Struggling Rangers fire head coach Renney

The New York Rangers have done well for most of the NHL season, but have recently gone into a tailspin that has seen them lose 10 of their last 12 games.  With the season now spiraling out of control, the Rangers fired head coach Tom Renney on Monday.  He’ll be replaced by former Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella.

New York started the season in top form, winning 10 of their first 13 games.  Their performance leveled off somewhat after that until recently when the bottom fell out.  They held the top spot in the Atlantic Division for much of the first half of the season, but are now in danger of missing the playoffs altogether.

General Manager Glen Sather in announcing the coaching change indicated that time was of the essence:

"We had lost our zip at some point. We were a fast, puck-possessive hockey club that was determined and worked very hard and moved the puck well. We've gotten away from that and that's why we made the change."

While Renney has a reputation for being a mild mannered ‘caretaker’ type coach, Tortorella is a fiery disciplinarian.  He once served as an assistant in the Rangers’ organization before getting his first head coaching opportunity with Tampa Bay, with whom he won a Stanley Cup in 2004.  Tortorella has signed a multiyear deal, so he is in no way an ‘interim’ head coach in New York.  He’s now ‘the man’, and Sather commented that his more demonstrative personality was exactly what the Rangers need:

"Torts is certainly a lot more fiery and a lot different in his approach to the game and the players. He's going to bring that fiery attitude, and a lot of the games we seemed to be missing it."

Sather indicated that he made up his mind to make the coaching change during the Rangers 3-2 OT loss to Toronto at home on Sunday:

"I've had it in the back of my mind for a few days. Winning or losing that game -- as painful as it was to lose it -- I'd come to the conclusion during the game that today was probably just going to be the day that I'm just going to do what I had to do."

The Rangers have been a mess lately, but Sather is optimistic that there’s still time to salvage the season:

"We're into a time right now where the team has not played very well, but that doesn't mean we can't get back to playing like we played at the beginning of the year.”

Tortorella will meet the media in New York and conduct his first practice on Tuesday.  His first game behind the Rangers’ bench will be a Wednesday night game against the Maple Leafs at Toronto, and he’ll make his Madison Square Garden debut on Thursday when the Florida Panthers invade the Big Apple.