Red Wings hire Renney as associate coach

Tom Renney will join the Detroit Red Wings as an associate coach, the team announced Thursday.

Renney, 57, former coach of the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks, has agreed to a three-year contract with the Red Wings.

Renney was let go by the Oilers after the team finished 14th in the Western Conference last season, going 32-40-10. In two seasons with Edmonton, Renney was 57-85-22 and did not make the playoffs.

He joins Mike Babcock's staff as a replacement for assistant coach Jeff Blashill, who had been named coach of Detroit’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Renney's greatest success as coach came with the Rangers, where he had three straight 40-win seasons. After serving in New York's player personnel department, he became interim coach during the 2003-04 season before getting the job full-time in 2004.

He had a 164-121-42 record from 2005-08.

Renney also coached Canada to a silver medal at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.