Ted Talks (the Ted Nolan talk thread)

[TehDoak]

Since Ted Nolan talks seem to bubble up in every thread, let's centralize it here

Click to read more...

 

[Myllz]

Thanks for 30th, Ted. Good luck in your future endeavors.

 

[TehDoak]

My thoughts:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?p=100479685&highlight=#post100479685

Here is what Nolan has done:

#1. Motivated the team
#2. Instituted a "goalie friendly" system of defensive first, 1-2-2 trapping style game.

However, we are 30th on the PP. 30th on the PK. 30th in GF, 29th in goals against. We are dead last in offensive zone faceoffs and near the top in defensive zone faceoffs. Dead last in SF% (by a wide margin). When you note the marked improvements of nearly EVERY offensive player after they leave (Stafford, Stewart, and Myers) and the rapid decline of depth players after leaving (Mitchell and Flynn), to me at least says a few things

Nolan prioritized ice time to players "Buying in" and "effort" rather than utilizing the players he had to try to win games. He rewarded players who don't give you the best chance to win over players that would in a "my way or the highway" style of coaching that just doesn't work at the NHL level. He sacrificed tangible results for instituting an ineffective system.

The side effect of this is that depth guys love him. They work hard for him because that is how you get ahead in a Nolan universe. Nothing he has done has produced any tangible improvement over last years team.

If we had lets say a Hitchcock or Tippet who have a proven system and understand the X's and O's of the game in as a coach, our results over the course of an 82 game season would be markedly improved. I think we'd probably see less "COMPETE EFFORT GRIT" style performances, but we'd see consistently closer games and better overall results. Nolan is a HUGE reason we are where we are. More so that the talent on the roster and moves by Murray.

The tankiest thing that Murray did was keeping Nolan this year. The all for one, one for all mindset may have gotten a few wins here and there, but a professional, system driven coach would have gotten us more points over an 82 game season.

 

[Beerz]

I hear Latvia is beautiful all times of the year.

Best of luck.

Thanks for McEichel.

 

[C Note]

I hope Murray learned a lesson here. Don't hire a leader you can neither trust nor control.

That being said, I expect Nolan to be back next year.

 

[Gras]

I expect Ted back unless the guy Murray really wants becomes available.

 

[theformat04]

Any other year, Ted would be praised for leading them to the bottom. This year, he just happened to have a competitor trying to beat him there, so things that would be generally viewed as positives were taken as negatives. All because of Arizona.

The guy deserves a better fate than he will get. He's not a great hockey coach, by any stretch. But he kept this team playing their heart out night after night. And that is never a bad thing.

 

[Zman5778]

I don't think I'd mind seeing him back here. Even Grigo seems like he's finally responding to Teddy.

Problem is, I just don't think he and Murray see eye-to-eye on much at all.....and we're getting to the point in the rebuild that you need your coach and GM on the same page.

I think all of Nolan's little shots in the media are going to bite him in the butt and he'll be gone due to "irreconcilable differences in philosophy"

 

[couture23]

I expect Ted back unless the guy Murray really wants becomes available.

I wonder what the chances of Babcock becoming available are. I think there is at least a 75% chance he doesn't sign with the Wings.

 

[Derg12]

You've got to respect integrity - that's what you have in Teddy. He hates losing and you can't fault him for wanting to stay out of the basement.

Much respect to the man.

 

[WNY to NoVA]

Adios "coach"

 

[Savitar]

Nolan won't be back, just like we knew Stewart was getting traded. 30 place for the second year in a row is more than enough for TMGM to give him the can by Sunday morning

 

[Cirris]

I expect Ted back unless the guy Murray really wants becomes available.

I expect Tim to finally want his own guy.

With Babcock being a potential UFA coach. I wouldn't be surprised if the rumors weren't true and Tim would try hard to bring in Babcock.

 

[sand1138man]

Ted Nolan should be fired, he did not force anyone to over acheive, the only teams we beat down the stretch were bottom feeders, and thats only because some players on the team played really well like Gianta, Ennis......I think Nolan will do nothing for the core of this team to make it better......he should be gone sunday morning

 

[Royisgone]

What? A coach who can get a solid effort out of a bunch of players on this miserable team in a historically bad year?

Who would want that guy as head coach!

Pat LaFontaine declared him, easily, the best hockey coach he ever had.

But then again, what does Patty know!?

 

[Beerz]

What? A coach who can get a solid effort out of a bunch of players on this miserable team in a historically bad year?

Who would want that guy as head coach!

Pat LaFontaine declared him, easily, the best hockey coach he ever had.

But then again, what does Patty know!?

Patty was hit in the head a lot ...and wanted to re-sign Ryan Miller.

 

[Thorton02]

Ted's system was so bad. They basically played a defensive shell for 60 minutes and tried to create a couple of breakaways throughout the game. He definitely kept those guys motivated, but that was the ugliest hockey I've ever seen.

