By Michael Russo (The Athletic)
Ray Shero didn’t know John Hynes well.
He knew of him.
Shero knew Hynes had gotten his start in coaching as a 21-year-old graduate assistant at legendary Jack Parker’s Boston University only three months after his playing days with the Terriers ended. He knew Hynes was then a graduate assistant at the U.S. National Team Development Program and as assistant coach at UMass-Lowell and University of Wisconsin before returning to the U.S. NTDP for six years as a head coach.
That’s when Shero, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ general manager at the time, was told by AHL Wilkes-Barre head coach Todd Reirden and his lieutenants Jason Botterill and Tom Fitzgerald that they wanted Hynes as a Baby Pens assistant coach.
“I’m like, ‘The guy at the Program?’” Shero says. “I said, ‘Why the f— would he leave that to go to the American League to be an assistant coach?’ They’re like, ‘He said he’s really interested.’ So I figured at this point, as the GM, I’ve got to call the guy to see what the story is”
Shero will never forget the conversation. It was August of 2009 and he was at a red light on his way to the office when he finally interrupted Hynes and said, “John, let me ask you a question: Have Fitzy and Bottsy told you what the position pays?”
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