supporting cast around him in comparison to what Drew Willy

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins hired Ray Shero as general manager eight years ago with the mandate to build a roster around two of the games brightest stars and turn ticker-tape parades through downtown into an annual rite of spring. Nearly a decade -- but just one Stanley Cup later -- Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin find themselves on a perennially underachieving team. And Shero finds himself out of a job. The Penguins fired Shero on Friday, three days after another early playoff exit, this one a seven-game loss to the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Coach Dan Bylsma remains in charge until Sheros replacement gets a chance to evaluate the entire organization top to bottom. "We share the disappointment of our fans that we have not had success in the playoffs over the past five seasons," co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle said in a joint statement. "We believe that new leadership in the general managers office will bring a new approach and new energy, and help us return to championship form." Assistant general manager Jason Botterill will serve as general manager on an interim basis. Penguins President and CEO David Morehouse called Botterill a candidate to take over and believes whomever the team brings in wont need to make major changes on a club that won 51 games in 2013-14. "Its not a complete rebuild," Morehouse said. "This is a team that has had a level of success. What were trying to do now is get from good to great." Its a destination the Penguins reached only briefly during Sheros tenure, spending most of the time in a murky middle ground that made them one of the leagues model franchises during the regular season but a symbol of disappointment once the calendar crept into May and beyond. Pittsburgh won the franchises third Cup in 2009 but has failed to produce a bookend. Pittsburgh is just 4-5 in playoff series over the last five years after blowing a 3-1 series lead against New York. Morehouse didnt blame the 51-year-old Sheros ouster on one specific misstep. "This is a decision thats been in the works for a long time since weve won the Cup," Morehouse said. "We wanted to get back to the Stanley Cup finals and we havent and were going to make some changes." The Penguins brought Shero in before the 2006-07 season and tasked him with finding the right kind of players to complement Crosby and Malkins otherworldly offensive talent. It culminated on a giddy night in Detroit in 2009, when the Penguins edged the Red Wings 2-1 in Game 7 to earn the franchises third Cup, a run that included the crucial trade deadline acquisitions of forwards Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin. It was supposed to mark the beginning of a dynasty. Yet five seasons have come and gone with the Penguins in a familiar position: watching the final stages of the playoffs go on without them. It hasnt been for lack of trying. Shero remained aggressive in investing in a "win now" mode as the ensuing disappointments piled up. He enthusiastically said the Penguins were "all in" last year after trading for Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen, Brenden Morrow and Douglas Murray. The moves often created headlines but little else, and boatloads of regular-season victories and a sellout streak seven years and counting proved no longer good enough. Whether Bylsma will be along for the ride remains unclear. The affable, open-minded Michigan native was a revelation when the Penguins promoted him from their American Hockey League affiliate in the spring of 2009, hoping his optimism would help a loaded team break out of a midseason funk. It worked brilliantly. Four months after taking the job, the former NHL nomad who spent nine seasons as a gritty fourth-line forward was raising the Cup in ecstasy. Considering Crosby and Malkin were both in their early 20s at the time, champagne toasts were expected. A half-decade later, Bylsma is the winningest coach in franchise history with 252 wins but the wait for another Cup run continues. While Pittsburgh enjoyed nearly unparalleled success from October to April -- including easily capturing the Metropolitan Division this year despite losing more than 500-man games to injury -- the Penguins again struggled to adapt in the post-season. Morehouse said the new general manager will determine whether Bylsma and the rest of the staff gets another shot. The 43-year-old Bylsma has two years remaining on his contract, the product of an extension he received last June as a vote of confidence from Shero following a four-game sweep at the hands of Boston in the Eastern Conference finals. The deal came with a promise to adopt a more defensive-minded approach. The Penguins even brought in longtime NHL coach Jacques Martin as an assistant, an old-school yin to Bylsmas new-school yang. Crosby took the blame for the teams underperformance as the Penguins cleared out their locker on Thursday. A day later the general manager ordered to put the leagues leading scorer in a position to keep Pittsburgh at the top was cleaning out his office. Whoever ends up redecorating will have his tough choices to make. At the same time, he gets to start with Crosby and Malkin firmly