Renney’s Regime Has Rangers Looking Up
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

For most of the past decade, the Rangers’ biggest problem has been a mind-boggling lack of accountability. Night after night, overpaid veterans like Theoren Fleury, Valeri Kamensky, and Stephane Quintal would be given copious amounts of ice time, no matter how miniscule their contributions. Meanwhile, any youngsters attempting to crack the lineup were faced with the daunting pressure of having to prove in four minutes on the ice that they deserved 15.
The culture at the Garden was a losing one, and in his brief tenure as coach, general manager Glen Sather did precious little to improve things. In fact, it could quite easily be argued that Sather’s presence behind the bench actually reinforced the losing culture.
If anything has characterized the first week of the Tom Renney era, it’s been the dramatic shift in the team’s attitude. Whereas the Rangers’ teams of recent years have been content to lollygag on the ice while less-talented squads completely outworked them, this new-look Rangers team is distinguishing itself by taking a workmanlike approach to each and every shift. Last night, that effort was rewarded, as the Rangers completely outplayed the Devils en route to a convincing 4-1 victory.
One crucial element of the new Rangers’ is approach is that, no matter their salary or status, underachievers can be expected to ride the pine with Renney at the helm, and the players in the lineup play with much more urgency as a result.
For one shining example, in the Rangers’ first two games – a 5-3 win in Philadelphia and a 4-3 overtime loss to Montreal – blueliner Tom Poti delivered characteristically emotionless performances, failing to protect the puck while taking some atrocious penalties. Renney responded in kind, benching the Blueshirts’ most talented offensive defenseman and giving his spot to rookie Maxim Kondratiev for Saturday night’s game against the Devils, while serving notice that insufficient effort would result in significantly decreased ice time.
Poti’s inclination to use his stick as a tool for obstruction will not play well in the “new” NHL, where the diligent enforcement of hooking and holding penalties has resulted in a rash of power plays and a 40% increase in league wide scoring. Making matters worse, that rash of power plays won’t necessarily translate into solid statistical results for Poti, the Blue shirts’ erstwhile power play quarterback.
While Poti would appear to bring great value with the man advantage, in reality, he has not been all that effective running the point on the Rangers’ power play. Despite the presence of some of the NHL’s most talented snipers, Poti managed to score only eight power play points in 67 games for New York in 2003-04. This season, he has figured in only two of the Rangers’ seven power play goals.
Of course, it’s no coincidence that the Devils’ only goal in last night’s loss was scored with Poti on the ice. Diminutive Devils winger Brian Gionta crashed the net on Poti’s side, charged in on Lundqvist relatively unimpeded, and scored on a stuff-in. Meanwhile, Kondratiev continued to make a case for a regular spot in the lineup, finishing with a +3 rating and distinguishing himself with solid play alongside Darius Kasparaitis.
Of course, Poti is not the only target of Renney’s crackdown on underachievers. Jamie Lundmark, who was drafted ninth overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, was projected to develop into a Steve Yzerman-type player. But he has thus far failed to deliver on his enormous promise.
Lundmark should be breaking out with a career-making performance this season, but the 24-year-old center has been quite underwhelming. It came as no surprise, then, when Lundmark was benched for last night’s game – for the second time this season – in favor of Czech rookie Peter Prucha.
Prucha’s performance on the Rangers’ fourth line last Saturday earned him an assignment on the top line alongside Jaromir Jagr and Michael Nylander last night, and he responded by delivering a promising performance. Though he was held off the score-sheet, Prucha’s presence on the top line allowed Renney to diversify the team’s scoring. He placed sniper Martin Rucinsky alongside Steve Rucchin and Marcel Hossa on the second line, and put Martin Straka on a third line with Dominic Moore and Ville Nieminen, a lineup that essentially gave the Rangers three lines with legitimate scoring punch.
By manipulating the lineup in this fashion rather than keeping the talented Prucha pigeonholed as a fourth liner, Renney is giving him the opportunity to build upon his initial success and perhaps even steal a spot at the top of the team’s depth chart. Gone are the days when players like Manny Malhotra could play hard night after night in limited ice time, but never receive a deserved promotion. If Prucha manages to accomplish what would have been next-to impossible just one year ago, it will send positive shockwaves throughout the Rangers’ organization.
Much like the NHL’s crackdown on obstruction, which has thus far delivered some very positive results, Renney’s tough-love approach will only work if he keeps his foot pressed firmly on the gas pedal.
Last night, the Rangers delivered an incredibly disciplined performance, and for a loyal blue-collar fan base that’s been waiting for years for reasons to cheer, this organizational mentality shift could not have arrived a moment sooner. For the sake of everyone concerned, here’s hoping that Renney stays the course.
Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.