Fred Shero set to join Scotty Bowman in HHOF

TORONTO -- Fred Shero's Broad Street Bullies had a dynasty brewing in the mid-1970s after winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, but it was broken up by Scotty Bowman's Montreal Canadiens in 1976.

The Habs went on to start their own dynasty, winning four straight titles, including the first at the hands of Shero and the Philadelphia Flyers and the last, in 1979, against Shero and the New York Rangers.

On Monday, Shero, who passed away in 1990, will join Bowman in the builder's wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Ray Shero, Fred's son who is accepting the Hall of Fame honor on his dad's behalf Monday night, is still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his dad and Bowman will be linked together again, and enshrined together forever.

"It's really cool now to spend time now with Scotty Bowman, who coached against my dad a long time," Ray Shero, the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, told NHL.com. "To talk about Scotty about what my dad was like is great. Obviously, my dad had great respect for Scotty. I still remember what my dad said about the Montreal Canadiens' teams back in the 70s, when they started winning and about Scotty Bowman. He would say, 'You think it's so easy to coach the Montreal Canadiens, just open the gate, right? No. You try coaching the Montreal Canadiens with the personalities and talent.'

"He had a great deal of respect for Scotty and now to have Scotty talking about my dad, it's just really cool."

Ray Shero will deliver his dad's induction speech on Monday. He'll try to use his words to say what his dad would want to say.

"Well, I tell you one thing, I wish he were here to give it instead of me," Shero said. "I think he would thank the people who gave him the opportunity to get to the NHL, including [Flyers owner] Ed Snider and [ex-Flyers general manager] Keith Allen. Even along the way the Knox family in Buffalo that hired him, Jake Milford in Omaha and just the players. He'd talk about some of his old great captains, the leadership on the teams he did have.

"I'm very happy for the family name."

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