Well, the Rangers gassed Tom Renney on Tuesday; so reports the New York Daily News. All of which means that Flyers coach John Stevens moves up another rung.
Stevens is in his second full season as the Flyers' coach.
He now has the third-longest tenure in the NHL's Eastern Conference.
It seems impossible. But if there has ever been a sign of the impatience of our current world, in the NHL and NBA especially, it is that simple fact. In the NHL overall, Stevens is 11th in tenure at his current team. But in the East, so balanced, so competitive, so perpetually insecure, he is third. He got the job on October 22, 2006, and he is damn near a lifer by Eastern Conference standards.
The short list:
Lindy Ruff, Buffalo, 884 games.
Guy Carbonneau, Montreal, 224 games.
John Stevens, Philadelphia, 213 games.
We all know why owners in all sports have ADD anymore, but especially in the NBA and NHL: because playoff gates can make the difference between profit and loss, or between getting by and being comfortable. Follow the money and then follow the coaches to the unemployment line.