(The Edmonton Oilers are scheduled to make the details official in their press conference at 2 p.m.; a video feed can be seen here. Meanwhile, we're rather in love with this hasty report from Slam! Sports that cites Oilers fan sites and Twitter as sources while misspelling Tom Renney's name. Also: Calgary has a press conference at 1 p.m. MT. Hmmm ...)

Today's news that Pat Quinn will be the head coach and Tom Renney the associate coach for the Edmonton Oilers appears to be, in my cynical mind, the intersection of celebrity coach worship and hockey practicality.

Hiring Tom Renney as head coach would have been the "new start" that GM Steve Tambellini stated he wanted upon firing mutually deciding that Craig MacTavish should no longer be the Oilers coach. But he also would have been immediately maligned by Oilers fans as a preacher of tedious systematic hockey; no matter how successful it can be for the right roster, as it was at times for the New York Rangers. Hockey smarts know that MacTavish to Renney would be an upgrade; but that would have been a hell of a tough sell to a jaded fan base.

Enter Pat Quinn, Superstar, riding that Craig Hartsburg pipeline from world juniors gold back to the NHL. He's stated time and again that he still has the competitive fire to get behind the bench. Quinn's a name that, at the very least, elicits a response; and already, it's one of reverence. Plus, unless Tambellini's making some big moves via trade, the roster won't be much different than last season. Quinn behind the bench at least offers a chance that this collection of Oilers will compete before a slew of younger players come up.

From Darren Dreger of TSN, who broke the story:

The move reunites Quinn and Renney with general manager Steve Tambellini from their days together with the Vancouver Canucks. Quinn worked as head coach and general manager for 11 seasons in Vancouver and was behind the bench from 1990 to 1996.

From the Globe & Mail:

Quinn, 66, is one of the NHL's most experienced coaches - and bucks a recent trend, in which many untried coaches have received their first NHL opportunities this year. Three such candidates - Todd Richards, Kevin Dineen and Scott Arniel - were also considered by the Oilers, but ultimately did not get the job.

David Staples of Cult of Hockey:

Hmmm, out with the old Oilers Old Boys Club, in with the old Canucks Old Boys Club. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss? Is this a good thing? I guess part of your answer depends on what you thought of the old boss, MacTavish and Lowe. They did a good job, in my opinion, until the last few years, when things went awry, when they didn't recognize quickly enough the need to strip down the team in an even more radical fashion than they did. Not that anyone else recognized that either. The fans, the pundits and the management team in Edmonton were all on a '06 high, and didn't want to go down too fast afterwards.

UPDATE: After the jump, reactions and quotes from Quinn's introduction ...

• The moment when we started rooting for Pat Quinn as Oilers coach was about six minutes into this press conference, when you could feel the hunger this guy had to get back behind a National Hockey League bench as a head coach: "[Coaching] is the greatest job that a man can have ... in fact it's not a job. It's a thrill and a joy to be able to come to the rink, and I'm glad I have that opportunity again."

As Quinn would say later: "I'm getting an opportunity that I didn't know would come along again."

Cue old-timey movie dialogue: "Somebody finally took a chance on dat old Irish palooka dat nobody believed in anymore ..."

Cast Brendan Gleeson as Quinn, and roll cameras on the "Rocky Balboa" of NHL coaching retreads ...

• The unintentionally hilarious Pat Quinn, Vol. 1: "I'm aware of the ethics of the organization ... the work ethic, especially." How far did Brian Burke spit his coffee when he heard "the ethics of the organization?"

• GM Steve Tambellini on the staff he's assembled: "[We have] coaching brain power that can match any we will compete against."

Renney claims he had other opportunities but chose to sign on with the Oilers to be part of this staff. If so, then credit Tambellini with that sales pitch. There are very few franchises that have been able to assemble premium coaching talent behind the same bench (the New Jersey Devils during the 1990s come to mind), and yet here's an Edmonton team that's missed the playoffs for three seasons with Pat Quinn, Tom Renney and potentially another name-coach added to the staff later down the line.

• Pat Quinn on being too much of a "players' coach" to crack the whip on veterans: "I don't know if being a players' coach is a negative thing necessarily. Hopefully I've grown to be just a coach. Players' coach[es] are demanding as well."

• The unintentionally hilarious Pat Quinn, Vol. 2: Quinn said he's ready to push veterans "out of their easy chair" if they aren't producing. Dude's 66 years old. Quite the interesting analogy there.

• Finally, it was revealing that the roles for Quinn, Renney and assistant coach Kelly Buchberger haven't been defined by the trio. "We haven't actually sat down [yet]," said Quinn. "What I was pleased about was the person. I know his work ethic, his intelligence, his knowledge of the game. His personality is different than mine. Hopefully, we have those complementary skills."

Maybe this is par for the course, but doesn't it sound more like a Tambellini Dream Team than Quinn having selected Renney as his running mate? Not that Quinn isn't cool with it, mind you.

Bottom line: Who knew the Edmonton offseason would be this exciting without the words "Jaromir" or "Jagr" being involved?

Related: Rumors, scuttlebutt, innuendo