Rest In Peace, Ray Shero. The Hockey World was stunned Wednesday afternoon when news broke that the former Stanley Cup-winning General Manager had passed away suddenly at the age of 62. Stunned and gutted. Shero had briefly and quietly battled an illness before his untimely passing. To say he will be missed is a massive understatement.
Friday night, the New Jersey Devils hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins at Prudential Center in a meeting of Shero’s two former teams. He served as Pittsburgh’s GM from May 20, 2006, to May 16, 2014. He then led New Jersey from May 4, 2015, to January 12, 2020. (He was currently serving as a Senior Advisor for the Minnesota Wild when he passed). While this game ended in a 4-2 defeat for the Devils, the night won’t be remembered for the final score. Rather, the night will be remembered for the moment of silence before the game and the impact that Shero’s players had during the contest.
That’s right, even several years removed from leading either team, numerous players from his respective tenures still remain. For New Jersey, Shero drafted Captain Nico Hischier, All-Star Jesper Bratt and Nathan Bastian. He also selected Stefan Noesen off waivers. (Shero drafted Jack Hughes, but Hughes missed the game as he continues to rehab from season-ending shoulder surgery).
On the other side of the ice, Tristan Jarry and Bryan Rust were Shero draft picks, while the golden trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang were all cornerstones on his Penguins teams. Brian Dumoulin, whom the Devils acquired at this year’s Trade Deadline, also played for Shero’s Penguins.
All told, 10 different players across the two teams can trace their careers back to Shero in one way or another. Of course, many other players around The League carry on Shero’s legacy in one way, shape or form. Pavel Zacha, MacKenzie Blackwood, Yegor Sharangovich, Fabian Zetterlund, Jesper Boqvist, Jordan Staal, Robert Bortuzzo, Jake Muzzin, Olli Maatta and Jake Guentzel are just a few of the many players whom Shero drafted during his time in the GM chair.
Heck, one of New Jersey’s top prospects, Arseni Gritsyuk, was drafted by Shero. So, if/when he comes to New Jersey from The KHL, that’ll add another player to his legacy.
Now, getting back to the players in Friday night’s game who are connected to the late Shero, here’s who stood out.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust each had two points (a goal and an assist each). Tristan Jarry, after giving up two quick goals in the first 6:17 of the game, settled in and blanked New Jersey the rest of the way, making a total of 27 saves. Of course, Crosby’s power-play goal 13:21 into the third period was the game-winner and it was assisted by Rust.
Erik Haula wasn’t drafted or acquired by Shero, but he made a massive impact on this game as he scored just 15 seconds in to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead. It was tied for the 12th fastest game-opening goal in Devils’ history.
Ondrej Palat managed to draw a hooking penalty that was committed by Kevin Hayes to send New Jersey to its first power-play 4:02 into the game. The Devils didn’t score on the man-advantage, but 15 seconds after the penalty expired, Seamus Casey wired a pass to Cody Glass at the point, who fired the puck toward the net. Palat, in the right place at the right time, deflected the puck past Jarry to give New Jersey an early 2-0 lead.
The Penguins were gifted a power-play when Jonathan Kovacevic was called for tripping Malkin at 14:01 of the first. Pittsburgh didn’t score, but nine seconds after the penalty expired, Malkin put a shot on net that snuck under Jake Allen and got caught in his left skate. Luke Hughes attempted to bat the puck away from the net and accidentally put it in instead, cutting the Devils’ lead to 2-1. The goal was credited to Malkin as the last Penguin to touch the puck.
Valtteri Puustinen scored the game-tying goal 1:05 into the second period, on the power-play, to knot the score at two. Malkin and Matt Grzelcyk were credited with the assists.
Crosby scored a power-play goal 13:21 into the third period to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead and then Bryan Rust salted the game away with an empty-net goal 5:04 later to hand the Devils a 4-2 loss.
After the final horn, Ray Shero was announced as the first star of the game in a touching moment that further emphasized how much he meant to both franchises. It would take a book to fully encapsulate what Shero meant to the Devils, Penguins and the hockey world, but for now, we will leave you with what each team’s Captain had to say when they learned of his passing.
“My first couple years in New Jersey, he brought me in, made sure I was taken care of as an 18-year-old,” Devils Captain Nico Hischier told NHL.com. “He was always there and asked if I needed anything and not just hockey-wise. Hockey-wise, he was very intelligent and understood the game of hockey, but I’m so thankful he always made sure I was taken care of moving forward and feeling comfortable. He was in contact with my family too and told them he’ll take care of me. So it was great to hear from my parents that I was in good hands. That’s what I’ll remember.”
“It’s going back a ways now,” Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby told NHL.com. “But I remember just being a young player and just how instrumental he was. We had lost, we finished last the year before he came in and really established how he wanted to change the culture and wanted to get back to winning. As a young guy, he encouraged me to talk to him. He said his door was always open and for a young player, you’re pretty intimidated to talk to the GM. But he made it a point to bring me in there sometimes, talk hockey, kind of tell me what he expected of us. He was just someone who really empowered me personally and I think us as a group. You could see what developed there. He had a huge impact on me, had a huge impact on the organization and just forever grateful.”
Ray Shero, gone far too soon. We just know that somewhere up above, he’s already working on building a new championship roster for a team in the Otherworld Hockey League.
