The biggest news in the NHL world on Friday, besides the Game 7 between Anaheim and Los Angeles, was the dismissal of Ray Shero as the general manager in Pittsburgh. With a press conference announced for 11:30 a.m. EST, the Penguins were expected to begin their offseason by pruning some of the branches in the suit department.

Coach Dan Bylsma was expected to be relieved of his job with Shero’s fate up in the air. The surprise of the morning was when Shero was fired and Bylsma was left with his fate in the hands of Shero’s successor. It was a curious move that many Penguin faithful felt necessary.

With the team no longer responding to Bylsma, and rumors swirling about dissension among his roster, it was a forgone conclusion that the Penguins would be looking for a new coach this morning.

However, the biggest issue in the Steel City has much less to do with who is giving direction behind the bench and much more to do with the Penguin’s leader on the ice. In the most recent Pittsburgh playoff adventure (noticed I subbed the word disaster, calamity, failure or embarrassment with “adventure”), the Pens again fell to a lower-seeded team.

Now that is a bit of a weighted statistic given that the Penguins are typically at or near the top of the overall NHL standings every year. Realistically, they expect to be a contender each year, and without fail the Penguins are usually a top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Handling the disappointment and reacting to losing is something that the fans and ownership need to get a better handle on. Lest we forget that the Penguins are only five years removed from a Stanley Cup (2009). Did we forget that the Pens were also in the Stanley Cup Final in 2008?

Every year 29 teams fail to accomplish their goal of winning the Stanley Cup, but where is the line between reality and reasonable expectations? There are plenty of statistics to support a change at the top for Pittsburgh.

They are in salary cap hell because of the enormous contracts that have been peddled to the stars (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin James Neal, Marc-Andre Fleury and Kris Letang). There is a total shortage of forwards in the Pens minor league system. Though they are relatively deep on defense, those youngsters will be expected to play NHL minutes next season.

Shero has not drafted particularly well, but honestly, when you are typically drafting between the 25th and 30th pick, you’re spinning a wheel of fortune with prospects hoping that one or two will stick. Asking for any GM to lean on his drafting acumen to build a franchise is like asking David Blaine for the Powerball numbers to fill your bank account.

While there have been a few splashy trades in the Shero era, none of them seemed to make Pittsburgh any better, and in the case of the Jordan Staal trade, the Pens seem worse for it. All things considered, I’m not convinced that Shero is the reason that the Penguins have failed to get back to the Stanley Cup Final.

Then again, neither is Dan Bylsma. The embattled Penguin’s coach has been granted a brief stay of execution while the Pittsburgh brass looks for someone else to decide if he stays or goes. You’d have to believe that Bylsma is a dead-man walking. Any GM that takes the position in Pittsburgh will want their own coach in place which means curtains for “Disco” Dan.

This morning ultimately provided more questions than answers. The biggest one in my opinion is: Who will Pittsburgh ownership bring in that is better equipped to run their franchise than the man that was in charge? I don’t see a good answer out there, or anyone that would make a ton of sense.

Why wouldn’t the Penguins just line up Bylsma next to Shero when they dropped the axe? It has to be the most awkward situation in the world for the incumbent coach as he is simply left to wait on his fate. There is nothing he can do to improve his situation or impress his new boss. His body of work is left to speak for itself, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of (252-117-32 regular season record through five-plus seasons and a Stanley Cup).

While Mario Lemieux has stated that he would not stand between Bylsma and another coaching opportunity if the Pens choose not to retain his services, it will be interesting to see how that situation goes down. If nothing else, the situation in Pittsburgh kicks off what is sure to be an interesting off-season to fill in the blanks when there isn’t a conference final or Stanley Cup Final game to watch.