It didn't take Tom Renney long to find a new job, joins Detroit Red Wings
By The Nelson Daily Sports
It’s didn’t take former Kootenay International Junior Hockey League coach Tom Renney to find a job back in the pros.
The Columbia Valley Rockies skipper, who took the one proud franchise to a KIJHL title, accepted an offer earlier this week with the Detroit Red Wings as associate coach.
Renney fell out of favour with his last team, Edmonton Oilers, which elected not to re-sign the coach after his third season with the NHL club.
Instead, the Oilers decided to go with Renney’s right-hand man, Ralph Krueger, into the head coaching post.
Ironically it was Renney who cohersed Krueger to join the Oilers from Europe.
Renney had also been courted by the San Jose Sharks of the NHL but signed a three-year deal with Detroit.
The Red Wings had a spot open on their staff when Jeff Blashill was named head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Before arriving in Edmonton, the 57-year-old Cranbrook native was let go from the Rangers in February 2009 after 61 games, following three full seasons and 20 games in another when he took over from Glen Sather, who remained as general manager.
Renney was also release from Vancouver in 1997-98 after his first full season with the club.
Renney got his start in hockey in the KIJHL. He won the league championship as skipper of the Columbia Valley Rockies before moving to coaching in the Western Hockey League and winning a Memorial Cup with Kamloops Blazers.
In two season with the Blazers Renney compiled a 101-37-6 record for a .714 winning percentage, which ranks as the all-time highest winning mark in CHL history.
Before coaching in the NHL, Renney guided Canada to a silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
Renney and wife Glenda own a summer home near Nelson on the North Shore overlooking Kootenay Lake.
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