The Pittsburgh Penguins once again came into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as favorites to hoist the best trophy in sports for the first time since 2009, but just like every season since that 2009 championship run, the team fell short. The winds of change were swirling in Pittsburgh and now reports indicate that the Pens fired general manager Ray Shero while head coach Dan Bylsma was kept.
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According to TSN, the team has called a press conference for Friday morning where it announced the changes in team management. The Penguins had some trouble getting out of the first round as the top-seed in the Metropolitan Division bracket and No. 2 team in the entire Eastern Conference this postseason and then ultimately fell in Round 2.
The Pens blew lead after lead in their Round 1 series against the No. 4 Columbus Blue Jackets before ousting them in six games. Pittsburgh then dropped Game 1 to the No. 2 seeded New York Rangers in Round 2 but was able to roar back with three straight wins.
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With a 3-1 series lead and a second consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference Finals within reach, the Penguins lost three straight games to the Blueshirts, ending their season on home ice with a Game 7 loss at the Consol Energy Center on Tuesday. TSN's Bob McKenzie reported that Shero and Bylsma would both lose their jobs, but it turned out to just be Shero::
PIT will announce this morning GM Ray Shero and head coach Dan Bylsma have been fired. #TSN
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) May 16, 2014
Shero had been general manager of the Penguins since 2006 after coming through the Ottawa Senators and Nashville Predators organizations. Bylsma took over behind the Pens bench in 2009 midway through the season and led the team to its first Stanley Cup since 1992.
Bylsma has an impressive 252-117-32 record over his tenure as Penguins head coach, and that possibly could have saved his job despite his team's playoff futility in recent seasons.
Following the 2009 Cup win, it was all downhill for Bylsma and the Pens. The Penguins failed to get past the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2010 and then had back-to-back first-round exits in 2011 and 12. The team then battled through the first two series last season before being swept out of the Eastern Conference Finals by the Boston Bruins.
After blowing a 3-1 series lead and losing to the Rangers in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history, Shero's fate was sealed whle Bylsma was retained.
There were reports that star forwards Evgeni Malkin and captain Sidney Crosby were frustrated with Bylsma and wanted a change, but the captain denied those claims despite reports of him visibly yelling at his head coach during Game 7 against the Rangers.
"No. You're going to hear a lot of that stuff and a lot of negativity and different rumors, so that's normal when you lose, Crosby told Pens TV about rumors of him being fed up with his coach. "There's always people looking for reasons, but there wasn't that. If we win that game, we wouldn't even have to answer these questions. But that's the difference between winning and losing and having to deal with that."
Crosby, who had just one goal in 13 playoff games this postseason, also said he didn't believe the team needed a change behind the bench.
"Honestly, I don't think it's necessary," he told the affiliate. "It's not something that's happened and I don't feel like I need to talk about [making a coaching change] right now. I'm not going to predict the future, I don't know what's going to happen. I'm well aware of all the questions, but we're in this together, whether it's coaches or players."
Change happened anyway, but it was Shero, not Bylsma, losing his job.
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