Tortorella replaces fired Renney in NY

NEW YORK, NY – In a move that should have been seen by anyone who follows the New York Rangers, general manager Glen Sather pulled the trigger and fired head coach Tom Renney today.   The Rangers are mired in a losing skid that has seen them fall to 6^th in the conference and losers of 10 of their last 12 games including a 3-2 OT loss to the Maple Leafs on

home ice. In quick order, Sather announced this afternoon that John Tortorella has been hired as the 34th head coach in the Rangers’ history.    Tortorella last guided the Tampa Bay Lightning where he helped the Bolts win their first Stanley Cup in the 2003-2004 NHL season. In five seasons with the Blueshirts, Renney was 164-121-42.   He ranks fourth in franchise history for number of wins.
 
But the problem for Renney was the failure of big name free agents like Scott Gomez and Chris Drury to carry the weight that was expected of them.   Neither player has been the super star they are paid to be.   Add in the likes Wade Redden who has also been a huge disappointment on defense.   He has failed to be the quarterback the team was looking for this season.
 
Nikolai Zherdev has been the lone bright spot on the roster and even he has tailed off in scoring this season.   His moodiness has been kept at a distance compared to his time in Columbus.  
 
Tortorella will need to energize the high priced players on his roster who have been a bust both on the ice and at the salary cap line.   The March 4 trade deadline is coming and look for the Rangers to dump worthless bodies and clear cap room. Tortorella now returns to the Rangers’ organization where he served as an assistant head coach and was the bench boss for the final four games in the 1999-2000 season. Known as a hardliner Tortorella is not the player-friendly head coach that Renney was known as. In other words, produce or thanks for the memories.
 
Contact the author at lm.davis@prohockeynews.com .