Tom Renney (born March 1, 1955, in Cranbrook, British Columbia) is a Canadian ice hockey associate coach for the the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously coached the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks as well.
Renney began his coaching career in the major junior Western Hockey League (WHL), capturing a Memorial Cup in his two-year stint with the Blazers. In addition to the Rangers, he has also previously coached the Vancouver Canucks for two seasons. He has participated in the coaching staff for Team Canada on numerous occasions, capturing a silver medal as the head coach at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
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Coaching career
Kamloops Blazers
Renney began his career behind the bench in the major junior ranks with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1990–91. He immediately established success at the junior level, leading the club to consecutive President's Cup championships as WHL champions and a Memorial Cup as Canadian Hockey League (CHL) champions. In his two seasons with the Blazers, Renney compiled a 101-37-6 record for a .714 winning percentage, which ranks as the all-time highest winning mark in CHL history.[citation needed]
Vancouver Canucks
Renney earned his first National Hockey League (NHL) coaching stint in 1996–97 with the Vancouver Canucks. He replaced Pat Quinn, who had himself taken over coaching duties from Rick Ley for the final six games of the previous season before returning to his general manager duties. He finished with a 34-40-7 record in his only full season with the Canucks, before being fired mid-season in 1997–98. He was replaced by Mike Keenan.
New York Rangers
Renney began his tenure in the New York Rangers organization as Director of Player Personnel, where he oversaw all facets of the team's amateur scouting operation, while assisting with the professional scouting department. He was promoted to Vice President of Player Development on June 21, 2002. He was instrumental in establishing an off-season conditioning and skills camp for several Rangers prospects in Calgary, Alberta, and now in New York at the Madison Square Garden Training Center.
Renney was appointed the Rangers' head coach with twenty games left in the 2003–04 regular season, succeeding Glen Sather who wanted to concentrate on his general manager duties. He led the team into the postseason in each of the three campaigns after the 2004–05 NHL lockout. The farthest the Rangers advanced in the playoffs was the Eastern Conference Semifinals (2nd Round) in 2007 and 2008.
In 2009, Renney was the subject of an Internet parody, The Ranger Line Generator, that focused on the coaches' strategic shuffling of player line combinations. The popular website[1] allowed users to create random line combinations based on the 2008–09 Ranger roster. The Line Generator also points out Renney's perceived misuse of Petr Průcha. With the underachieving Rangers stuck in a 2–7–3 slump and in danger of missing the postseason for the first time since prior to the lockout, Renney was fired from his duties on February 23, 2009, and replaced by TSN analyst and former Tampa Bay Lightning head coach John Tortorella, who served as the interim head coach for the last 4 games of the 1999-2000 season.[2] The club also dismissed assistant coach Perry Pearn, but retained fellow assistant coach Mike Pelino and goaltending coach Benoit Allaire.[3] The move came immediately after the Rangers dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden on February 22 (Howell-Bathgate Night). Renney left the Rangers fourth overall on the club's all-time wins list for head coaches with 164.[4]
Edmonton Oilers
Renney was named associate coach of the Edmonton Oilers on May 26, 2009.
International career
Following his noteworthy junior career, Renney joined Hockey Canada in 1992, where he began a two season stint coaching the Canadian National Team. During this stint, he guided Canada to a silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, falling to Sweden in a gold medal shootout game.
Following his initial NHL stint with the Canucks, Renney returned to Hockey Canada and coached several international tournaments. As part of the New York Rangers organization, Renney continued to serve on Team Canada's coaching staff at the 2004 and 2005 World championships. At the 2004 tournament in Czech Republic, he helped guide the team to its second consecutive gold medal at the tournament. The following year, Renney and Team Canada once again appeared in the World Championship's final game, but fell to the Czech Republic, earning silver.
In total, Renney has coached in a range of capacities in ten World Championships, capturing three gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
Personal life
Renney married Glenda Gare, the sister of former NHL player Danny Gare. They first met when Tom owned a clothing store in Trail, British Columbia.[5] His other brother-in-law, Morey Gare, is currently the Edmonton Oilers head pro scout.
Coaching record
| Team | Year | Regular season | Post season | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | Finish | W | L | Win % | Result | ||
| VAN | 1996–97 | 82 | 35 | 40 | 7 | - | 77 | 4th in Pacific | — | — | — | — |
| VAN | 1997–98 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 2 | - | (64) | Fired | — | — | — | — |
| NYR | 2003–04 | 20 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 4 | (69) | 4th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — |
| NYR | 2005–06 | 82 | 44 | 26 | - | 12 | 100 | 3rd in Atlantic | 0 | 4 | .000 | Lost East quarter-finals |
| NYR | 2006–07 | 82 | 42 | 30 | - | 10 | 94 | 3rd in Atlantic | 6 | 4 | .600 | Lost East semi-finals |
| NYR | 2007–08 | 82 | 42 | 27 | - | 13 | 97 | 3rd in Atlantic | 5 | 5 | .500 | Lost East semi-finals |
| NYR | 2008–09 | 61 | 31 | 23 | - | 7 | (95) | Fired | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 428 | 203 | 170 | 9 | 46 | .535 | -- | 11 | 13 | .458 | 3 playoff appearances | |
References
- ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Puck-Headlines-Introducing-the-Tom-Renney-Line-?urn=nhl,140663 | Greg Wyshynski
- ^ "Slumping Rangers oust Renney," ESPN.com news services, Tuesday, February 24, 2009.
- ^ "Renney relieved of coaching duties," New York Rangers press release, Monday, February 23, 2009.
- ^ "Renney brought pride, respect back to Rangers". National Post. 2009-02-23. http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=1321033. Retrieved on 2009-02-24.
- ^ "Oilers new brass go way back". canada.com. 2009-05-31. http://www.canada.com/Oilers+brass+back/1649431/story.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-02.
External links
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