Time For Tom Renney to Draw Up a New Plan...
...because John Tortorella is the new boss on Broadway
(Photo Credits: AP)
Steve Zipay of Newsday does an excellent job with all of the details:
http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/ny-sprang246047649feb24,0,3684959.story
At the end of the day, this was the move that had to be made by GM Glen Sather for a couple of reasons:
1) The age-old saying "You can't fire the team, so you fire the coach"
2) The firing buys Glen Sather some time before he potentially sees the chopping block (however, this is a Jim Dolan run organization, and Isiah got away with a lot worse than Sather has)
Now with the first reason, you can't "fire" a team, but sometimes you can make trades. The Rangers can't make any trades because they are so hamstrung by bad contracts (Wade Redden's 6 year-$39 million deal being the biggest offender), that they would have to move these big contracts just to be in a position to make necessary changes. Whose fault is that? Mr. Glen Sather, please come to the courtesy desk.
It's eight days before the trade deadline, so firing a general manager at this point would be cutting off your nose to spite your face. While Renney isn't a bad coach, something had to be done, and firing the coach is the most logical decision. Tom Renney is a mild-mannered, defense-first coach. It worked for parts of 4 seasons, but the Rangers weren't responding to him anymore. Another Renney problem was that he was too quick to change line combinations. The second he found a line combo that worked, instead of riding that hot streak out, he would try and take the hot line and spark other lines by mixing it up. It never worked and it boggles my mind how he never realized that. I'm not an NHL coach, but that's common sense.
In steps John Tortorella. Torts is the anti-Renney. While Renney didn't hold the top-salary players or big name players as accountable as some of the lesser ones, Tortorella will make everyone accountable, from Scott Gomez all the way down to Dmitri Kalinin. John is the anti-Renney and will coach with fire and passion. He is a coach that the Garden Faithful will fall for, and fall hard for. He's candid with the media and is not afraid to call a spade a spade. Tortorella had a short stint as an interim coach for the Rangers before the strike before he went down to Tampa. Something else Ranger fans will love about "Torts" is that he has a Stanley Cup ring on his hand (in one of the better seven game series in the past 15 years from back in 2004 when Tampa beat Calgary).
I know this may be a stretch, but there's another parallel here. Back in the 1992-93 season, the Rangers had a coach that had done a good job but had fell out of favor in the late Roger Nielson. He was replaced by a guy named Mike Keenan, who happened to lead the Rangers to a Stanley Cup in the 93-94 season. The Rangers needed a coach at that time that would give them a kick in the pants, and that was Keenan. It's now 2009, and the Rangers need a coach who will give them a kick in the pants, and that's John Tortorella. I'm not saying that the Rangers will win the Stanley Cup next year, but it's funny how history has a way of repeating itself from time to time.
ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...
-Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves (45th career shutout) and Devin Setoguchi scored his 25th goal of the season to give San Jose (41-8-9) the 1-0 win over the Stars (29-23-7). San Jose is 4-0 against Dallas this season and has earned a point in 44 of their last 50 games. Nabokov's fifth shutout of the season gives the Sharks 91 points in the standings, good enough for best in the league and a 26 point lead over 2nd place Dallas in the Pacific Division. Marty Turco made 23 saves in the loss in his 30th straight start.
OTHER HEADLINES
-Danny Briere is feeling stronger, fresher and more confident that he can finally return to the lineup this week after missing 33 games with groin problems. Briere had set Wednesday as his target date, but the star center now expects to play in Philadelphia's game against Montreal on Friday night. Briere, in the second year of a US$52-million, eight-year contract, has played in nine games this season for the Flyers and none since he injured his groin against Tampa Bay on Dec. 2. Briere hasn't entirely ruled out Wednesday's game against Los Angeles, but that appears unlikely. He's worked harder just about every day since returning to practice nearly two weeks ago and had perhaps his most exhausting day on Monday. He skated more shifts subbing for Jeff Carter (flu) and was winded after some sprints after practice. ''We had a pretty hard skate there at the end and we'll see tomorrow how it reacts,'' Briere said. ''Last week, after Wednesday's skate, the next couple of days were a little tougher. I'm hoping that I'm going to pull over that hump, and even through a tough practice and tough skate, I can recuperate and be fine the next day.'' He'll travel with the Flyers and practise with the team before Tuesday's game against Washington. The Capitals have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and the Flyers, who eliminated Washington in last year's playoffs, are fourth (31-17-9). A healthy Briere would be a big bonus for the Flyers as they make their playoff push. He had 31 goals and 72 points last year and helped Philadelphia go from the worst team in the NHL to the Eastern Conference finals. He was in a similar situation when he played for Buffalo in 2005-06, and came back strong after missing 32 games with an abdominal injury to lead the Sabres to their first playoff berth in four years.
