Tom Renney.
Renney has been coaching for over 20 years, starting in the WHL with the Kamloops Blazers back in 1990. After leading the Blazers to two straight WHL championships and a Memorial Cup championship, Renney was named to the Canadian National Team’s coaching staff, winning a Silver medal as the team’s head coach in the 1994 Olympics. Renney has also served on Team Canada’s World Championships several times, winning gold and silver as the head coach in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Overall he has 3 gold, 3 silver, and 2 bronze medals in the World Championships.
Renney made the jump to the NHL in the 1996-97 as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, lasting just a little over a season before getting shown the door. Renney’s next stop in the NHL was with the New York Rangers, starting in the Player Personnel department and running the Rangers’ amateur scouting operations – most notably the off-season conditioning and skills camp for Rangers prospects. Eventually Renney worked his way back behind an NHL bench as an assistant coach for the Rangers in 2003-04; before the season was over, Renney had been promoted to head coach where he’d remain for almost four more seasons, twice reaching the second round of the playoffs but ultimately being fired late in the 2008-09 season.
The Edmonton Oilers picked up Renney that off-season as an assistant coach and the next year, 2010-11, Renney was promoted to head coach where he would spend two seasons. After the 2011-12 season ended, Renney was informed that his contract with the Oilers would not be renewed.
Overall Renney has an impressive resume, with international success, a reputation for a sharp mind for the game, lots of experience working with young players, and a creative approach to setting lines. Does his lack of postseason success in the NHL overshadow his impressive international resume? Would he be able to enjoy more success on a team more talented than the Canucks, Rangers, and Oilers teams that he’s coached so far in his career? You’d like to find out, and perhaps the rest of us will as well.
Renney’s coaching history (via hockeydb.com):
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