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Tom Renney

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Tom Renney
Coach Tom Renney at the 2011 Edmonton Oilers training camp
Born (1955-03-01) March 1, 1955 (age 69)
Cranbrook, BC, CAN

Thomas "Tom" Renney (born March 1, 1955) is the president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada.[1] He was previously an ice hockey Associate Coach with the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings and also served as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, and Edmonton Oilers.

Renney began his coaching career in the major junior Western Hockey League (WHL), capturing a Memorial Cup in his two-year stint with the Kamloops 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.

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 then in New York City at the Madison Square Garden Training Center. Furthermore, he planted the seeds for a talented and robust Ranger prospect system today.

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[2] 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.[3] The club also dismissed assistant coach Perry Pearn, but retained fellow assistant coach Mike Pelino and goaltending coach Benoit Allaire.[4] 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.[5]

Edmonton Oilers

Tom Renney with associate coach Ralph Krueger at the 2011 Edmonton Oilers training camp.

Renney was named associate coach of the Edmonton Oilers on May 26, 2009, and was named head coach of the Oilers on June 22, 2010, once again replacing Pat Quinn. As of May 17, 2012, the Edmonton Oiler Management announced that his contract would not be renewed for the 2012/2013 season.

Detroit Red Wings

Renney was named associate coach of the Detroit Red Wings on July 5, 2012 under Mike Babcock.

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 attended the University of North Dakota and received a degree in physical education.[6] He married Glenda Gare, the sister of former NHL player Danny Gare. They first met when Tom owned a clothing store in Trail, British Columbia.[7] His other brother-in-law, Morey Gare, is currently the Edmonton Oilers head pro scout.

Coaching record

Team Year Regular season Post season
G Win Lose Tie OTL Pts Finish Win Lose 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 6 .500 Lost East semi-finals
NYR 2008–09 61 31 23 - 7 (95) Fired - - - -
EDM 2010-11 82 25 45 - 12 62 5th in Northwest - - - -
EDM 2011-12 82 32 40 - 10 74 5th in Northwest - - - -
Total 592 260 255 9 68 597 -- 11 13 .458 3 playoff appearances

References

  1. ^ http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/tom-renney-put-in-charge-of-hockey-canada-1.2707700
  2. ^ https://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Puck-Headlines-Introducing-the-Tom-Renney-Line-?urn=nhl,140663 | Greg Wyshynski
  3. ^ "Slumping Rangers oust Renney," ESPN.com news services, Tuesday, February 24, 2009.
  4. ^ "Renney relieved of coaching duties," New York Rangers press release, Monday, February 23, 2009.
  5. ^ "Renney brought pride, respect back to Rangers". National Post. 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2009-02-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Wings tab Renney as associate coach". "DetroitRedWings.com". 2012-07-05. Retrieved 2015-12-19.
  7. ^ "Oilers new brass go way back". canada.com. 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2009-06-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)