New York Rangers Fire Coaches In Hopes of Saving Season

The New York Rangers now have to play 21 games in overload mode in order to save their season.

They currently sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with numerous teams knocking at their doorstep in order to be included in the top eight playoff spots. After a dreary slide that saw the Rangers go 2-7-1, the move was made to remove coaches Tom Renney and Perry Pearn on Monday.

Former assistant coach Mike Pelino will remain on the staff as a scout, but was stripped of his duty as assistant coach. New head coach and Stanley Cup winner John Tortorella will take over; he decided to keep Benoit Allaire as goaltending coach because Tortorella proclaimed goalie Henrik Lundqvist to be the best in the NHL. 

Tortorella brings a completely different approach to a Ranger team that lacks confidence and, at times, heart. But Renney is not entirely to blame for the Rangers' recent struggles.

Renney is fifth in career wins in NY Ranger coach history, but it took a while to get there because, under his tenure, the team has had problems getting the puck into the net. The power play under Pearn also was subpar, to say the least.

Imagine what this team would have looked like post-lockout if Jaromir Jagr did not light the lamp 54 times? Maybe Renney should thank Jagr for allowing him to stay behind the Rangers bench for five seasons.

This season brought constant juggling of lines, the underperformance of key players, and a team that looked disinterested in playing on a nightly basis, which inevitably led to Renney's termination. Yes, it fair to point the blame at the team president and general manager, the Teflon-coated Glenn Sather—and some in the New York media said he should have been fired instead—but instead the coaches took the fall.

Still, Renney failed to hold players accountable for their poor play, did not attempt to adjust his defensive-minded style, and continued his lax approach while the team struggled. Renney's stubbornness led to his demise. And, for the first time in a long time, Sather hired the best coach on the market.

It is evident that there is much room for improvement. With almost $1 million in remaining cap space and a plethora of untradable contracts, Sather will have to be creative closing in on the March 4 trade deadline.

And with Sather lapdog Sean Avery barking at the opportunity to return to Broadway, we shall see if he will be welcomed by new coaches Tortorella and Jim Schoenfeld. If Avery returns, they will need to keep him on a short leash and be sure to put a muzzle on him when he is off the ice.

The Avery experiment Round Two seems to be inevitable, though, after he is placed on re-entry waiver within the next week. Teflon Sather, we presume, will be the only one crazy enough to take a chance on Avery, despite it being obvious his impending teammates do not take a liking to his selfish antics. Only in New York folks, will the "selfish ass" get a second chance.

But who knows? Maybe that, along with the coaching staff, will be the spark the Rangers need to build momentum heading to the playoffs.

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