Jul 23 2008
Was Ted Nolan to blame for the Islanders failure?
Ted Nolan is something of an enigmatic coach. As head coach of the Buffalo Sabres, he took a team of nobodies and made them something. They listened to him, played together, and made some noise in the league. Due to some backroom dealings and problems, he was unceremoniously pushed out of the team, but never out of the hearts of Buffalo fans.
Unfortunately, for one reason or another (rumors of racism, blackballing, and mistrust abound), no team would hire Nolan. Several years later, the New York Islanders were desperate enough to take a chance on him. After just two seasons, they let him go.
The New York Islanders are an unspectacular team. I’ve been watching hockey for about ten years now, and I don’t remember them ever being something. They have an eccentric owner, a backup goalie for a general manager, and their mediocre goalie got a record-setting 15-year guaranteed deal.
Then there was the rest of the team. Chris Simon, with a history of behavioral incidents as long as Rick DiPietro’s contract, found himself suspended again for taking a grand-slam swing at someone’s head. Miroslav Satan has always had a reputation for coasting in the game, never really showing up; his tenure under Ted Nolan was no exception. Backup goaltender Wade Dubielewicz showed some promise, but with DiPietro’s hefty contract, how can you justify playing him? (Dubielewicz has opted to play overseas this year.) Bill Guerin was a bust – just like he was when San Jose picked him up at the trade deadline the year before. He was good five years ago, and shouldn’t have been named captain before the ink on his contract had even dried.
Maybe Ted Nolan could have done a little more, but he really didn’t have a lot to work with. The next coach of the New York Islanders sure has his work cut out for him.
One Response to “Was Ted Nolan to blame for the Islanders failure?”
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Being a coach of a professional sports team is not a glamarous job in my opinion. When the team is on a hot streak and everything is going right, they get WAY to much credit. However when the team is losing, the coach should not be the one who takes all the grief.
Ted Nolan has had a history of controversy as far as personal matters go(i don’t think we wanna get into that with a Hasek fan reading this). However while in New York he caused no problems. He went out there everynight and he coached a team.
I agree with you. This team has never been that great or exciting from what i have noticed over the last few years, Theyve signed a few guys to long term deals that never should of been handed to them(PECA for example). This team drafts poorly. This team operates poorly. The best player is an AVERAGE goalie at best. The guy doesn’t win them games, he just doesn’t lose games for them.
Just like Paul Maurice, he will get another job. Ted Nolan will coach another team because these general managers will realize the HORRIBLE team these boths were stuck coaching. You give Ted Nolan a GOOD team and hes taking them far.