All About Ted Nolan

[DFITZ1]

I may have missed it in this thread, but Nolan did a good job bringing the Islanders back to the playoffs, and had them play well against a stronger Sabre team in 2006-'07. He has the ability to make a bad team good. What remains to be seen is can he make them champions.

[bunomatic]

I may have missed it in this thread, but Nolan did a good job bringing the Islanders back to the playoffs, and had them play well against a stronger Sabre team in 2006-'07. He has the ability to make a bad team good. What remains to be seen is can he make them champions.

 

Given the opportunity and the right players I think he can. He's won 3(i believe) championships in other leagues.

[DFITZ1]

Given the opportunity and the right players I think he can. He's won 3(i believe) championships in other leagues.

Just hope he can stay around longer than 2 years.

[darksabre]

Lots of quotes from Leino trashing Regier and Rolston, praising Nolan:

 

http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-ville-leino-on-old-regime-i-didnt-know-who-makes-the-decisions/

Edited November 17, 2013 by d4rksabre

[Stoner]

Lots of quotes from Leino trashing Regier and Rolston, praising Nolan:

 

http://www.buffaloho...-the-decisions/

 

This is as refreshing as refreshing can be:

 

 

“He’s a hockey guy. You play hockey,” Leino said. “There’s no video. There’s no X and O’s everywhere and all this stuff that’s not really that much related to hockey. It’s just pure hockey, playing, making plays. It’s hockey. That’s hockey. That’s how I can describe it the best.

“It’s an old-school hockey coach and old-school coaching. I think everybody will like him. He’s honest.”

[SabresBillsFan]

Give it some time and some more practices. This team played two of the more entertaining games against Toronto. I hope who ever they hire to be GM will keep Nolan around. I'm a big fan of him coaching. Hard work and compete is what's it's all about. Surround him with some good players and see what he will do.

[Taro T]

Pierre Turgeon was the greatest floater in the history of hockey

 

 

 

Ali didnt go to prison..but if Nolan believes it and it makes him a better coach...-God bless him then.

And he turned into the 2nd best skater the Sabres ever had. Just a damn shame we lost McIlwain in the deal.

[qwksndmonster]

This is as refreshing as refreshing can be:

 

 

“He’s a hockey guy. You play hockey,” Leino said. “There’s no video. There’s no X and O’s everywhere and all this stuff that’s not really that much related to hockey. It’s just pure hockey, playing, making plays. It’s hockey. That’s hockey. That’s how I can describe it the best.

“It’s an old-school hockey coach and old-school coaching. I think everybody will like him. He’s honest.”

It really was a black hole. These guys couldn't even enjoy hockey! Hockey is better than football but not quite as good as sex.

[IKnowPhysics]

[i'm back from work-related hiatus]

 

Nolan hates staged fights, discourages Sabres from doing so:

 

Among the reasons there was none of the mayhem you might have expected this weekend was because of Nolan’s orders. He revealed after the game he instructed Scott to not engage in a staged confrontation, ostensibly with Orr or McLaren.

“To go out and have two guys talk at a face-off circle and fight, I don’t know why they do it to begin with,” Nolan said. “They don’t seem to be mad at each other. I don’t know if it’s entertainment value. I don’t know.

“I told John I don’t want to see that. I don’t want to see it from any one of our players. Talk at center ice and say, ‘You wanna fight?’ I think there’s room for fighting in this game but not that way.”

Scott had already spoken to reporters when Nolan made his surprising admission.

 

Old school.

[That Aud Smell]

This is as refreshing as refreshing can be:

 

 

“He’s a hockey guy. You play hockey,” Leino said. “There’s no video. There’s no X and O’s everywhere and all this stuff that’s not really that much related to hockey. It’s just pure hockey, playing, making plays. It’s hockey. That’s hockey. That’s how I can describe it the best.

“It’s an old-school hockey coach and old-school coaching. I think everybody will like him. He’s honest.”

 

That was eye-popping to me.

 

We'll see how it works out for them.

[Sabre Dance]

It really was a black hole. These guys couldn't even enjoy hockey! Hockey is better than football but not quite as good as sex.

 

a la George Costanza, it'd be great if someone could figure out how to merge hockey and sex - it would give a whole new meaning to the word "stickhandling". a-HEM! ;)

[josie]

a la George Costanza, it'd be great if someone could figure out how to merge hockey and sex - it would give a whole new meaning to the word "stickhandling". a-HEM! ;)

 

That combination could also be quite painful. Careful where you put those skate blades, eh?! New meaning to playing the crease.

[qwksndmonster]

That combination could also be quite painful. Careful where you put those skate blades, eh?! New meaning to playing the crease.

The history of this board is an excellent library of hockey related sex jokes. For quick finds search ink, chz, and Dwight.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

That combination could also be quite painful. Careful where you put those skate blades, eh?! New meaning to playing the crease.

 

I didn't know you were a Canuck.

 

Cool, eh!

 

Oh, playing the crease, eh. That's a good one, hoser.

