NEW YORK – Tom Renney is a calm man. He has a smooth demeanor and treats his players like men.

But even the coolest heads have a boiling point. On Tuesday, the Rangers coach had his.

After two listless periods against the New Jersey Devils, Renney shut the door to the locker room and laid into his team in a way that would have made Herb Brooks proud.

“I don't think it would be good to put it in a newspaper,” Jaromir Jagr said with a laugh. “It was something like that.”

The coach's words obviously worked as the Rangers came out in that third period with a new purpose. Three goals in the span of a minute and a half erased the Devils' 2-0 lead and gave the Blueshirts the eventual 3-2 win.

“We certainly got a wakeup call after the second period,” Brendan Shanahan said. “[Renney] said he didn't care if we didn't win or lose, but that we gave the effort.”

But it was more than just a win. Renney hopes that his motivation would show the team that losing at Madison Square Garden is unacceptable and not giving the effort would ever be tolerated.

“There comes times as a coach you have to conjure up the proper emotion to go out there and tackle the task at hand,” Renney asserted. “As much as we were struggling with the very patient, calculated and effective game of the Devils, we weren't being proactive with respect to the guys that may want to do that.”

And that's why the coach blew his top. A coach needs to be careful, because it will sometimes to fall of deaf ears, but because Renney usually keeps his calm manner, a tirade like that does make a point.

“I had some practice since I have been here,” Renney laughed. “But this year this is as passionate as I have been. Whatever happened in the past is long gone; this is the team we want to win the Stanley Cup with. They need to know that I am there for them and they in turn for the team and the fans.”

It's the play at home that probably annoys Renney the most. Being only 3-4-1 at Madison Square Garden this season is something that needs to stop no matter how well they play on the road. Yes, they are now tied for first, but there is so much more improvement that needs to be made.

But as of right now, this game could be considered a good start.

“I think it's a turning point in our season,” Renney said. “I guess we could look at it in that way and certainly challenge our guys with that frame of mind. It probably is because we played a very, very solid team tonight. Typically of them, they have found their game as early as anyone had and to letter they play it. I think this could be a watershed game for us.”

Reprinted with permission from the Wave of Long Island.  

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