By Greg Caggiano
One year ago today, the flustered and incompetent Tom Renney was relieved of his head coaching duties by general manager Glen Sather. One year ago today, the fiery and successful John Tortorella was hired to bring a new brand of hockey to the Rangers who had lacked exactly that. One year later, the team is playing worse than it ever did under Renney.
No one doubted that it was time for the organization to move in a new direction at the time of the firing. The head coach's preaching had fallen on deaf ears. His defense first system was no longer allowing any flow in the game and the team's offensive minded players wanted no part of it. The games were becoming increasingly boring and ridiculous as the Rangers relied on getting games to overtime and then to a shootout where they could then have their best chance at winning. The coach who had taken a motley crew of washed up veterans and underachieving youth and turned them into a team that won forty games three years in a row had lost his luster.
On top of his success in winning at least forty-two games in each of his three full seasons with the team, the record he had at the time of his departure was 31-23-7, but the team was slipping in the standings after an amazing first two months. They went into their annual disappearing act in the month of December from which they never recovered. Still, to even have that record with your leading scorers being a headcase in Nikolai Zherdev and the 35 year old Markus Naslund was an accomplishment in itself. Nevertheless, the team needed a spark and the firing was welcomed by nearly all, including myself.
So John Tortorella got to work with what he had and after five games or so, the trade deadline came and saw the departures of Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes as well as Dmitri Kalinin. Nikolai Antropov and Derek Morris were brought in as well, and they were clearly moves wanted by the coach, because of his love for having big bodies around the net. The team slightly improved and limped into the playoffs. Tortorella did not have enough time to instill his work ethic and system because of the limited time left in the regular season, so he waited for the start of this season.
Marian Gaborik signed here in July because of his wanting to escape from a defensive minded Lemaire in Minnesota. Donald Brashear was also brought in because Tortorella has always respected the enforcer. Vinny Prospal's signing was also an effect of the head coach because the two had worked well in Tampa Bay together. This lead to the departures of Colton Orr, Freddy Sjostrom, and the retirement of Markus Naslund. Derek Morris and Blair Betts also said goodbye and Brian Boyle and Enver Lisin were to become fourth line mainstays.
So there it was, an improved team, however so slightly. John Tortorella promised a no-nonsense coaching style full of hard work, speed, and a fast paced offensive style. He has been known as a firebrand around the league and this was welcomed by the fan base who wanted their ultra calm and mellow Tom Renney to be shown the door.
It has now been exactly one year, and has the team looked better now than they did last year? Both coaches employed polar opposites in coaching style. However, the team looks exactly the same; boring and no flow. Thought Tom Renney liked to change lines a lot? John Tortorella looks like a veteran carny juggler compared to him. Granted, the lineup is not as good as one would like but when you look on paper, they really are not that bad.
Just look at how the team is performing in relation to what Tortorella is all about. It seems they have already started to tune him out. For Renney, it took almost four seasons. For Tortorella, it has not even been a full one. This would not be so bad if it wasn't for the antics that we have witnessed by the new coach since February 23, 2009.
Renney was a model of professionalism. He stayed calm on the bench no matter what, and unfortunately that was look at as not caring or not wanting to fix things. Actually, it shows how much more mature he was to be able to maintain his composure when the team in front of him played like utter garbage. He went into every press conference calmly and handled every reporter in a courteous manner. He answered all of their questions and was widely regarded as the most professional coach in the league.
Tortorella has been the polar opposite. Flash back to the first round playoff series against the Washington Capitals last season. In a game after which he railed on Sean Avery for losing his cool and then benching him, Tortorella triumphs that with an act of stupidity unseen by a head coach in the last decade. While behind the bench Tortorella would stand up and reach over the glass and spray water on fans because of something they said. Fans yell obscenities at the opposing team every game. This is not new and should be ignored, especially by the coach. In an ironic twist of fate, Tortorella himself would be suspended for one game because of the incident just days after benching Avery.
When it comes to press conferences, I would be lying if I said I don't look forward to them, especially after a Rangers loss. They are funny and entertaining, but they are also highly unprofessional. On several occasions, Tortorella has gotten into on camera verbal altercations with beat writer Larry Brooks, including one where he, in not so many words, challenged him to a fight. Harmless, but immature. In five seasons (three full) with the Rangers, how many times did this happen with Renney? None.
Then there are the famous, "I'm not going to get into that right now" or "I'm not going to dissect the game" lines. It seems we hear that at least twice in every conference when a reporter asks an inconvenient question. The whole purpose of a press conference is to talk about the game and all the aspects, however bad they may make a coach look. If you're not going to answer the questions, why bother showing up at all?
To say the Rangers would be drastically better with Renney coaching this year's team would be a stretch, because we don't know if the same players would have been brought in for him. But when watching Tortorella handle this team, I have been thinking since about November that maybe Renney should not have been fired and the Rangers missing the playoffs before overhauling in the summer would have been a good idea.
The problem with Renney towards the end of his tenure was a lack of offense. Tortorella promised a fast paced energetic style and the players have reacted by playing more lethargically than ever before. Defensive breakdowns have also been more prominent when dissecting the team. This would be alright if the Rangers were actually scoring, but it seems they only get two goals a game from the same player. It has been exactly one year since Tom Renney's departure, and can anyone honestly say the team would be worse off with him this season?
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