[26CornerBlitz]

'I can coach': COLUMN ON TED NOLAN

 

There is never an easy answer with Ted Nolan, never a convenient or succinct explanation of where he's been, how he's been away this long, why the rest of the National Hockey League hasn't been pounding down doors to try to hire the onetime coach of the year.

 

There are always whispers, questions, stories that don't exactly add up, and yet a directness from him that belies all the doubts that surround his coaching name.

 

Nolan is back where he is most comfortable, 16 years after walking away from a meagre contract offer by Darcy Regier - the same Regier now gone in the purge of the Buffalo Sabres - looking like he belongs on the ice at First Niagara Center, sounding confident as ever in the city where he had his greatest professional success.

[Two or less]

 

Boston Globe's Fluto Shinzawa on Sabres/Nolan-

 

Sabres’ interim coach is quite able

 

The odds are slim that Ted Nolan will still be behind the Buffalo bench next season. The interim Sabres coach, who replaced Ron Rolston on Wednesday, will most likely hand over the keys at the end of 2013-14, if not earlier.

 

New president of hockey operations Pat LaFontaine’s first order of business is to land general manager Darcy Regier’s replacement. Bruins assistant GM Jim Benning is on a short list of candidates. Benning worked in Buffalo’s front office for 12 seasons before being hired by the Bruins in 2006. Pittsburgh assistant GM Jason Botterill, who played briefly for the Sabres, is also in the mix.

 

The next GM will then hire his coach. If Benning lands the job, he might consider Bruins assistant Doug Houda, who has Buffalo ties. Former Bruins assistant Craig Ramsay, another ex-Sabre, would be another possibility.

 

Short-term, however, Nolan is the best fit for the job. Nolan coached in Buffalo for two seasons. LaFontaine, one of the most skilled forwards of his generation, played for Nolan. So did Michael Peca, Matthew Barnaby, Brad May, and Rob Ray — players who were as abrasive as LaFontaine was skilled. Nolan understands what Buffalo fans like to see.

“We’re in the entertainment business,” Nolan said during his introductory press conference. “We have to entertain people. Players get paid pretty well nowadays.

 

“What we have to do immediately is to get these guys to compete and work. The bottom line is we have to make sure we compete at a certain level, so that when fans leave here, they don’t feel cheated.”

 

Nolan’s junior experience will also help. In 2005-06, Nolan coached Moncton in the QMJHL. Nolan’s teenage charges included Brad Marchand, Keith Yandle, and Andrew MacDonald. The Sabres have four players under 20: Rasmus Ristolainen, NikitaZadorov, Zemgus Girgensons, and Mikhail Grigorenko.

“You don’t want to put a kid in a position of failure,” Nolan said. “You have to get them to feel good about themselves. If you put them against big-time guys too soon, they get burned. It hurts your confidence.”

 

Assuming the Sabres let Nolan go, the rest of the season will be his audition for his next job. So will his Olympic duties with Latvia. The Sabres have given Nolan permission to continue his job as Latvia’s coach in Sochi. The Latvians are serious underdogs. In that way, they have the perfect coach.

 

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/11/17/nhl-youth-movement-can-more-harm-than-good/AVYczWDIDfKhHc7QTo9s5I/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw

[nobody]

"Nolan’s junior experience will also help"

 

Well - he kept one of them. :rolleyes:

[26CornerBlitz]

‏@pham1717

One thing I see is Nolan does quite a bit more coaching and instructing at practice than he did the first time he was here

[That Aud Smell]

I've noticed, of late, how the team's official Twitter page is always careful to call Nolan the "interim coach". It's conspicuous to me. They could call him "Ted Nolan" or just "Nolan", but instead they choose to refer to him as "interim coach." Maybe tThey've [clearly] been doing that from the start; anyway, its persistence just dawned on me.

Edited December 13, 2013 by That Aud Smell

[IKnowPhysics]

I noticed that too on the facebook posts. He always has his title attached, and that title is always interim coach.

[nfreeman]

I've noticed, of late, how the team's official Twitter page is always careful to call Nolan the "interim coach". It's conspicuous to me. They could call him "Ted Nolan" or just "Nolan", but instead they choose to refer to him as "interim coach." Maybe tThey've [clearly] been doing that from the start; anyway, its persistence just dawned on me.

I noticed that too on the facebook posts. He always has his title attached, and that title is always interim coach.

 

I'd guess that they are being careful about this since the GM search/recruitment process is ongoing and they don't want the GM candidates to feel obligated to keep Nolan.

[Campy]

I've noticed it too, and I have a theory:

 

It's to remind fans, media, and prospective GMs that Nolan truly is interim. This would allow the GM to say it was his choice to remove the interim tag and that his hand was not forced by Patty or TPeg - even if it was. Don't know if that is what's going down, but it would go a long way to prevent the new GM from being publicly emasculated.

[Doohicksie]

It's a constant reminder of the existential uncertainty in life.

[drnkirishone]

It's a constant reminder of the existential uncertainty in life.

and now i strangely want to watch some monty python...........

[spndnchz]

Ted Nolan Named 2014 Recipient of the PHPA Curt Leichner Distinguished Member Award

 

 

http://www.phpa.com/.../news/story/115