John Tortorella-Genius?

Is John Tortorella a genius? If he isn’t a genius then he sure is a miracle worker. The Rangers powerplay which had been close to dead last all season exploded on Wednesday for 2 goals on 4 chances. The Rangers powerplay was 13.8% all year second worst only to Colombus’ 12.8%. But on Wednesday it was a 50%. If the Rangers can keep this up throughout the playoffs they can go pretty far in the quest for the Cup.

A Dedication to Tom Renney

Tom Renney was fired Monday afternoon after 4+ seasons with the New York Rangers, His dismissal did not surprise many fans who had been chanting for his removal since the game against the Flyers last Sunday.  I thought that Tom Renney was a great coach who helped to turn around a stuggling New York team.  He replaced Glen Sather who wanted to concentrate on his GM duties with 20 games left in the 2003-2004 season. His first coaching job was with the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Hockey League.  He holds the highest winning percent of any coach in the CHL with a .714 winning%.  He recieved his first shot in the NHL during the 1996-1997 season with the Vancouver Canucks. He replaced Pat Quinn.  He began with the Rangers as Director of Player Personnel. He was promoted to Vice President of Player Development in 2002.  He was promoted to coach in the 2003-2004 season. He lead the Rangers to the playoffs for the first time in 7 years in 2005-2006 season. The Rangers made the semi-finals in th Eastern Confrence in both 2007 and 2008 but were elimated. Tom Renney was fired as head coackh on February 23, 2008 after the Rangers won 2 games out of 12. The Rangers also fired assistant coacjh Perry Pearn but kept assistant coach Mike Pelino and goaltending coach Benoit Allaire. Out of 327 games Renney went 164-121-0-42. I personally feel that Tom Renney was not the main problem. I think that Renney is a great coach. I think Gm Glen Sather should have been the one fired not Renney. Sather signed some of the stupidest contracts in NHL history. I think that the Rangers have found a great replacement for Renney in John Tortorella. I think that his fiery personality will inject some life into New York Rangers. But one has to wonder how does the signing of Tortorella effect Sean Avery? Tortorella has had mostly negative things to say about Avery in the past. He has even stated that he would not like to coach a guy like Avery.  Glen Sather stated that “I think ove time Tortorella will learn to love him (Avery) just like I have”.  Tom Renney declined an interview on Monday but told ESPN.com via text message that he is OK and that “things will work out”. Tortorella. Avery. Should make for an interesting season.

 

 

I may or may not be posting game previews anymore. They are too time consuming. But I will try to write as many reviews as I can.