 

[Takeo]

Nolan served the role nicely. It's funny that even tonight his players are talking about working hard and trying to get better.

But no you're not getting better. You're the absolute worst.

 

[start winnin]

Bye Bye Nolan you're gone

 

[Broken Glass]

Exciting time for Sabres fans

 

[Reddawg]

I don't expect he'll be retained, but I'd personally be fine with giving Nolan another year to show forward progress with the significantly better team we'll be icing next year. That's assuming that we can't sign Mike Babcock, if he's willing to come here then all bets are off...sign him and give him whatever he wants.

 

[Clock]

Thanks for everything Ted, good luck wherever you land and stuff.

 

[tsujimoto74]

I think his time in Buffalo is done. So long and thanks for all the last place finishes.

 

[Sabretip]

I hope Murray learned a lesson here. Don't hire a leader you can neither trust nor control.

That being said, I expect Nolan to be back next year.

With all the possible changes expected to the roster this summer, keeping the coaching staff intact would be shocking for the following reason.....

Problem is, I just don't think he and Murray see eye-to-eye on much at all.....and we're getting to the point in the rebuild that you need your coach and GM on the same page."

Nolan won't be back, just like we knew Stewart was getting traded. 30 place for the second year in a row is more than enough for TMGM to give him the can by Sunday morning

To be fair, last year's finish can't really be laid 100% at Nolan's doorstep like this year could.

With Babcock being a potential UFA coach. I wouldn't be surprised if the rumors weren't true and Tim would try hard to bring in Babcock.

Aside from all of the obvious other benefits of doing so, being able to hire a proven winning coach like Babcock or MacLellan would make the PR spin of firing Nolan so much easier for Murray. He wouldn't even need to address or mention any philosophical or personality clashes between him and Nolan - all he has to do is point out the common sense logic everyone would accept of Murray just seizing the opportunity that "unexpectedly" came to him in having a chance to hire a veteran coach with a long, winning record that suddenly became available (much like how Murray described the Kane trade scenario). Making such a hire / fire would allow Murray to let Nolan off easy, complimenting and thanking him for all he did for the Sabres but, in the end, Babcock, MacLellan or Julien just have more HC experience and extensive winning records than Nolan does. That's not any kind of subjective criticism as much as it is simple fact.

Pat LaFontaine declared him, easily, the best hockey coach he ever had.

But then again, what does Patty know!?

I think LaFontaine was speaking more to Nolan's humanity and ability to inspire players, enjoying the experience of playing under him, than he was referring to any game planning or tactical knowledge. Pat had previously called Arbour the coach he learned the most from and also praised Muckler as a coach with a great instinct for when to make adjustments within a game.

Ted's system was so bad. They basically played a defensive shell for 60 minutes and tried to create a couple of breakaways throughout the game. He definitely kept those guys motivated, but that was the ugliest hockey I've ever seen.

Agreed - and if you witnessed Nolan's first tenure, it was pretty much the same thing. Hasek bailed the team out and won a lot of games for a team short on talent and who relied more on a lunchpail work ethic than any system or structured game plan. Those teams were just more entertaining because of Hasek's heroics and the combative, feisty nature a lot of the players on those rosters had that led to more brawls and scraps after the whistle.

Thanks for everything Ted, good luck wherever you land and stuff.

Ultimately, as Nolan even alluded to a few times this year, he was a good choice to help placate some of the "suffering" and mitigate the impatience that came with enduring it. Imagine how bad the mood and attitude towards the team would have been if Rolston were still coaching the roster. Nolan put an honest, friendly face to the process even if the results ended up more or less the same. And, in many ways, he did help change the perception and culture of management not tolerating half-hearted efforts from anyone - which was a big step coming out of the Regier era IMO. For the young prospects like Ristolainen, Larsson and Girgensons, I'm sure that left an indelible impression.

 

[Clock]

Ultimately, as Nolan even alluded to a few times this year, he was a good choice to help placate some of the "suffering" and mitigate the impatience that came with enduring it. Imagine how bad the mood and attitude towards the team would have been if Rolston were still coaching the roster. Nolan put an honest, friendly face to the process even if the results ended up more or less the same. And, in many ways, he did help change the perception and culture of management not tolerating half-hearted efforts from anyone - which was a big step coming out of the Regier era IMO.

Yup. I think the outcome we got here is actually the best you could've hoped for if you ignore the amount of stress it caused for us.

We improved from last year.

The team showed promise and most of their losses were close, not total blowouts.

It went all the way to the end of the season.

The team and coach clearly never gave up. That won't stop any of the critics who are more interested in trolling rather than honest discussion, but it's impossible to refute to anyone who actually watched the games.

That said, I'm still happy to see Nolan go. He's the object of my stress personified. I'll feel way better about it in a week or two.