Mon 14 Jul 2008
This is tough… The Coach and GM were not seeing eye-to-eye from March… One wanted one direction, the other man, another direction.
This is an ‘agree to disagree’ situation that would not have lasted long…
I liked Ted. He was a great coach, and motivator for this team. I think he got the most out of players. He seemed to definitely be a coach that a player would go to war for. But - the direction that the team needs to go is forefront. And if the man that is to lead the team into battle with is not on the same page that the management wants to go - well - it is the man leading the troops that has to move aside.
They said it was a mutual agreement, and I would tend to believe that. I think there is some honor among those men, so I will have credibility in that statement, unless something glaring over the top hits…
Good luck Ted, this team will move forward thanks to your tutelage.
On a postscript…. My wife Claire, as well as my buddes Ron Kind, and Roger Farina were interviewed at Ice Works today, following the coaching change.
Click here, to go to the video. When this site gets fixed, I will embed the video in. until now, click on the link, and enjoy!
http://www.newsday.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=2691449
July 15th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
All right. I will be bluntly honest here. I have taken a little time to absorb and reconcile this move. I can’t. I would like to put a positive spin on it and “understand” the reasoning behind it … but I can’t. A coach who has gotten the Absolute best out of players two years in a row, including a season in which injuries Plagued them and, on top of that, earned the respect and loyalty of those players.
As much as the guys who take the ice are important to go to war with, the General is just as important. Ted was a brilliant General, always prepared and always a force behind the bench. In fact, preparedness was a word I often heard applied to him and his staff game in and game out. The “Nolan” factor is simply an element that cannot be described or defined. Some guys have that ability to lead and influence to gain the very best efforts out of a group of people, whether it is a team or a department or a squad. Ted has that unique and highly valued set of traits. It is also a rare thing in this day and age of professional sports as well.
So, I am left sitting here utterly baffled. I understand philosophical differences, etc, etc. However, as a fan, my excitement and curiosity for this season has vastly been negatively impacted. I will, of course, support the boys and root my heart out for them, but from a business and hockey perspective, I am sorry to say that I am simply stupefied by Snow on this one …
July 16th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
1)Yes, in light of all things it was the right move, but one that should have been made 3 months ago! We also maintain that Nolan would have been on board with this new (3rd direction in 3 years) approach IF he was given assurances (a contract extension) of his future. You don’t allow a man you supposedly so highly respect to twist in the wind. As one NHL exec told us:” “I can’t blame Nolan, because I’ve never heard of a coach in the NHL who wanted to play with young guys, Coaches in the NHL are judged by wins and losses. You really expect a guy with one year left on his contract to be happy losing while developing players for his successor?”
2) Its bush league, but par for the Wang era. As we’ve written before he’s become Steinbrenner (a hands on owner with little knowledge of the sport), but without the success. Perhaps they also waited until now to fire Nolan as that would have hurt season ticket renewals? Even the most ardent Islander fans we’ve talked to in the past day are not confident in their team.
July 18th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Does Claire do autographs?
And how much do you want to bet Ted Nolan has coached his last game in the NHL?