New details on Ray Shero’s cause of death revealed days after sudden passing
The beloved hockey executive passed away at just 62 years on Wednesday. Now more details on his death have emerged. Full story below:
The news hit hard on Wednesday when it was confirmed that Ray Shero, Minnesota Wild senior adviser and former GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils, passed away at just 62 years old.
Teams, pundits, insiders and fans shared moving tributes about Shero, who spent three decades working in NHL front offices, including serving as GM of the Devils and Penguins, taking part in Pittsburgh’s first championship with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin era in 2009.
When the news of his death was made publicly, it shocked everyone and little information was provided, especially as everyone look to provide privacy for his family and loved ones.
Now, new details have surfaced on Shero’s cause of death.
Dave Molinari of Pittsburgh Hockey Now has revealed that Shero was reportedly “undergoing treatments for an aggressive form of cancer.”
While more details are getting out, and will likely continue to do so in days. weeks to come, Shero’s death sparked strong reactions around the hockey world with so many people completely caught off-guard by the news.
Son of a Hockey Hall of Fame coach Fred, Shero devoted his life to hockey after he played four years at St. Lawrence University, serving as team captain for two of them. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the 11th round of the 1982 draft, but chose to grow as an executive off the ice.
He worked as a hockey agent for seven years after graduating from St. Lawrence before making the jump to management with the Ottawa Senators in 1993, until 1998, when he became assistant GM of the expansion Nashville Predators. He spent eight seasons in Nashville under Hall of Fame GM David Poile. That set Shero up to land the Penguins GM job in 2006.
As the New York Times recalled in the article about his death on Wednesday, “when Shero arrived in Pittsburgh, the Penguins hadn’t qualified for the playoffs in five years. However, they’d already drafted Crosby, Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury and would take Jordan Staal with the No. 2 pick shortly after he was hired.”
He remained with the Penguins through the 2014 playoffs, when the team lost to the New York Rangers in the second round, and landed a job with the Devils where he succeeded Lou Lamoriello as GM and spent five seasons in New Jersey.
Shero was hired as a senior adviser by the Minnesota Wild in 2021 and remained in that position until his death.
Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to his family, friends, fans and loved ones.
