Frederick Alexander Shero (October 23, 1925November 24, 1990) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and general manager. Nicknamed "The Fog", he played for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), but spent most of his playing career in the minor leagues. Following his playing career, Shero spent 13 years coaching in the minor leagues before making it to the NHL. As the head coach of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, Shero won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975 and reached the Stanley Cup Final a third time, in 1976. He also had four consecutive seasons of having a 0.700 or better winning percentage and remains the Flyers all-time leader in coaching victories. Shero controversially left the Flyers following the 1977–78 season to become the head coach of the New York Rangers, whom he led to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season. He resigned from the Rangers after coaching for less than three seasons. Shero had a unique style of coaching that led to several innovations that are still used today. He was the first coach to hire a full-time assistant coach, employ systems, have his players use in season strength training, study film, and he was one of the first coaches to utilize a morning skate. In 2013 Shero was recognized for his contributions when he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder.
He was known for his enigmatic and introverted personality often appearing or disappearing from a room unnoticed, or being completely lost in thought. As a child Shero took up boxing and at age 13 he became a Canadian Bantamweight champion. His success gave him a chance to become a professional boxer, but he decided to play hockey instead.
Playing career
At age 17, Shero was signed by the New York Rangers to a professional contract. He spent the first year of his contract in the minors, splitting time between the New York Rovers and the Brooklyn Crescents in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League. The following season, Shero served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, although he continued to play hockey for the Navy as a member of . the nickname actually originated during a 1948 game in St. Paul, Minnesota: high humidity on indoor ice surfaces can result in fog, and one night in St. Paul, the fog was so thick that Shero was the only player who claimed to be able to see the puck, thus earning him the name "Freddy the Fog". and on April 23, 1950, the Rangers lost game seven in double overtime. It was the last NHL game Shero ever played. Shero won back-to-back Calder Cups with the Barons in 1953 and 1954. Shero was also named an AHL Second Team All-Star in 1954. In 1964, he coached the St. Paul Rangers to the CPHL championship finals. The following season Shero began his AHL coaching career with the Buffalo Bisons whom he led to a Calder Cup Championship in 1970, while winning the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL coach of the year. For the 1970–71 season Shero again changed teams this time coaching in the Central Hockey League with the Omaha Knights, winning the league Championship. Although in the Rangers farm system for several years and winning at various levels, Shero was never seriously considered to replace Emile Francis as head coach, due to Shero's perceived alcohol problem and a belief that he was an ineffective communicator.
Philadelphia Flyers (1971–1978)
In 1971 the Philadelphia Flyers were looking for a new coach, and general manager Keith Allen suggested Shero to owner Ed Snider. When asked if he knew Shero, Allen admitted to only knowing him by reputation. He knew Shero always had a winning record, plus he had a "gut feeling" he was the right man for the job. Snider agreed to bring in Shero because he trusted Allen's judgment. Shero's "Fog" nickname was also re-established during the year following a game at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta when he left the arena through a door with no re-entry and became locked outside prior to the post-game press conference. At the press conference no one knew where Shero was and reporters unsuccessfully searched the arena for him.
In 1972–73 Shero hired Mike Nykoluk as an assistant coach on a one-year tryout basis. Although assistant coaches are common today, Nykoluk was the first full-time assistant coach in the league, However, with the additional help Shero guided the Flyers to their first winning season in franchise history, whom they defeated 4–2 winning the first playoff series in Flyers history. In the second round the Flyers matched up with the Montreal Canadiens, who defeated Philadelphia 4–1.
Stanley Cup years
thumb|The [[Jack Adams Award for coach of the year, which Shero won in its inaugural season (1973–74)]]
The following season Shero led the Flyers to a 50–16–12 record, finishing in first place in the Western Division. The 112 point total also placed the Flyers just one point behind the Boston Bruins for first overall in the NHL. It also marked the first time in franchise history that the Flyers posted a winning percentage over .700. In the 1974 playoffs the Flyers' first round match-up was against the Atlanta Flames. Following a game three win in which the Flyers went up 3–0, Shero was involved in an infamous incident. Known for taking late night walks and stopping at local bars and pubs for a drink, Shero decided to go for one of those walks following the game three victory. Though no one knows for sure what happened, Shero was allegedly mugged. Following the series Flyers' goaltender Bernie Parent was named Conn Smythe as playoff MVP. During the official presentation Parent was given a new car, which he promptly gave to Shero.
