The Edmonton Oilers have made a major splash in their efforts to make it back to the playoffs.
Three non-playoff years have followed Edmonton's magical run to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, and that was enough to cost longtime coach Craig MacTavish his job. Tuesday afternoon, the Oilers turned to a couple of familiar names to help them turn around their fortunes.
Former Toronto Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn has been named the Oilers' next head coach. Quinn has been heavily involved with Hockey Canada, most recently coaching the Canadian World Junior team to a gold medal.
Tom Renney, who was the head coach of the New York Rangers until an in-season firing, will take over as Quinn's associate coach. Renney helped the Rangers get to the conference semifinals in 2008, but was let go in favor of John Tortorella after a slow start.
Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini also announced that Kelly Buchberger, a "loyal Oiler" as he put it, will stay on as an assistant coach.
"I think we have a real terrific opportunity to create a team that hopefully will, not even hopefully, we intend to help this team win," Quinn said. "I've worked with Tom before, I know that he and I and also Kelly will compliment each other in a lot of ways. Good teams start with strong leadership."
This move was first reported by TSN's Darren Dreger, and was also confirmed by the Edmonton Journal.
Inevitably, Quinn's name was going to come up for any NHL opening. He has more experience than any other realistic candidate at this point. Not only that, but he and the Oilers organization got a ringing endorsement from Renney, who called his decision a "slam dunk", even though he's taking a step back professionally to become an assistant once again.
"When you're making decisions with regard to your career, you first want to identify yourself with good people," Renney said. "This was a no-brainer. It's a thrill for me, and it's an honor to be here."
Quinn made it clear that he will be pushing his players, especially the veterans.
"If our veteran guys have been known to put their feet on the desk once in a while, we're gonna change that," he said. Quinn did bristle at the notion of being a player's coach, instead preferring to call himself an "educator".
"I think we can provide an environment where our guys will be very interested in being the best they can."
If Quinn, with 30 years of NHL experience both as a coach and an executive, can't get the Oilers back in the playoffs, it may be time to head back to the drawing board.
