Ted Nolan on the red carpet of the
2006 NHL awards.
Ted Nolan (born April 7, 1958, on the Garden River Ojibwa First Nation
Reserve outside of Sault Ste.
Marie, Ontario
, Canada
) is
currently is the Vice President of Hockey Operations for the
AHL's Rochester Americans. Ted is well
known for being the former Head Coach of the
Buffalo Sabres and
New York Islanders.
Nolan, a retired
Canadian
professional hockey
left winger played 3 seasons in
the National Hockey League
for the Detroit Red Wings and
Pittsburgh Penguins. He
also coached for 2 seasons in the
National Hockey League for the
Buffalo Sabres, after serving as
assistant coach for one season with the
Hartford Whalers.
Nolan, and his wife Sandra, are the parents of
Brandon Nolan, a
Vancouver Canucks draft pick playing for
the
AHL's
Albany River Rats, and Jordan Nolan of the
OHL's
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Ted is very active in his foundation, the
Ted Nolan
Foundation “Through the philosophy of healthy lifestyle, the
Ted Nolan Foundation is committed to the healing process to renew
and revitalize the mind, body and spirit of our young people. We
will explore to help us train a new cadre of Aboriginal leaders
today, to take their rightful place in Canadian society tomorrow.
We will help develop programs at the community level for First
Nations youth in communities no matter how isolated or poverty
stricken. We will raise scholarship funds for First Nation women
wishing to complete their education.”
The Ted Nolan Foundation has recently partnered with the Tim
Hortons Children's Foundation. As part of a five-year partnership
between the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation and the Ted Nolan
Foundation, each year 50 more aboriginal kids will go to the camp
for a leadership program catering to aboriginal youth.
Playing career
As a player, he played
left-wing
for the
Ontario Hockey
Association's
Sault
Ste. Marie
Greyhounds, the
Kansas City
Red Wings of the
Central Hockey
League, and the
Adirondack Red
Wings,
Rochester Americans
and
Baltimore Skipjacks of the
American Hockey League. He
also played for the
Pittsburgh
Penguins and the
Detroit Red
Wings of the
National Hockey
League from early to mid-1980s.
Coaching career
Ontario Hockey League
Nolan became
head coach of the
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 1988, as a
mid-
season replacement and coached
there until the end of the 1994 season. Nolan led the Greyhounds to
the three consecutive
Memorial Cup
tournament berths, winning the Canadian national junior
championship in 1993.
Buffalo Sabres, 1995–1997
Nolan was hired before the
1994–95 NHL season as an
assistant coach by the
Hartford
Whalers for one season before accepting the position of head
coach of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres where he had his greatest
success. In his second season in Buffalo, he led the team to a
strong regular season, culminating in the Northeast Division title.
He was rewarded with the
Jack Adams
Award as the league's top coach.
However his relationships with
superstar
goaltender Dominik Hašek and general manager
John Muckler were strained. The regular
season success was all overshadowed by what took place during the
playoffs. Tensions between Nolan and Hašek had been high for most
of the season, however, after being scored upon in game three of
the first-round against the
Ottawa
Senators, Hašek left the game, forcing backup
Steve Shields to step in.
Hašek claimed he felt his knee pop, and the team doctor pronounced
him day-to-day. Buffalo News columnist
Jim
Kelley wrote a column that night for the next day's newspaper
that detailed the day's events, which irked Hašek. After the
Senators won game five, Hašek came out of the Sabres' training room
and physically attacked Kelley, tearing his shirt. Despite issuing
an apology, things went downhill afterwards. Shields starred as the
Sabres rallied to win the series against Ottawa. But before the
next series against the
Philadelphia
Flyers, the NHL announced that Hasek had been suspended for
three games for the altercation with Kelley. Hasek was set to
return in game four with the team down by three games in the
series, but after the pregame skate Hasek told the Sabres' coaching
staff he felt a twinge in his knee and left the ice. Shields turned
in another season-saving performance as Buffalo staved off the
almost inevitable sweeping elimination with a win. Again before the
fifth game, Hašek declared himself unfit to play and Buffalo lost
6–3, losing the series in five games.
Hašek, who sided with Muckler, stated in an interview during 1997
NHL Awards Ceremony that "it would be better for me if he (Nolan)
did not return." Muckler, fresh off of being voted the NHL's
1996–97 Executive of the Year, was the first casualty of this toxic
situation and was fired prior to the 1997–98 season.
Darcy Regier, Muckler's replacement as GM, was
given the option to choose his own coach. Rather than fire Nolan,
whose two-year contract had just expired, Regier offered him a
one-year extension, reportedly for $500,000. After such a
successful 1997 season working with a "blue collar" team full of
grinders and with only one star, Hasek, Nolan found the offer
insulting and rejected it.
[66638] Regier then pulled the contract off the
table and did not offer another one, ending Nolan's tenure as
Sabres coach.
Post-Sabres career
Following his departure from Buffalo, Nolan was offered NHL
coaching jobs in 1997 by the
Tampa
Bay Lightning (head coach) and in 1998 by the
New York Islanders (assistant coach).
Nolan declined both offers. It is said Nolan was not offered an NHL
coaching job again until May 2006, a span of eight years, and
speculation as to why ranged from outright
racism to a perceived fear that Nolan is a "GM
Killer" based on his acrimonious working relationship with former
boss Muckler.
