devils. With the Devils, Fitzgerald will be reunited with his old boss, former Penguins general manager Ray Shero, who is now the GM in New Jersey. “Ray has been a good friend and mentor of mine for a long time now even going back to my Nashville days with him,” Fitzgerald said to Tom Gulitti of the North Jersey Record. ... Read More
New Jersey Devils to tap WBS coach John Hynes
The New Jersey Devils are expected to announce the hiring of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach John Hynes as their next head coach. The Pittsburgh Sporting News has been able to confirm, via to a source close to the situation, an earlier report by Bob McKenzie of TSN that Hynes would “very likely” get the job in New Jersey. Certainly appears as if PIT's AHL coach John Hynes is the likely leading candidate to be next head coach in NJ. Nothing official, mind you. — Bob McKenzie ... Read More
Report: John Hynes could join Shero in New Jersey
In Ray Shero’s tenure as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, no fewer than four men came out the Penguins organization to become NHL head coaches, and it looks like that trend may continue. Three of them – Michel Therrien in Montreal, Mike Yeo in Minnesota and Todd Richardsa in Columbus – are currently employed in the NHL, while Dan Bylsma is widely expected to be offered a job this offseason. Some have even speculated that Bylsma would be a good fit to re-join Shero in New ... Read More
Ray Shero to take over in New Jersey
Ray Shero has a new gig. After taking a season off, the former Penguins general manager will return to the NHL in the same capacity with the New Jersey Devils. Shero was announced as the fourth GM in franchise history in a press conference Monday afternoon. The man making the announcement, Lou Lamoriello, will step down as general manager after 28 years in that position with New Jersey. Lamoriello will remain the team’s president and oversee Shero in a supervisory role, but Shero will ... Read More
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Regime Change Will Give New Meaning To ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’
(Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins) As the #IceBucketChallenge summer rolls along, it reminds us that the Pittsburgh Penguins are about to experience a splash of frigid water to the face. Even though general manager Jim Rutherford and head coach Mike Johnston have been in place since June, the realities of the new regime probably haven't taken hold for most of the Penguins yet. That will change in a few weeks when training camp begins. For five years, the Penguins had the luxury of a consistent ... Read More
BREAKING: Ray Shero Fired
The Pittsburgh Penguins have fired Penguins General Manager, Ray Shero. Despite of helping build a team that made consecutive Stanley Cup appearances in 08-09', and being named the NHL GM of the Year just last season, the Penguins have struggled to find playoff success since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009. There is speculation that Dan Bylsma will be next to go, but no announcement has been made at this time. According to Chris Peters from CBS Sports, the new GM will determine Bylsma's ... Read More
Shero and Bylsma Share Equal Blame
After the Penguins were swept in four games against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals, changes should have been made. At the very least, Dan Bylsma should have been fired and Kris Letang probably should've been traded to not only create cap space but build depth at forward. Instead, the Penguins kept Bylsma and rewarded Kris Letang by giving him an eight year extension worth $58 million. The result? Another embarrassing early exit in the playoffs and now the dream of seeing ... Read More
Let’s Make A Deal – Trade Options For The Pens
Even in the the midst of the latest stretch of winning hockey where the Penguins have gone 8-2-0 in their last ten, one of the hot button topics continues to be what the Penguins might do in terms of trades. Questions remain to be answered...Where do the Pens look to upgrade? Do they look for another scoring forward to play on a line with Crosby or Malkin? Do they look for additional grit and toughness that could play on a third or fourth line, and additionally help with the penalty kill? What ... Read More
Ray Shero made the right call to bring back Dan Bylsma
It was a four-game series that very few saw coming. I heard some predictions say that the Boston Bruins would win the series against the Penguins. I mean, I was one of them. Most of the predictions that had the Bruins winning had the series going six or seven games. Not once, even from the biggest Boston version of a Yinzer, did I see anyone say a sweep. It was unfathomable. It truly was. It did, however, happen. All of the moves that Penguins General Manager Ray Shero made at the trade deadline ... Read More
Yinzer of the Week: Ray Shero
The Pittsburgh Penguins were very active in the trade market this week as Ray Shero showed why he's one of the better general managers in the NHL. For that, Shero is this week's Yinzer of the Week. It all started on Sunday. Shero sent Joe Morrow and a fifth-round draft pick out west and acquired a third-round pick and Stars' captain Brenden Morrow from Dallas. The newly acquired Morrow is a lofty veteran and has been in the league for 12 years as compared to their previous Morrow, who was a ... Read More