Sabres fire Rolston/Reiger and bring back Ted Nolan

[brwi]

....along with Pat LaFontaine as GM to replace Reiger. Hardly see how Ted Nolan is going to help them whatsoever, but good luck:

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/99706 ... rcy-regier" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Pitt87]

Why don't NHL teams hire from the available coaching pool? This whole 'coming through the ranks' stuff works for a few, but Buffalo needs a grown up at the helm.

Also, doesn't Pat LaFontaine have significant brain issues? Retired because of post concussion syndrome, IIRC.

[MRandall25]

Ted Nolan isn't a "grown up"? Do you even know who Ted Nolan is?

Former Jack Adams winner, last coach to get the Islanders to the playoffs in 06-07 (before last year). Also the coach of the Latvian national team.

He's a pretty good choice.

Also don't see how Lafontaine's retirement from playing affects his ability to scout talent/hire a GM/run a hockey team/etc

[mikey287]

Of note, LaFontaine is not the new GM. They are looking for a GM.

Re-post from the other thread:

Pat LaFontaine is a great hockey guy. He's been coaching youth in the Long Island area, 15 and 16 year olds, really great hockey guy, very well liked. This is about as big of a jump as one could expect really...in terms of non-playing resumes, Lafontaine and I are pretty similar relatively speaking...though he's probably about 1000x smarter than I am. But this is still a huge career jump...youth coaching to running an NHL team. soyouresayingtheresachance.jpg

This is all very interesting...I like some parts of it, I don't like others. Ted Nolan will get these guys playing hard, but is he really a good nurturer for skilled youth? I'm not sure. For a name that is so familiar to us, he really doesn't have that much NHL head coaching experience. A couple years in Buffalo, a couple years for the Islanders, a .500 record more or less. I don't know the finite points of Ted Nolan's player development skills, but that's the kind of coach they need there. Someone that can develop talent, not someone that can get them to play a hard, physical defensive style to pump out a few more wins. Yeah, learning defense is part of it, yeah, winning is part of it. But the last thing you want is to finish 10th in the Wales Conference and Mikhail Grigorenko turns into Oleg Saprykin instead of Alexander Mogilny.

Maybe Ted Nolan had a hand in finishing off Keith Yandle's youth development - in which case, he did a fine job on the offensive skills side. I don't know the answer to that though.

It doesn't sound like this was a plan though, it sounds like this was talked about over drinks and then they decided to change the face of a professional sports team. Pegula had never met Nolan until last night. LaFontaine was only in the picture for about a week. LaFontaine seems to be one of the few that is friends with Nolan in the professional landscape.

I like Pegula, I like his passion for the game and all. But he's got this Michael Scott vibe to him. The last thing he heard is the greatest idea ever.

Side note, I guess I'm wrong that you let the new guys take over before you uproot a lot of players. Dallas let Nieuwendyk make a bunch of deadline moves and got all these prospects and all this and then fired him. Buffalo lets Regier trade Sekera and Vanek for whatever and then they fire him. I guess I can see it both ways, but it seems odd that if their impending doom was imminent that they wouldn't get the chance to make major organizational decisions on their way out the door.

[tfrizz]

As I said in the other thread, Ted Nolan is a great choice especially if Pegula is looking at a bit of a rebuild in Buffalo. He's been a fantastic junior coach over his career, and he managed to surprised everyone and took a very young Islanders team to the playoffs.

Looking back at his season in Moncton, that was quite a group of defensemen he worked with.

• Keith Yandle
• Jason Demers
• Andrew MacDonald (whom Nolan discovered as a free agent from the MJAHL's Truro Bearcats)
• Oskars Bartulis
• Luc Bourdon

He's certainly a guy that could help mould a struggling youngster like Grigorenko into what the Sabres need him to be.

[llipgh2]

....along with Pat LaFontaine as GM to replace Reiger. Hardly see how Ted Nolan is going to help them whatsoever, but good luck:

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/99706 ... rcy-regier" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

LaFontaine has a role, but not as GM. Director of player development/releations/something or other.

It appears his mentor (who he recommended) Neil Smith will be brought in as GM, if Twitter is to be believed.

[Pitt87]

Ted Nolan isn't a "grown up"? Do you even know who Ted Nolan is?

Former Jack Adams winner, last coach to get the Islanders to the playoffs in 06-07 (before last year). Also the coach of the Latvian national team.

He's a pretty good choice.

Also don't see how Lafontaine's retirement from playing affects his ability to scout talent/hire a GM/run a hockey team/etc

Do YOU know who he is? You left out the acrimonious exit from Buffalo and NYI, personal issues, and difficulty getting along with GMs. He may be a good coach, but the last thing the Sabres need is a revolving door, and Ted Nolan isn't exactly a team player.

