I remember how excited I was when the Penguins hired 43-year-old Ray Shero in the spring of 2006 to replace Hall-of-Famer Craig Patrick as general manager.
Although Patrick and his chief scout, Greg Malone, had drafted brilliantly, adding the likes of future superstars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Kris Letang along with a stable of other young hopefuls, he’d lost his ability to fill in the missing pieces.
Indeed, a team loaded with high-profile free-agents such as Sergei Gonchar, Mark Recchi and John LeClair, to say nothing of Crosby and Mario Lemieux, sank like a stone the previous season to the tune of 58 points.