Ray Shero’s HHOF Speech for Freddy Honors Father, Builder

I was hesitant to write anything on the subject of Fred Shero’s long overdue Hockey Hall of Fame induction this evening.

I was not born yet when “the Fog” led the Philadelphia Flyers to back-to-back Stanley Cup victories. Beyond admiration for the crest worn on the jersey, I don’t have any personal connections to the man or the team.

Freddy’s son Ray, now general manager for the Pittsburgh Penguins, spoke on behalf of his late father, who passed away from cancer in 1990. It was a touching acceptance speech that provided a brief, personal glimpse into the life of the man who meant so much to Philadelphia and to the organization.

Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post transcribed his speech. The full speech should be required reading for all Flyers fans, but I’ve included below two portions of the speech.

“We had these systems, which they practiced over and over. My dad was a big believer in repetition and the repetition led to proper execution on the ice. I remember back in the Stanley Cup playoffs, I think I was 12 years old, back in the ‘70s, the other coach closed their practice and had the day off but wouldn’t let the media in. so the media went to my father and said, ‘Freddy are you gonna close your practice as well?’ My father’s response was, ‘Come and watch our practice any time. Execution, not surprises, win championships.’ ”

“In contrast to the reputation of coaching the ‘Broad St. Bullies’ back in the ‘70s, he became a student of the Russian style of play when he coached in St. Paul in the 1960s. Hall of Fame builder Anatoli Tarasov was known as the ‘Father of Russian hockey.’ My father was an avid follower of Mr. Tarasov. He claimed to have read his book over 100 times. After the Flyers won their first Cup in 1974, my father immediately went over to the Soviet Union for three weeks. There were hockey drills and practices during the day, seven hours of vodka and laughs later on, my dad had a wonderful experience, but I know my mom came back and said she cried for the entire three weeks. When he went to Russia to study immediately after winning their first Stanley Cup, he came back and the media asked why he went over. What he said was, ‘He who was honored yesterday, will lose tomorrow if he stops practicing today.’ A year later in 1975, the Flyers won their consecutive Stanley Cup.”

Shero’s induction into the HHOF was long overdue, but that’s irrelevant now. He now joins Keith Allen and Ed Snider as a “builder” of the game, and deservedly so.