In 2003, Nolan was in talks to become the coach for the
Toronto Toros of the new
World Hockey
Association, but it never got past talks, and the new WHA never
formed. On
26 April 2005, he was hired as the coach and director of hockey
operations for the
Moncton Wildcats
of the
Quebec Major
Junior Hockey League, who would host the 2006
Memorial Cup.
On
December 16,
2005, Nolan was the victim of
racial harassment during a Wildcats road game against
the
Chicoutimi
Saguenéens. Fans in the stands shouted
racial slurs at him and directed gestures such
as the "tomahawk chop" and shooting a bow and arrow towards him as
he stood behind the Moncton bench. Fans continued to taunt Nolan
outside the arena after the game as he boarded the team bus with
his players. The incident, he said later, left him shaking with
anger and humiliation. The fans' behavior was condemned both by the
QMJHL commissioner and Saguenéens management, the latter of which
issued formal apology to Nolan.
As a result of the events that transpired in
Chicoutimi
, he referred to the Saguenay Region as being the
"Alabama
" of the
QMJHL.
After, he also had criticized the
Gatineau Olympiques organisation for
putting the 'Tomahawk Chop' song, which he said was racist. Because
of the incident, the QMJHL launched a new anti-discrimination
policy that covers everyone involved with the circuit, from team
and league officials, to players and fans.
[66639]
On
December 25,
2005, it was reported that Nolan expressed interest in
leaving Moncton to fill the New Jersey Devils coaching vacancy left
by
Larry Robinson. Despite this, the
Devils never publicly mentioned Nolan as a potential
replacement.
Nolan's Wildcats reached the Memorial Cup final only to lose to the
Quebec Remparts coached by
Patrick Roy on
May 28,
2006.
Nolan travels widely during the summer, attending hockey camps in
Northern Canada and working to inspire young native players to get
an education and to pursue their dreams.
Despite his recent
hiring as head coach of the Isles, he still found time to attend a
hockey camp in Whitehorse,
Yukon
in mid-July 2006.
New York Islanders, 2006–2008
When the
New York Islanders fired
head coach
Steve Stirling in January
2006, team owner
Charles Wang
reportedly called Nolan to ask him to take over the team. Nolan
said that he felt a sense of responsibility toward Moncton and
would not leave them mid-season.
On
June 8, 2006, Wang dismissed interim coach
Brad Shaw and announced the hiring of Nolan as the new head coach.
New York Post hockey columnist Larry
Brooks quickly criticized Wang for hiring Nolan at the same time
that he hired a new general manager,
Neil Smith, rather than allow Smith
to hire a coach who would report to him. On
July
18, Smith was fired as general manager and
Garth Snow was named as his replacement.
In his first season with the Islanders in 2006–07, he led the team
to a surprising 92 point season and its first playoff berth since
2003–04. On
April 20,
2007, Ted Nolan's 8th seeded Islanders fell in five
games to his former team, the top-seeded
Buffalo Sabres.
In his second season, Nolan led the Islanders to a record of
35–38–9 for 79 points. On November 3, 2007, legendary coach
Al Arbour returned at the request of
Nolan, to coach his 1,500th game for the Islanders in a 3–2 win
against the
Pittsburgh
Penguins.
On
July 14,
2008,
Newsday reported that Ted Nolan was
dismissed as Islanders coach by Islanders GM
Garth Snow.
Rochester Americans, 2009-Present
On
July 2,
2009, Nolan
agreed to a one-year contract with the Rochester Americans to
become their Vice President of Hockey Operations.
Awards & achievements
NHL Coaching record
| Team |
Year |
Regular Season |
Post Season |
| G |
W |
L |
T |
OTL |
Pts |
Finish |
|
W |
L |
Result |
| BUF |
1995–96 |
82 |
33 |
42 |
7 |
- |
73 |
4th in Northeast |
|
- |
- |
Missed Playoffs |
|
| BUF |
1996–97 |
82 |
40 |
30 |
12 |
- |
92 |
1st in Northeast |
|
5 |
7 |
Lost in Conf. Semi-Finals |
|
| BUF Total |
164 |
73 |
72 |
19 |
- |
165 |
|
|
5 |
7 |
1 Playoff Appearance |
|
| NYI |
2006–07 |
82 |
40 |
30 |
- |
12 |
92 |
4th in Atlantic |
|
1 |
4 |
Lost in Conf. Quarter-Finals |
| NYI |
2007–08 |
81* |
34 |
38 |
- |
9 |
79 |
5th in Atlantic |
|
- |
- |
Missed Playoffs
- Al Arbour was Head coach for 1500th Game
|
| NYI Total |
163 |
74 |
68 |
- |
21 |
171 |
|
|
1 |
4 |
1 Playoff Appearance |
|
| Total |
327 |
147 |
140 |
19 |
21 |
336 |
|
|
6 |
11 |
2 Playoff Appearances |
Career statistics (Player)
National Hockey League - Regular Season
- Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS =
Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
American Hockey League - Regular Season
- Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS =
Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
See also
Notes and references
- Ted Nolan's Son Given 20 Game Suspension The
Sporting News, March 14, 2009
- ISLE HANDLE IT, New York Post June 11, 2006
- WHAM13.TV - Ted Nolan Joins Amerks as New VP of
Hockey Operations
Further reading
External links
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