All About Ted Nolan

[bunomatic]

They know they don't have to BS us. These guys are starting with a clean slate. No history, no face saving. We suck. We know it. We'll get better.

 

For the tandem that was around 16 years, it is very clear that if the team wasn't performing, it was squarely their fault. It was not acceptable for Lindy and Darcy to say that because we'd sucked for long enough that we could have, should have, been better by now. Obviously their magic was spent. Lindy and Darcy provided incredible stability to a team that was besieged by scandals, bankruptcy and ownership changes. The team was a mess, and they got us through it, and for that I am grateful. But their usefulness to the organization was gone and they weren't the guys for the rebuild. Darcy did a helluva job of stocking the team with draft picks, but I'm glad he's not the one doing the picking. He was okay picking individual players and "winning" trades in a vacuum, but lacked the vision to put a cohesive, complete team together.

 

I have hopeful expectations for the current tandem. They seem like they were thrown together, neither one necessarily choosing to work with the other at first, but both making the best of it and finding a surprising amount of common ground - compete level and hockey IQ as priorities - and I think going forward they will complement each other. And both seem to tell it like it is.

 

As for the team, I'm really okay with where they're at right now. A number of young veterans (Staff, Ennis, Myers, etc.) that, if they work out, may be on the team in the future. Some fill-in journeymen (Ellis, Mitchell, D'Ags, etc.) that will certainly not be around in two years but will give us everything they've got for the time they are here. Some up-and-coming NHLers (Foligno, Hodgson, etc.) that may be part of the future, but will be hounded by a talented youth movement led by Girgensons. Defense appears to be solid, goaltending promising (hopefully at least one solid starter out of 4 or 5 current players/prospects).

 

I think we go through the rest of the year as is, with three A's. Next year I see the C going to either Stafford (Nolan is very high on him, not sure if he genuinely believes what he says or if he's trying to inspire him to a high level of play) or Girgensons. Even as more talented players come up behind Girgensons, I can see him keeping the C; you don't necessarily need the captain to be your best player, you just need a leader, and Girgs seems to be all that.

 

So.... with the signing of Nolan, I like where this team is headed.

 

That was a good read.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

 

 

That was a good read.

 

Seconded

[JJFIVEOH]

Thirded

[qwksndmonster]

fourded

[Doohicksie]

That was a good read.

 

Oh thanks. I thought I was just babbling to be self-indulgent. Good to know someone enjoyed reading it.

[...]

Nolan has Hodgson on the wing, now. I think Nolan and GMTM are tiring of Hodgson's inability to turn up his game. My guess is that it wouldn't take much of a trade offer to see Hodgson on the short bus out of town.

[LastPommerFan]

fourded

 

Oh no! Your wagon has capsized!

[inkman]

He needs to learn how to pronounce Ristolainen. :doh: It's not Rusolin.

Much like their new goalie "Networth"

[MattPie]

Oh no! Your wagon has capsized!

 

We'll never get to Oregon now!

[qwksndmonster]

We'll never get to Oregon now!

Not with all this dysentery.

[LGR4GM]

fourded

Oh no! Your wagon has capsized!

We'll never get to Oregon now!

Not with all this dysentery.

This seems appropraite now... the 21 ways Oregon trail traumatized us as kids

http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/how-oregon-trail-traumatized-all-of-us-as-children

[TrueBlueGED]

Huh. Nolan's extension is earning just about universal praise from other teams' fans, many happy to see him in the league long term, think he's a good coach that's got a hard job ahead of him.

 

I don't see anyone shitting on this one.

 

I'm not going to ###### on it, but I'm lukewarm. Matt Coller's article summed up my feelings on Nolan pretty well: some good stuff, some bad stuff, and the same end result Rolston was getting. In other words, a run of the mill coach. I'm fine with it, especially with where the roster is at, but I may want to aim a little higher once the time is right (it's also entirely possible Nolan wins me over once the roster is in a place where coaching will mean a damn).

[IKnowPhysics]

I'm not going to ###### on it, but I'm lukewarm. Matt Coller's article summed up my feelings on Nolan pretty well: some good stuff, some bad stuff, and the same end result Rolston was getting. In other words, a run of the mill coach. I'm fine with it, especially with where the roster is at, but I may want to aim a little higher once the time is right (it's also entirely possible Nolan wins me over once the roster is in a place where coaching will mean a damn).

 

I think we're in a similar place as other folks: Nolan's got some upside, but no one expects to see it realized until the roster at least starts to get squared away. The down side is: there is no downside. As long as we don't botch the kids' development, the worst thing we could do with Nolan at the helm is lose games, which is something we're very much prepared to do next season.

[LTS]

Here's where I am with Ted Nolan.

 

The players that are good enough to be top level talent in the NHL are generally driven to improve themselves. All the basic systems are usually covered long before they get to the NHL. There might be a few tweaks here or there but I'd say by and large most of the little things to improve their play are going to be learned from veterans and/or specific position coaches.

 

Ted Nolan's greatest asset is getting players to believe in themselves and each other. He doesn't seem to be disingenuous in any way. In short, he's a really good motivator and definitely good at bringing people together and getting them to play as a team. His players believe in him.

 

That's why I think he'll be fine regardless of who the Sabres have on the team.

 

I'm really high on the guy, there's no doubt. I was in his first stint as well. It's very different with him when you listen to him speak.

[Doohicksie]

and the same end result Rolston was getting.

 

But without Ott, Miller, Moulson, Vanek...

[bunomatic]

Here's where I am with Ted Nolan.

