After Edmonton Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini had a month or so to dwell on his club’s sixth straight playoff-less season, he came to the conclusion that another big change needed to be made.
That’s why the Oilers decided to show head coach Tom Renney the door.
Renney, who spent one year as Pat Quinn’s associate coach and two seasons as the head guy, led the Oilers to just a 32-40-10 record this past season. The Oilers are loaded with high draft picks, including forwards Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the two first overall picks in the last two drafts. Yet despite the surplus of young talent (Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Sam Gagner, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi), the Oilers failed to even complete for a playoff spot in 2012.
”Tom’s done some great things for our hockey club,” Tambellini said in a video statement posted on the Oilers’ website. ”But we felt at this time it was the right decision to make a change.
”We’re entering a new phase of our hockey club. We’ve got some great challenges, but ones that we’re looking forward to. I want to thank Tom for his work that he’s done with us.”
Oiler fans are probably sick and tired off all these “phases.” After all, they seem like they’ve entered into a new one every season for the last five years. But hockey is a results-based business, especially in a town like Edmonton.
The 57-year-old Renney was the 10th head coach in Oilers’ history. There is no news on who his replacement will be.
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