The Many Ranger Lives Of Freddie Shero

Long before he became a Stanley Cup hero coach in Philadelphia, Fred Shero had been a legendary Ranger-Plus character.

When Shero arrived in New York from Winnipeg during World War II, Fred was a Rangers farmhand defenseman. His first team was the short-lived Brooklyn Crescents of the Eastern Amateur Hockey League.

The Crescents lasted only a year playing out of the Brooklyn Ice Palace on Atlantic Avenue between Nostrand and Bedford Avenues.

Fred then moved over to the Sunday afternoon double-headers (Met League first) New York Rovers.  Rangers bosses, Lester Patrick and Frank Boucher, eventually promoted him to the Blueshirts.

Shero, who was an amateur boxer back home in Winnipeg, could handle his NHL dukes. A fight with young Gordie Howe in the late 1940's was such a wonderful bout that pix of it made the

backpage of the Daily News and earned Fred the nickname "Hero Shero."

Not to be overlooked was Shero's key role on the 1949-50 Blueshirt team that took Detroit to the seventh game – double overtime – of the 1950 Cup Final.

Many Rangers fans may remember Fred as GM-coach of the Blueshirts during the 1979-80 season. My historian-pal-author George Grimm (Guardians Of The Goal) certainly does. Grimm writes:

"On March 11, 1980 Shero traded troubled Don Murdoch and a third-round pick in the 1981 Draft to Edmonton for winger Cam Connor. Murdoch was on a downward spiral, but you could still say that Shero overpaid for the low-scoring Connor.

"That was because he thought he was getting defenseman Colin Campbell. Which certainly would have been a better deal."

Surprise, surprise, surprise!!!

Grimm: "Imagine Shero's surprise when Connor showed up instead of Campbell. And imagine Connor's disappointment when he realized he wasn't the guy Freddie wanted!"