entrenched. Both players are signed through the rest of the decade. There are worse places to start. "A lot of teams would like to be where we are," Morehouse said. "However we do have high expectations and we do want to get to them." Nike Air Max 95 Vendita Online .com) - World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and four-time Australian Open titlist Roger Federer were among Mondays fourth-round winners at Melbourne Park. Air Max 95 Scontate .com) - Longtime Senators star Daniel Alfredsson returned to Ottawa on Thursday to officially announce his retirement. http://www.airmax95outlet.it/ . As if the individual strands of grey hair or the increasing amount of joint pain werent reminders enough, the impending end of Jeters career is a slap-in-the-face indicator of a generations fleeting youth. Air Max 95 Italia . Louis Blues just continue to roll -- especially against the Nashville Predators. Air Max 95 Saldi . Neither made it that far in 2013. Not even close. Federer lost his second match at the All England Club. Nadal exited in the first round, a year after bowing out in the second.The Big Man finished 1-3 in Week 3, dropping to 5-7 on the season in Schultz vs. The World. Now the CFL on TSN analyst is back with his picks for Week 4, including predictions for a surprising matchup of undefeateds in Winnipeg, and the Redblacks first ever home game. Edmonton Eskimos at Winnipeg Blue Bombers The best team in the West is Calgary. They have had two dominate wins; first beating Montreal 29-8 and then making it look easy over Toronto, 34-15. But the second best team in the West will be determined Thursday night in Winnipeg. With the Bombers you sense their confidence is genuine and real. Twice they have had to play excellent pressure response football that netted fourth quarter wins due to Drew Willy. And I dont discount the two defensive touchdowns in their game against the Alouettes as luck, both were a defence forcing a mistake than benefiting from one. This will be their best test yet because as confident as Winnipeg is, Edmonton is their equal in that mentality. I dont expect Adarius Bowman to score three touchdowns Thursday night as he did last Friday, but he will be a problem for Winnipeg. Another problem for Winnipeg will be pass protection. Drew Willy took some serious hits in the Montreal game, the second week in a row that protecting the quarterback was an issue. All logic says Edmonton wins, but logic does not play, it only influences. 24,000 fans followed by 27,000 fans the next week, the Blue Bombers need 30,000 fans to win on Thursday. Bombers win. Toronto Argonauts at Ottawa Redblacks If Toronto had beat Calgary last Saturday I would pick Ottawa to win their first CFL game this week, but they didnt so I cant. The pressure will be on Toronto to do what they did after their loss to the Roughriders: respond with excellence, and they should. The atmosphere at TD Place Stadium should be exceptional as it is another new beginning for an Ottawa team that wants to create new, positive history. But, after an offensive possession or two, that is diffused and it becomes about football only, not what is happening in the stadium. This one will be close as Ricky Ray will play at a higher level and Henry Burris will want to put on a show at home.dddddddddddd But only 11 points scored last week in Edmonton has to be a concern. The best player for the Redblacks is Chevon Walker. He runs as fast as he flashed success when he was a Hamilton Tiger-Cat. Still, my pick is the Argonauts. Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Calgary Stampeders At Saskatchewan, at Edmonton, and now at Calgary to start the season is a challenge for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. And with the news that Tim Hortons Field will not be ready on time, that takes an edge of enthusiasm away. But, welcome to pro football, where if you cant accept and handle adversity then you will fade away. Hamilton did a remarkable job with it last year and theres no reason they wont handle it this summer as professionals. Bigger problem is the Week 4 competition in Calgary. Is it too early to say the next quarterback star in this league is Bo Levi Mitchell? He may have the best supporting cast around him in comparison to what Drew Willy and Mike Reilly have as young quarterbacks, but he is as real as it gets. As long as Calgary does not self-implode, I just cant see them losing. And I can only see Hamilton winning if Jeremiah Masoli or Dan LeFevour self-explodes with an excellent performance. Im going with Calgary. Montreal Alouettes at BC Lions History is not on the side of the Alouettes. They have had problems playing well traveling East to West across the country for a 4pm kick-off time in Vancouver. Troy Smith looked better as a quarterback but so did Kevin Glen for the Lions. In their first meeting on July 4th, Montrael exposed a week offensive line for BC but this time around it should be better as the starting five have a game together under their belt and the video of that July 4th game to learn from. You cant expect Andrew Harris to have a second game as good as he had last week in Regina, but you can expect someone else to step up and shine. The Alouettes are good but have not played well in BC Place. The Lions will move to 2-2. ' ' '