Montreal Mystique Interviews Ted Nolan
April 19, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles
A winning program. Ted Nolan understands how and delivers.
At the age of 30, following a five-season NHL career cut short by injury, Nolan was named head coach of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The team had endured four losing seasons but Nolan instilled pride and hope in leading the team to four straight winning seasons (0.591) and a coveted Memorial Cup championship in 1993, emblematic of Canadian Junior hockey supremacy.
Community and pride. Ted Nolan builds it and lives it. His highly-regarded Ted Nolan Foundation was founded in honour of his mother who was killed in an accident. She remains an inspiration for Nolan’s highly regarded and very active foundation.
Ted Nolan, an Ojibwe member,was the first First Nations head coach in NHL history. And one of the youngest winners of the prestigious Jack Adams Trophy, awarded for coach of the year and a two-year winning tenure (73-72-19) that saw the once-struggling Sabres finally advance to the second round of the playoffs.
Nolan, an outspoken, respected and knowledgeable coach left the NHL after disagreeing on contractual terms with the Sabres and only returned to coaching duties in 2005 with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Moncton Wildcats.
Some felt that Nolan was blackballed from the NHL.
But after the resurgent Nolan keyed the Wildcats to a Memorial Cup final appearance, the NHL New York Islanders hired him in 2007. His two-season tenure was a winning one (75-68-21) and ended in more conventional terms when the Islanders missed the playoffs following the 2007-08 season.
Nolan landed on his feet and is currently vice-president of hockey operations with the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans, a demanding post he holds to this day.
Despite facing racial slurs and similar obstacles throughout his playing and coaching career, Nolan remains soft-spoken, humourous, positive and thoughtful.
Montreal Mystique spoke at length with Ted Nolan on his playing and coaching career, his experiences playing against the Canadiens, his new post with the Americans and what may lie in store for him in the coming years.
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Nolan Facts
Position: C
Shoots: Left
Height: 6-0 Weight: 185 lbs.
Born: April 7, 1958 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Playing Career
NHL Reg Season – GP 78, G 6, A 16, PTS 22
AHL Reg Season – GP 374, G 116, A 164, PTS 280
Coaching and Management Career
Assistant Head Coach: Hartford Whalers
Head Coach: Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Moncton Wildcats
Vice President Hockey Operations: Rochester Americans
Jack Adams Trophy Winner: 1996-97
Memorial Cup Berths: 4 (90-91, 91-92, 92-93, 05-06)
Memorial Cup Champion: 1993 (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
Ted Nolan – Detailed Statistics
Ted Nolan – Ted Nolan Foundation
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