[MRandall25]

That's a very different point of view from "Why don't NHL teams hire from the available coaching pool? This whole 'coming through the ranks' stuff works for a few, but Buffalo needs a grown up at the helm."

Nolan WAS in the coaching pool. He was NOT coming through the ranks.

That is what I was referring to.

[ExPatriatePen]

This is all very interesting...I like some parts of it, I don't like others. Ted Nolan will get these guys playing hard, but is he really a good nurturer for skilled youth? I'm not sure.

Actually, if you look at Nolan's CV, development of young players is probably his strong suit.
Im a huge Ted Nolan fan.

Do YOU know who he is? You left out the acrimonious exit from Buffalo and NYI, personal issues, and difficulty getting along with GMs. He may be a good coach, but the last thing the Sabres need is a revolving door, and Ted Nolan isn't exactly a team player.

You can't count the Islanders. They've had more coaching changes in the last 10 years than any other team. Plus his GM was Mad Mike Milbury. Not exactly the best organization to work for.

The guy got a bum deal his first time around in Buffalo. I hope things work out better for him this time around.

[columbia]

I don't think it really matters. They have so many problems on the table at once.

[Pitt87]

This is all very interesting...I like some parts of it, I don't like others. Ted Nolan will get these guys playing hard, but is he really a good nurturer for skilled youth? I'm not sure.

Actually, if you look at Nolan's CV, development of young players is probably his strong suit.
Im a huge Ted Nolan fan.

Do YOU know who he is? You left out the acrimonious exit from Buffalo and NYI, personal issues, and difficulty getting along with GMs. He may be a good coach, but the last thing the Sabres need is a revolving door, and Ted Nolan isn't exactly a team player.

You can't count the Islanders. They've had more coaching changes in the last 10 years than any other team. Plus his GM was Mad Mike Milbury. Not exactly the best organization to work for.

The guy got a bum deal his first time around in Buffalo. I hope things work out better for him this time around.

Dude... Milbury was out as GM in 2006. in 2006, Charles Wang hired Ted Nolan, then Neil Smith as GM, then fired Smith a few weeks before the season started and replaced him with Garth Snow. The GM that fired Ted Nolan was Garth Snow, who said that Nolan wasn't interested in developing their young talent.

I don't understand the defense of this guy. He is a good coach with a roller coaster of a history with the big clubs. Everything he's done well since his first run in Buffalo has been in the smallest of markets and simplest of circumstances. Latvia is not the NHL.

[ExPatriatePen]

This is all very interesting...I like some parts of it, I don't like others. Ted Nolan will get these guys playing hard, but is he really a good nurturer for skilled youth? I'm not sure.

Actually, if you look at Nolan's CV, development of young players is probably his strong suit.
Im a huge Ted Nolan fan.

Do YOU know who he is? You left out the acrimonious exit from Buffalo and NYI, personal issues, and difficulty getting along with GMs. He may be a good coach, but the last thing the Sabres need is a revolving door, and Ted Nolan isn't exactly a team player.

You can't count the Islanders. They've had more coaching changes in the last 10 years than any other team. Plus his GM was Mad Mike Milbury. Not exactly the best organization to work for.

The guy got a bum deal his first time around in Buffalo. I hope things work out better for him this time around.

Dude... Milbury was out as GM in 2006. in 2006, Charles Wang hired Ted Nolan, then Neil Smith as GM, then fired Smith a few weeks before the season started and replaced him with Garth Snow. The GM that fired Ted Nolan was Garth Snow, who said that Nolan wasn't interested in developing their young talent.

I don't understand the defense of this guy. He is a good coach with a roller coaster of a history with the big clubs. Everything he's done well since his first run in Buffalo has been in the smallest of markets and simplest of circumstances. Latvia is not the NHL.

OK.. so I stand corrcted. It's hard to track the players in the wacky organization that's known as the NYI.

Milbury stepped aside and took an advisory role in the Islanders organization. Immediately following that move Charles Wang hired Nolan as his coach and Smith as his GM. (Why he didn't allow Smith to pick his own coach? The scuttle-butt on LI was that it was it was Milburys suggestion).
Smith was ventually fired and garth Snow was hired, shortly there after, Ted Nolan was fired.

Here's a relevant article from the time:

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Idoit40fans]

Pretty sure Nolan was introduced as interim head coach

[KG]

Pretty sure Nolan was introduced as interim head coach

Thought the interim tag was interesting.

[Great58]

Pretty sure Nolan was introduced as interim head coach

Thought the interim tag was interesting.

I thought it made sense, considering they haven't hired a GM.
Until reading this thread, I was unsure who had made the decision to hire Nolan. I'm glad for Buffalo's sake it was LaFontaine and not Pegula's decision.