-Martin Brodeur is inching closer to his return to the New Jersey Devils lineup. The four-time Vezina trophy winner had a strong practice with the team on Monday and was hoping to make a return to the Devils' net as early as Thursday's game against the Colorado Avalanche. "I told them I am feeling ready," Brodeur told reporters Monday following Devils practice. "It's up to them to see and look at me and feel comfortable. That's what it is, they have to feel comfortable having me there." The team is taking the more cautious approach with a start on the weekend more likely in either Saturday's matinee against the Florida Panthers or Sunday's afternoon encounter with the Philadelphia Flyers. Devils' head coach Brent Sutter admitted that his All-Star netminder looked strong but would not pin down a specific return date, saying only that Brodeur should be back between the pipes within a week. "It's a situation, and I've said it before, it's not training camp," Sutter told reporters. "These last 20 games of the season, you are playing teams at a high level and you need your goaltending to be sharp and good." Complicating matters is a flu bug that forced the future Hall of Famer out of workouts this past weekend. "Right now, four months is four months," Brodeur told THE CANADIAN PRESS. "I don't think one day will be a big deal. I'm really excited about coming back. If it is not Thursday, it will be soon enough. But I am working right now to get back in the nets as quick as possible." The Devils likely do not feel a huge sense of urgency to rush Brodeur back as Scott Clemmensen and Kevin Weekes have done a commendable job in Brodeur's absence. The pair have racked up 32 wins with the Olympic gold medalist on the sidelines and have helped move the Devils to the top of the Atlantic division standings. Brodeur originally suffered an elbow injury during a Devils victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on November 1st. Days later it was revealed that he had a tear in the distal bicep in his left elbow and surgery would be necessary, causing the three-time Stanley Cup champion to miss nearly four months.
-With Ryan Miller out indefinitely because of a mild high ankle sprain, the Sabres will turn to Patrick Lalime for their late-season playoff push. "I've felt good in practice, so I just want to carry it out into the games," Lalime said on Monday. "We'll take it one little step at a time, then build on it." Lalime, who has played in more than 400 games and won close to 200 of them, was brought in over the summer just in case Miller was forced to miss any time. He has played sparingly this season, compiling a 2-7-1 mark with a 3.17 GAA in just 11 games. His last appearance was on Feb. 2 in a 3-2 loss in Anaheim, the same team he will face Tuesday in his first start as the new No. 1 goaltender. "I think he's going to get into a rhythm," Miller said. "He's proven in the past that he's a big-time performer." Miller, meanwhile, was in a walking boot to help immobilize his injured left ankle on Monday. He acknowledged that some of the swelling has gone down, but it's still a little achy. "There's no timetable," he said. "We just have to see how it starts reacting." Miller was hurt in Saturday's win over New York when Rangers forward Scott Gomez upended him behind the Buffalo net early in the third period. After the game, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff accused Gomez of deliberately crashing into Miller, but on Monday said he didn't think Gomez purposely tried to hurt the goalie. "There was no intent to injure Ryan on the play," Ruff said. "The injury was a result of the play, (but) I'm mad about the play. I think Gomez's intent was to make sure that Ryan wasn't able to scramble back to the net." To replace Miller on the roster, the Sabres recalled goalie Jhonas Enroth from Portland of the American Hockey League. Enroth was Buffalo's second-round pick in 2006. The Sabres did receive some good news Monday as leading goal-scorer Thomas Vanek skated for the first time since breaking his jaw against Ottawa on Feb. 7. Vanek, who had his jaw wired shut after surgery to repair the complex fracture, was wearing a full protective face mask.
RUMOR MILL
-Ottawa is going after a top-flight defenseman from the Western Conference. Chris Pronger perhaps?
TONIGHTS ACTION:
Florida @ Boston - 7PM
Anaheim @ Buffalo - 7PM
%Philadelphia @ Washington - 7PM
Colorado @ Atlanta - 7PM
Vancouver @ Montreal - 7:30PM
Carolina @ Ottawa - 7:30PM
Chicago @ Nashville - 8PM
Los Angeles @ Minnesota - 8PM
Phoenix @ St. Louis - 8:30PM
Columbus @ Calgary - 9PM
Tampa Bay @ Edmtonton - 9PM
% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern
*My weekly power rankings takes a week off due to the Renney/Tortorella developments (my day job only allows me so much time)
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays
TO EMAIL FTS, EMAIL FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM
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