Renney Reviews Rookie Season
SAN JOSE, Calif. (CP) -- Tom Renney has a message for his critics: He'll be back for a sophomore season coaching the Vancouver Canucks.
And, a year wiser, he'll be a better coach. Speaking prior to the Canucks' 3-2 win over the Sharks on Monday night, Renney said he concentrated too much on being a father figure this season.
"Maybe I overrated my contribution along those lines," said Renney, who had a successful track record in major junior (Kamloops) and with the national team before entering the NHL this season.
"With professionals, that sort of thing isn't as required as much as I thought it would be. I'm talking about the extraneous things.
"I was there if they had a problem with a teammate or with a contract. I was sitting there with Esa Tikkanen and (his agent) Rich Winter during their contract problems and then he (Tikkanen) bites me in the ass and calls me the worst coach he's ever had. I'm not sure that's part of my job.
"The last six years I've tried to be (a father figure), but I had to figure out here that I don't have to be a father figure. They need a leader and I'll be that."
The win over San Jose lifted Vancouver's record to 33-40-7 four points out of the last playoff spot in the West with just two games to play.
Renney said the message he gets from Orca Bay, the Canucks ownership, is he'll be brought back next season.
"I trust the people I work with and I don't have to hear them say it all the time," he said.
"We all know it's been a watershed year. We'll all review what happened and work to make it better. If Tom Renney isn't part of the equation then I can accept that."
Renney said recent criticism from "unnamed sources" in his dressing room hurt. But he also banned alcohol on charter flights and scheduled practices when a day off might have been more beneficial.
"I like to make sure they can come in the front door with problems," he said. "Contrary to what people might think, I am a good listener. If they're saying I can't coach, then that hurts. If they're saying Tom needs to understand we need more rest and less of the paralysis by analysis stuff, then I can make adjustments to that.
"I think people should have taken advantage of my style, but some didn't and maybe there was discrimination because I hadn't been in the NHL before."
Renney doesn't want to be a sacrificial lamb.
"I'm not going to take all of the criticism for this," he said. "I've bared my soul the last month in terms of accepting responsibility for what's happened this season. Now I'm the carcass and there are people circling above me."
Canucks president and GM Pat Quinn and Orca Bay management aren't among the circlers, however, said Renney.
"John Chapple (Orca Bay president and CEO), John McGaw (owner-governor) and Pat (Quinn) all have suggested that I persevere and that we'll get out of this.
"We'll get on to the next chapter and I find that exciting."
Renney said regardless of how this most disastrous of seasons plays out, he'd be willing to open the next campaign with the same troops.
"I think there might be some minor changes, but I'd go with the same group, to a player," he said. "We've learned a lot about each other."
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