The Edmonton Oilers announced on Thursday that the contract of current Head Coach Tom Renney will not be renewed by the hockey club. This announcement came as a surprise to no one, as the Oilers haven't said a word about wanting to keep Renney since the regular season ended six weeks ago.
I'll run through some of the options the team has going forward in a moment. But before I do, let me just say how absolutely classless I think it was for Oilers management to handle Renney the way they did. Everyone, including Renney, knew he was gone next season. So why not just clear up the situation back in April the day after Game 82, instead of dragging it out to embarrass the guy? Oilers GM Steve Tambellini explained during the news conference on Thursday something to the effect that management needed time to assess the situation before making a move. Lame. I think closer to the truth is, management wanted time to see if there were better options available, and didn't want to can Renney unless they knew there were.
Tom Renney is...or should I say "was"...the wrong coach. Craig MacTavish could have saved Renney plenty of heartache before he took the job by explaining the situation in Edmonton. Oilers vets under MacT went to sleep and stopped caring about winning. The passive, limp Renney was completely unable to fire up the passion of the vets.
The heart of the problem in Edmonton wasn't coaching or Renney. The GM has to start clearing out the deadwood. Renney's job loss in Edmonton says more about the inadequacies of the management group than it does about the failings of the coach. Consider Renney to be a race car driver and the Oilers to be a car that's missing a tire. It doesn't matter how good the driver is; a car with three tires is never going to win a race. The GM, not the coach, is the person who builds the car. If the car is missing parts and can't run, it isn't the coach's fault.
I heard it suggested today that Oilers GM Tambellini MUST have a successful team next season under the new coach (whoever it is) or he's done in Edmonton too. I don't want to tell him how to do his job (or maybe I do) but I'd say the first step is to hire a coach who will play the kids 20 minutes or more per game, and will reduce the ice time of the vets who can't get it done. Actually, I suggest Tambellini and Lowe need to start moving player out, because it's been obvious for years certain guys in the room don't care enough about winning.
If I'm the GM, Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff, Eric Belanger, Ryan Smyth, Ryan Jones, Andy Sutton, Corey Potter, Ben Eager, Nikolai Khabibulin...none of these guys are safe going into 2012/2013. Who should be kept are Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Teemu Hartikainen, Magnus Paajarvi, Ladislav Smid, Devan Dubnyk, Jeff Petry and so on. Out with the old, and in with the new. The vets should have been dumped when MacTavish was, but it's better late than never.
As for the topic of who will be replacing Renney, it's not a secret Tambellini and Lowe spent a bunch of time talking to Team Canada Head Coach Brent Sutter in recent weeks. But this being said, Oilers fans don't seem real crazy about the idea, and at some point, Oilers management need to start thinking about how ticket buyers perceive the team. I think if Sutter is the guy, they'll hire him in the next week to ten days. From listening to the news conference, I believe this isn't going to happen.
Actually, what I'm hearing now is that Todd Nelson might be the guy the Oilers go with. Nelson is the Head Coach of the Oilers farm team in Oklahoma City, and the players absolutely love him. OKC is thought to be one of the most healthy dressing room environments in all of hockey, and Nelson wouldn't bring baggage with him the way Brent Sutter or Craig MacTavish would.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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