In the 1974–75 season Shero led the Flyers to a 51–18–11 record. They won the newly formed Patrick Division, were first in the new Campbell Conference, and first overall in the NHL. In their opening series the Flyers swept the Toronto Maple Leafs, setting up a semi-final match-up against the New York Islanders. After taking a 3–0 series led, the Flyers lost three straight to set up a deciding seventh game. Before game seven, Shero wrote a quote by Dag Hammarskjöld – "Only he deserves power who every day justifies it." on the blackboard. Though Shero never admitted it, the quote was believed to be directed at centre Rick MacLeish who had underperformed in the series. MacLeish responded and in game seven he registered a hat-trick as the Flyers won the game 4–1. The win set up a Stanley Cup Final match-up with Buffalo. Shero and the coaching staff again devised a game plan. This time it was to stop Buffalo's French Connection line. The first part of the plan was to keep Sabre's centre Gilbert Perreault out of the middle of the rink and to take away his passing options. The Flyers' centres were instructed to play close to Perreault and be physical against him, to the point where it bordered on a penalty. The second part involved wearing down the French Connection. Shero made numerous line changes to keep fresh players out against the Sabre's trio. A perfect example of this part of the strategy was in game one. The French Connection took a 97-second shift and the Flyers made three line changes during that time. Again they won the Patrick division and finished first overall in the Campbell Conference. The season saw the club set franchise records in points and winning percentage. In 1976 the Soviet Red Army team toured North America and played four games against NHL clubs. On January 11, 1976, the Russians matched up against the Flyers at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Entering the game the Red Army team was unbeaten, defeating both Boston and the Rangers and registering a tie against the Canadiens. Shero had studied the Soviet style of play, even traveling to the Soviet Union during different off-seasons. The Flyers were also without second-line centre MacLeish, resulting in a depletion of scoring depth. Despite these setbacks Shero led Philadelphia past Boston in the semi-finals and back to the Stanley Cup Final. However, the Flyers fell short of winning three straight cups, losing to Montreal in four consecutive games.
In the 1976–77 season the Flyers' win total slipped from 51 to 48, but they still managed a .700 winning percentage. This marked the fourth consecutive year of having a .700 or better win percentage In the post season the Flyers again reached the semi-finals, but lost to the Bruins in four straight games. The following season the Flyers' record fell to 45–20–15 finishing second to the Islanders in both the division and the Conference. Shero again led the Flyers to the semi-finals, where they lost to the Bruins once more. At the end of the season Shero, who had one more year left on his contract, submitted a letter of resignation stating that the Flyers needed a change whether they realized it or not. Flyers management had previously heard rumors about Shero wanting to leave Philadelphia and re-join the Rangers organization, and refused to accept his letter of resignation. Shero then signed a $250,000, five-year contract with the Rangers to be their new Head Coach and General Manager, believing he no longer had a contractual agreement to the Flyers. A few weeks after signing Shero, the Rangers gave the Flyers their first-round pick in the 1978 draft (Ken Linseman) and cash as compensation, allowing the Rangers to avoid tampering charges. The Rangers excelled during the playoffs that year, defeating the Los Angeles Kings in their first round match-up, then knocking off Shero's former club Philadelphia. In the semi-finals the Rangers upset their cross town rival Islanders to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1972. The Rangers matched up against the Montreal Canadiens in the Finals. After upsetting Montreal in game one of the finals, Phil Esposito asked Shero to get the team out of town prior to game two, two nights later. Shero decided against such a move and several Rangers' players were rumored to have "partied hard" following the win. The Rangers took a 2–0 lead in game two before losing the game and eventually the series, 4–1. In the playoffs the Rangers defeated the Flames in round one, but lost a playoff rematch to the Flyers, 4–1, in round two. After the season Shero was honored with the Lester Patrick Trophy for his contributions to the growth of hockey in the United States, an award he shared with the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey Team.
In 1982, Shero failed in an attempt to become the Detroit Red Wings head coach. A year later he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He underwent surgery but remained healthy enough to start his new position as color analyst for the New Jersey Devils radio broadcasts.
With his health declining Shero returned to the Flyers' organization as a special assistant in 1989. The reunion was to help him with his medical costs, but it was also something that was very important to Shero on a personal level, as it was a return to the organization he had the most success with. In 2010 there was a push to get him elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame, which included an online petition at Flyershistory.net. Shero was eventually elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 2013. He remains the winningest coach in Flyers history with 308 wins, plus 48 more in playoff competition.
Coaching style
Shero's introverted, enigmatic personality had an effect on the way in which he coached players. Shero often communicated with his players by way of notes left in their lockers. When he did talk to them, he was known for never yelling. He believed that when coaches yell they do it for their own sake. Shero never coached players to fight. In an interview in the HBO documentary Broad Street Bullies Shero states that he had a team that liked fighting so he let them fight. Demonstrating his personal coaching philosophy that "You have to learn to win with what you got or you don't win at all."
However, according to Börje Salming, he was once approached by former Flyers captain Bobby Clarke who admitted that Fred Shero had instructed the team to "Get him (Börje) off the ice by any means necessary".
Shero was an innovator, aside from being the first coach to employ systems, and known as one of the first Western coaches to study Soviet influences, he was the first coach to study film. His son Ray even recalls his father breaking down games from radio broadcasts.
Fascinated by the law, Shero contemplated retiring from coaching to attend law school following the Flyers Stanley Cup victory, believing he had nothing left to prove in hockey. Although he remained in coaching he did take a correspondence course in law. Known to spend time at his local library, Shero enjoyed the works of William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens