Amerks Hire Ted Nolan as VP of Hockey Operations
July 1, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release
(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Americans announced today the hiring of former Amerk Ted Nolan as the team's Vice President of Hockey Operations for the 2009-10 American Hockey League season.
"Today I'm filled with great pride and honor to be working for the first, First Nation owned professional hockey organization," said Nolan. "I'm looking forward to the challenges of helping put Rochester back on top. Working for one of the most storied franchises in the American Hockey League is an honor."
Nolan, 51, returns to Rochester for the first time since the 1984-85 season. Since his days in the Flower City, he has enjoyed success as a player, coach and humanitarian. His resume includes four seasons as a head coach in the National Hockey League, the 1996-97 Jack Adams Trophy as NHL Coach of the Year, a Calder Cup championship, a Memorial Cup title and numerous honors for his philanthropic efforts.
"Ted Nolan has been an inspiration for First Nations/Native American youth for many years. His drive and determination to be a professional hockey player and play in the NHL was realized through plenty of hard work more than natural ability. He continued to use that drive to succeed in hockey at both the GM and coaching level in the OHL, QMJHL and at the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and most recently the New York Islanders. Ted is known as a âplayer's coach/GM' and we are excited about having him join the Rochester Americans organization as our Vice President, Hockey Operations. We will work together to continue to re-build the championship tradition that we all know as Amerks hockey here in Rochester," said Amerks Owner and CEO Curt Styres.
"We are excited to have Ted Nolan join the Amerks and head up our hockey operations. Ted is a proven winner at everything he has been involved in, both on and off the ice, and we are confident that his leadership and management skills will be an asset to our entire organization," added Amerks President Lewis Staats. "As many of you know Ted has worn the Amerks crest on his jersey during his playing days so he knows what it means to be an Amerk and what it takes to be a winner in both the AHL and NHL. We look forward to him working closely with our hockey department personnel and also with the Florida Panthers to make the Amerks an improved and competitive team in the very near future."
Nolan was born on the Garden River First Nation just outside Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and played for the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League. The left winger was selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the fifth round (78th overall) in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. His pro career spanned eight seasons, most of them in the American Hockey League (1978-85). He played in 374 AHL games with teams in Adirondack, Rochester and Baltimore. During that time, Nolan also appeared in 78 NHL games between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins.
He broke into the pros with the Kansas City Red Wings of the Central Hockey League in 1978-79, before spending the next five seasons with the Adirondack Red Wings. In 1980-81, he was a member of the Red Wings' Calder Cup championship team. He appeared in 299 games with the Red Wings from 1979-84 and recorded 84 goals, 126 assists and 455 penalty minutes. Nolan played in 60 NHL games with Detroit and scored five goals, added 15 assists and collected 71 penalty minutes. While with the Detroit organization, he befriended another rising star, Jody Gage. The two played together for five seasons before Nolan departed for the Buffalo Sabres/Rochester Americans in 1984-85.
Nolan, former captain with the Amerks finished his only season in Rochester sixth on the team in points (62) and third in penalty minutes (152). He ended his playing career in 1985-86 as he split time with the AHL Baltimore Skipjacks and the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.
He returned to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds as an assistant coach and then became head coach in 1988, as a mid-season replacement. He remained with the Greyhounds until the end of the 1994 season. Nolan led the Greyhounds to three consecutive Memorial Cup tournament berths, winning the Memorial Cup in 1993.
Nolan was promoted to the NHL following the 1993-94 season, taking an assistant job with the Hartford Whalers. The next season, he accepted the position of head coach of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, where he had his best success. In his second season in Buffalo (1995-96), he led the team to the Northeast Division title and a berth in the conference finals. After helping the Sabres to a 19-point improvement in the standings and the team's first division title in 16 years, he was rewarded by being named the NHL Coach of the Year.
After working behind the Buffalo bench he returned to competitive coaching after an eight-year absence as the head coach and director of hockey operations for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In 2005-06, he led Moncton to its first-ever President Cup as QMJHL champion, finishing first overall in the regular season at 52-15-0-2. The Wildcats advanced to the finals of the Memorial Cup where they finished runner-up to the Quebec Remparts. For his efforts, he was named the QMJHL All-Star head coach and the league's General Manager of the Year.
He returned to the professional ranks in 2006 with the NY Islanders after a nine-year layoff from coaching in the NHL and confounded experts by leading the team to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In a March 2008 Sports Illustrated player survey, he was rated second to only Detroit's Mike Babcock as the coach players would most like to play for. In two seasons on Long Island he guided the Islanders to a record of 73-68-0 to improve his lifetime record to 147-140-40 as an NHL head coach.
Away from the rink, Nolan has devoted himself to First Nations causes, including teaching hockey to First Nations children. His work in this area earned him numerous awards, including the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Sault Ste. Marie Medal of Merit, the Order of Ontario 1991, Sault Ste. Marie Kiwanis Citizen of the Year and in 1986 he was chosen as a role model in the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program. He has also received an honorary diploma for human relations from Niagara College (1997) and accepted an honorary doctorate degree in law from Laurentien University (2002).
Nolan is an active member in the Aboriginal community and in 2003 established the Ted Nolan Foundation in honor of his late mother, Rose. The Ted Nolan Foundation mission statement is "through our philosophy of healthy lifestyle, the Ted Nolan Foundation is committed to the healing process to renew and revitalize the mind, body and spirit of our young people. We will explore to help us train a new cadre of Aboriginal leaders today, to take their rightful place in Canadian society tomorrow. We will help develop programs at the community level for First Nations youth in communities no matter how isolated or poverty stricken. We will raise scholarship funds for First Nation women wishing to complete their education."
In addition, the Ted Nolan Foundation and Tim Horton's Children's Foundation recently agreed to a five-year commitment to sponsor a first nation leadership camp this coming October in St. George, Ontario.
Ted and his wife Sandra reside in Garden River First Nation and are the proud parents of Brandon, a former player with the Carolina Hurricanes organization; and Jordan, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League.
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