Sticking to the Plan
By Bob Grove

There was a certain irony to one of Ray Shero's more important comments on the day he was formally introduced as the Penguins' GM. Hired to replace Craig Patrick, who during most of his tenure redefined the concept of managerial patience, Shero stressed how important that same virtue is to him.

"I've been part of a building process with Nashville and Ottawa. . . knowing what it takes, going through that process, the vision, of course, the plan that has to be in place," he said then, "but also the patience that has to be in place in order for this to succeed. I think I have that, I've developed that over 14 years as an assistant manager in the league, and I'm looking forward to putting that into place here in Pittsburgh."

Consider it done. Shero was measured in his initial response to filling the Penguins' numerous holes, both on the ice and off. There was no flurry of decisions in the days and weeks immediately after his hiring, and the Penguins were fringe players at best during the first month of the free-agent game. Some of that surely had to do with his budget realities, but Shero's actions seemed more an outgrowth of his mantra of vision, plan and patience.

But he's also smart enough to know that in the new NHL, even the statute of limitations for patience has changed. Now players who break into the league at 18 are eligible for unrestricted free agency at 25, and that can change the dynamic of building a team.

"The new CBA, the way it's set up, you've got (Sidney) Crosby for seven years. You've got (Evgeni) Malkin for seven years. Patience in the old CBA was until they were 31," he said late last month after re-signing Mark Recchi. "I've had opportunities to trade away Ryan Whitney or Marc-Andre Fleury, and I'm not doing it. These are the guys I'm going to win with moving forward. That's being patient.

"At the same time, I don't want to come to Pittsburgh and lose all the time. That's not fun, that's not development. That's not building. So I want to be as competitive as I can be without mortgaging the future, sacrificing the future. But you do need that patience, and if you have that winning season by building it properly, that will lead to more."

For Shero, part of building it properly was hiring Andre Savard, skilled but defensively responsible as a player, as an assistant coach and Chuck Fletcher, who like Shero grew up in a hockey family, as assistant GM. Part of it was letting go more than two dozen players, including the productive Andy Hilbert. True to expectations, Shero flew under the big name radar in adding 11 players, only Recchi making more than $1.6 million next season and most designed to improve the team defensively. They also included potential third-line forwards Jarkko Ruutu, Ronald Petrovicky and Dominic Moore, potential top line left wing Nils Ekman and steady if unspectacular defenseman Mark Eaton.

"We had some pretty good skill, but at the same time we had some identity issues as a team," Recchi said. "We didn't have a lot of a different mix of players on the third and fourth lines, even the top two lines. We didn't have those guys like Ruutu or Petrovicky, or like Moore. You're all of a sudden becoming a team that's hard working, a team that's going to be very responsible. Ray has done a great job."

PSR Hockey Editor Bob Grove covers the Penguins and the National Hockey League. He has been covering the Penguins since 1981 and serves as a regular co-host on the Penguins Radio Network.