Nolan relishes return to the NHL
Canadian Press
9/22/2006 2:56:26 PM
MONCTON, N.B. (CP) - Ted Nolan knows very well what the hockey world must have been thinking when GM Neil Smith was abruptly fired by the New York Islanders this summer, given what transpired in Buffalo nearly a decade ago.
''It's funny, as soon as that happened my brother called me up and said: 'Well it only took you 40 days to get rid of this GM,''' Nolan said with a laugh Friday. ''My friends called too, they were all kidding me, because they know the last situation in Buffalo was fabricated nonsense.''
The debacle in Buffalo back in 1997 remains no laughing matter. Wild rumours spread in the wake of John Muckler's firing as GM, most of them centring on Nolan being behind Muckler's demise.
''Those two years after leaving Buffalo were the worst two years in my life because of all the rumours and false accusations made against my character,'' Nolan said at the Moncton Coliseum ahead of Friday night's exhibition game between the Islanders and Boston Bruins. ''That hurt the most. This time around I had nothing to do with it, the ownership and Neil didn't get along.''
Whatever really happened in Buffalo, one thing's indisputable: Nolan didn't work again in the NHL for nine years until Charles Wang reached out to him to take over his team, one of the few moves by the Islanders owner this off-season that didn't generate universal criticism.
Friday's game marked Nolan's first time behind an NHL bench since May 1997, a long void that tested the 48-year-old's faith in the game. It's fitting that his return came here in Moncton, where he returned to coaching last year with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Wildcats and rediscovered his love for hockey.
''One of the reasons I got back into hockey last year wasn't so much to get back in the NHL but rather to rediscover the passion I once had for the game,'' Nolan said. ''I had so much love and passion for the game growing up, but I lost a little bit of it after what I went through. So it was great to get that passion back here last year.''
His arrival in Moncton has generated more buzz than Sidney Crosby's appearance here earlier this week. And why not?
With Nolan behind the bench last season, the Wildcats went an amazing 52-15-0-2 en route to capturing the QMJHL title before losing to Quebec here in the Memorial Cup final.
''Moncton was probably one the greatest hockey experiences in my life,'' said Nolan, who began his coaching career in 1988 with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL. ''I only spent one year here but it feels like I'm from here and I think that's a testament to the people of Moncton, they really welcomed me in their community last year.''
Wins will likely be harder to come by for Nolan this season. Few people are picking the Islanders to make the playoffs.
''The thing about opinions is that everybody has them,'' Nolan said. ''There are things people will say or think about our team. People say we're not going to be very good, but maybe we want to go out and prove that we can compete, prove people wrong.''
Few people gave Nolan's Sabres a shot nine years ago either, but a lunch-bucket team with superstar goalie Dominik Hasek in goal overachieved and earned Nolan the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year.
''We had an underdog team, nobody believed in us, nobody thought we could make the playoffs,'' Isles defenceman Alexei Zhitnik, who played on that Sabres team, recalled Friday. ''We made the playoffs and beat Ottawa in the first round. We played pretty good hockey. He was really a team coach - win together and lose together - we really learned that from him.''
Success on this team largely depends on the two players who happen to have the two longest contracts in the NHL, forward Alexei Yashin and goalie Rick DiPietro.
DiPietro, who turned 25 earlier this week, faces huge pressure as he goes out to prove he's worth the US$67.5-million, 15-year investment Wang made in him. The 3.02 goals-against average from last season won't cut it.
The 32-year-old Yashin begins Year 6 of his 10-year deal that pays him $7.6 million this season, money that wasn't well earned last year when he only put up 66 points in 82 games. Nolan's job will be to motivate the former Ottawa Senators star and he's already made his first move, deciding to keep the `C' on Yashin.
''When I got to Buffalo one of the first things people were suggesting I should do is take away the `C' from Pat LaFontaine, to have a fresh start,'' said Nolan. ''And there's a lot of similarities here, in terms of people maybe wanting to take away the `C' from Yashin. But I think in order to be a good captain you need a good supporting cast. Yashin is a good man, he's got a good heart for the game, he wants to succeed.
''But you have to surround him so that's why you bring in people like Brendan Witt, Sean Hill, Mike Sillinger, Tom Poti and Chris Simon - all these guys who have been leaders on past teams. They'll support Yashin in his role as captain and I think Yashin will be a better captain for it.''
No one should be surprised that Nolan is giving Yashin a chance when many others have given up on the Russian player. A chance is all Nolan wanted for the last nine years.