 

The players that are good enough to be top level talent in the NHL are generally driven to improve themselves. All the basic systems are usually covered long before they get to the NHL. There might be a few tweaks here or there but I'd say by and large most of the little things to improve their play are going to be learned from veterans and/or specific position coaches.

 

Ted Nolan's greatest asset is getting players to believe in themselves and each other. He doesn't seem to be disingenuous in any way. In short, he's a really good motivator and definitely good at bringing people together and getting them to play as a team. His players believe in him.

 

That's why I think he'll be fine regardless of who the Sabres have on the team.

 

I'm really high on the guy, there's no doubt. I was in his first stint as well. It's very different with him when you listen to him speak.

 

This about sums it up for me. Well said. I feel pretty much the same. It seems like the players would go through a wall for him.

[TrueBlueGED]

But without Ott, Miller, Moulson, Vanek...

 

He had Moulson, Ott, and Miller for most of the season and was still in last place. I'm in no way holding the record against him, by the way, no coach can do better with this roster.

[JJFIVEOH]

Rolston with a full roster: 4-15-1

Nolan with a full roster: 13-19-7

Nolan after trade: 4-12-1

 

4-15-1 .45 PPG

13-19-7 .85 PPG

4-12-1 .53 PPG

 

Nolan had a significantly better record with the same roster Rolston had. He even has a better record afte the Miller/Ott trade.

 

This isn't directed at anybody, just a casual observation.

[TrueBlueGED]

Rolston with a full roster: 4-15-1

Nolan with a full roster: 13-19-7

Nolan after trade: 4-12-1

 

4-15-1 .45 PPG

13-19-7 .85 PPG

4-12-1 .53 PPG

 

Nolan had a significantly better record with the same roster Rolston had. He even has a better record afte the Miller/Ott trade.

 

This isn't directed at anybody, just a casual observation.

 

Rolston's numbers are much different if you include last season. I'll take Nolan all day every day over Rolston, just saying short term stuff happens, both good and bad.

[kishoph]

I'm sorry if I'm posting this in a Nolan appreciation thread, but last night was not the first night our goalie has been run or our smaller "skill players" have been abused and not one thing was done about, it's become commonplace for the Nolan coached Sabres. I don't know if Nolan thinks he has a reputation as a coach of brawlers that he needs to rid himself of or what, but I seen more fire from Ron Rolston when he was coaching the Sabres. I was excited when Nolan was first named interim coach for the Sabres and players such as Stafford, Myers, Ennis and recently Hodgson have been playing up to their potential under Nolan. The team has also looked like they have been playing with more effort and pride, but it's gonna take more than that and it's not just a case of having players with lesser talent, this team looks like they haven't a clue out there. I don't know how much a hockey head coach has to do with X's and O's of the game, but these players look like they don't even have the ABC's down. I am quickly falling off the Nolan bandwagon and IMO there is no way he fulfills his 3 years of the new contract and if he somehow does, I see a lot of hard times ahead for the Sabres. JMO

[Jsixspd]

The continued and obvious lack of anyone responding to our players getting punked and hurt on the ice - not to mention all the ice time for Ville Leino (17 minutes in last night's game - really?) it's starting to raise a few questions in my mind about Ted. I expected more fire out of him.

 

Say what you will about Torts - he'd have been going ballistic on the bench, and maybe at the other team's locker room :lol: if his players were getting repeatedly cheap-shotted like the Sabres were last night.

Edited April 7, 2014 by Jsixspd

[Eleven]

The continued and obvious lack of anyone responding to our players getting punked and hurt on the ice - not to mention all the ice time for Ville Leino (17 minutes in last night's game - really?) it's starting to raise a few questions in my mind about Ted. I expected more fire out of him.

 

Say what you will about Torts - he'd have been going ballistic on the bench, and maybe at the other team's locker room :lol: if his players were getting repeatedly cheap-shotted like the Sabres were last night.

 

Tortorella is not the answer. To anything. Other than the question, "What Canucks coach will be fired this May?"

[inkman]

My opinion of Ted is pretty non-descript. He seems to inspire guys but hell if I can tell if his teams really max out their talent. They were discussing this on WGR today and Schopp was beside himself because no one would agree with him that Nolan is doing a poor job this year.

 

When Bulldog challenged him asking how is he supposed to win with AHL players against NHL players, Schopp could not comprehend how the guys on this roster weren't NHL players even though he stopped Bulldog at Hodgson to point out he doesn't think Cody is a NHL player. I'm not sure Mike has any idea what he is talking about.

[LastPommerFan]

My opinion of Ted is pretty non-descript. He seems to inspire guys but hell if I can tell if his teams really max out their talent. They were discussing this on WGR today and Schopp was beside himself because no one would agree with him that Nolan is doing a poor job this year.

 

When Bulldog challenged him asking how is he supposed to win with AHL players against NHL players, Schopp could not comprehend how the guys on this roster weren't NHL players even though he stopped Bulldog at Hodgson to point out he doesn't think Cody is a NHL player. I'm not sure Mike has any idea what he is talking about.

 

Hockey trading cards never really caught on.

[JJFIVEOH]

My opinion of Ted is pretty non-descript. He seems to inspire guys but hell if I can tell if his teams really max out their talent. They were discussing this on WGR today and Schopp was beside himself because no one would agree with him that Nolan is doing a poor job this year.

 

When Bulldog challenged him asking how is he supposed to win with AHL players against NHL players, Schopp could not comprehend how the guys on this roster weren't NHL players even though he stopped Bulldog at Hodgson to point out he doesn't think Cody is a NHL player. I'm not sure Mike has any idea what he is talking about.

 

I saw some of Schopp's tweets earlier. I'm glad I missed the show. Was he drunk?

Edited April 8, 2014 by JJFIVEOH