Now that Tom Renney has been relieved of his head coaching duties (along with assistant coach Perry Pearn), every coach that took his team to Europe to start the season is now out of a job. It’s statistics like this that start the rumors of a new curse in the league. Who will fall victim next year? Detroit, Chicago, Florida, and St. Louis will be the four teams starting the season across the pond. Babcock, Quenneville, DeBoer, and Murray better start thinking about who else they’d like to work for.
Did Renney Deserve It?
But seriously, folks. Babcock and Quenneville will most likely break the curse next year, making Renney’s exit more about the will of GM Glen Sather and less about the fate of the hockey gods. Sather has been criticized ever since he left Edmonton and came to New York in 2000, where he’s been unable to replicate the same success he had with the Oilers and their 4 Stanley Cups. Under Sather, three coaches have now been fired. The team hasn’t made it out of the semifinals, including four straight seasons without any playoff action.
Renney became head coach of the Rangers at the end of the 03-04 season, and enjoyed a respectable 164-121-42 record during his career with the team. Renney can be to blame for some of the problems with this team, like his aversion to Petr Prucha. But when looking at Tom’s overuse of underperforming stars like Drury, Redden, etc. the blame should be placed squarely on the shoulders of Sather. The GM has made a habit of Steinbrenner-like signings of big name players that ultimately fizzle out or don’t play well with the other superstars brought in on equally ridiculous contracts. It must be a New York City thing.
Sather’s New Deal
The deed has been done, however, and now the team must look forward to their new head coach, John Tortorella, the former Tampa Bay Lightning head coach. Before going to Tampa, Torts was an assistant coach for the Rangers in 1999-2000 and even had a brief stint as the head coach for the final four games of the season. What can he bring to the team to stop the epic freefall currently happening in New York? Well, if you remember the beginning of the season, the Rangers had a 10-2-1 start, thanks largely to their aggressive style of play which has since become almost nonexistent. Tortorella, known for being a fiery, passionate coach, will probably wake up the team when they need it most. Right now, the Rangers sit in sixth place in the East, tied for points with Montreal. Not far behind are Florida and Buffalo, each one point behind. It’ll be a close fight for the last few playoff spots, and the Rangers need all the help they can get.
A Wrench in the Plans
“He’s embarrassed himself, he’s embarrassed the organization, he’s embarrassed the league and he’s embarrassed his teammates, who have to look out for him. Send him home. He doesn’t belong in the league.” – John Tortorella on Sean Avery while at TSN
“He doesn’t have the history with Sean that we do. Over time you learn to love him, just like I do.” – Glen Sather on John Tortorella and Sean Avery
Now, I can’t talk about the Rangers and John Tortorella in the same article without mentioning that tiny little nuisance that is Sean Avery. During his tenure with TSN this season, Tortorella repeatedly criticized Avery and his extracurricular activities. However, Glen Sather still seems set on having Avery wear the Rangers blue again. For a coach whose main sermon is teamwork, how will Torts handle a player that almost ruined the season for the Dallas Stars?
Time will ultimately tell, but the Rangers seem better off for now. Sather will ultimately have to go in order for this team to be a Cup contender again, but Tortorella is a step in the right direction. He’ll bring some pulse to a flat lining team desperate for a boost to stay in the playoff hunt. Even with the looming possibility of an Avery return, the Rangers players should take this coaching change as an opportunity to focus and start playing like they did in October. Or maybe they shouldn’t. It might be the only way Glen will be shown the door.