The Ray Shero Love Fest (continued)...

I know BGK just did a post on this, but you cannot give GM Ray Shero enough credit for the work he's done over the past month or so. He has taken a team that was stuck in neutral, going nowhere fast, losing bandwagon fans faster than the car industry has been losing money. Shero was taking shots from all angles, unfairly criticized for overseeing an underachieving team only months removed from a Stanley Cup finals appearance. Shero knew work must be done to turn things around, so he put on his hard hat and went to work.

Can we fix it? Yes we can!

First on the agenda was head coach Mike Therrien. Yes, he did take this team to the Stanley Cup finals only two years after being one of the worst teams in the league. But his trapping, overly conservative system was cramping the style of the freewheeling superstars the Pens employ. So out goes HCMT, in comes Baby Pens coach Disco Dan Byslma.

No more grammar lessons needed at post game press conferences.

Bylsma's first order of business was to unleash the hounds, so to speak. The Pens hit the road and jelled from the start, finishing a five-game road trip with five much-needed victories. During the trip, Shero went back to work, sending off another Pens staple in the process.

The amount of booing heard at Mellon Arena was just cut in half, at least.

Shero sent Ryan Whitney to Anaheim for new fan favorite (and Stanley Cup winner) Chris Kunitz and a stud prospect in Eric Tangradi (yes, he's a Philthadelphia native, but let's give the guy a chance.) He also swung a HUGE deal for Bill Guerin (another Stanley Cup winner, and for a third round pick, at most.) The Pens are 10-1-3 since Byslma took over, and have gained points in eight straight games, sitting in 5th place in the Eastern Conference today, a long cry from the 10th place standing they owned just a few days back. Things are looking up for the Pens, and with the top teams in the East like Boston and Washington losing momentum, I'm foreseeing a bright spring for the Pens once again, all thanks to our main man, Ray Shero.