Penguins fire Ray Shero
— -- The Pittsburgh Penguins fired general manager Ray Shero while the status of coach Dan Bylsma will be evaluated, team president David Morehouse announced Friday.
Bylsma kept his job for the time being after multiple media reports said he would also lose his job.
However, Bylsma's fate is not completely safe.
Bylsma and the rest of the coaching staff will have their futures decided by the club's new general manager. Jason Botterill, the team's assistant GM, will serve as interim GM and be a candidate to replace Shero on a permanent basis.
Team co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle said Friday it was time to take the franchise in a new direction after the team's latest playoff flameout.
Shero's ouster comes after the Penguins squandered a 3-1 series lead against the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs.
Bylsma led the Penguins to a 51-24-7 record this season, and he has a franchise-record 252 wins since taking over for Michel Therrien in the late stages of the 2008-09 season.
Shero was hired as GM in 2006, leading the Penguins to the Stanley Cup finals in 2008 and 2009.
Sidney Crosby said Thursday that blame for the Penguins' playoff collapse falls on the shoulders of the players, not the coaches.
"At the end of the day, we feel responsible," Crosby said Thursday. "We are the guys that go out there and want to perform and want to win, and we have that expectation.
"It's difficult to win, and I don't think there's been any lack of effort from players, coaches, anybody in the conversation," Crosby said. "I don't think it's been a lack of trying."
The Penguins have been knocked out of the playoffs by a lower-seeded team in five consecutive seasons.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
