First off, out of the 4 teams who started the season in Europe, none of them have the same coach they started out with. Barry Melrose was replaced in Tampa Bay early on. Craig Hartsburg was fired from Ottawa, and then Michel Therrien was fired in Pittsburgh. Peter Laviolette (Carolina) and Denis Savard (Chicago) are the only coaches to have been fired who did not play overseas.
Secondly, out of 32 teams in the NHL, only 9 have made the playoffs every year since the lockout ended. Six of them (Wings, Stars, Flames, Predators, Sharks, Ducks) are from the West. The only East teams to do so? Ottawa, New Jersey, and the Rangers.
Renney ended his Rangers career 164-121-42 (those 42 are overtime/shootout losses, as he had no ties in the 2003-04 season when he went 5-15-0). He received 363 points in 327 games. He was 11-13 in postseason play, winning 2 playoff series (Atlanta, New Jersey) and losing 3 (New Jersey, Buffalo, Pittsburgh).
I think Renney was the perfect guy to bring the Rangers out of the doldrums they found themselves in in the early part of this decade. However, once Sather started splashing the cash around, it became more about massaging egos, as is the case any time star players are brought in on a regular basis. I think Renney might have felt the need to play these players more to justify their salaries, which ultimately became his undoing. Renney will catch on elsewhere and do well. It's typical Rangers, though, that they bring in the biggest name available and not necessarily the best guy for the job.
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