Analysis: Isles' future looks worse without Nolan
Ted Nolan coached the Islanders to a 75-68-21 record and one playoff berth during his two seasons behind the bench in New York. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Mike Brophy
2008-07-14 14:15:10
As my good pal Ken Campbell likes to say, this one doesn’t pass the smell test.
The official word is Ted Nolan and the New York Islanders have parted ways due to philosophical differences. Sounds nice and tidy, huh?
Read between the lines, however, and this is the more likely accurate scenario: Excellent coach sick and tired of trying to make chicken doo-doo into chicken salad. My guess is Nolan took a look at the Islanders’ roster and decided to conjure up a few philosophical differences to get his butt out of town.
In two years with the Islanders, after a decade-long exile from the NHL, Nolan coached this rag-tag bunch of characters to a 75-68-21 record; remarkable given what he had to work with. You could make the case Nolan actually did a better coaching job with the Islanders than when he won the Jack Adams Award with the Buffalo Sabres in 1997. That sea
The Islanders have become the team veteran players with nowhere else to play sign with. At the rate they are going, it will be years before they become a contender.
At least with Nolan behind the bench, they had a fighting chance.
There are plenty of quality coaches still walking the unemployment line – Pat Burns, Bob Hartley, Marc Crawford, Joel Quenneville and Paul Maurice amongst them – but even those guys will have to think long and hard before hitching their wagon to this mess.
As for Nolan? Don’t expect him to be out of work for too long. He is a proven winner, the kind of coach a team like, say, the Los Angeles Kings might want to hire as fast as humanly possible.
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Singularity (Posted 2008-07-29 14:13:17)
I'm thinking the conversation went something like this:
Snow: "Ted, we're going with youth. Play the kids.
Nolan: "Then how am I supposed to have a winning team? I am all about winning."
Snow: "I'm not (actually) saying 'throw the season,' but...well...We want Tavares."
Danny (Posted 2008-07-19 11:46:33)
Serious...Nolan was smart to leave. I noticed the headline for this article was that the islanders have a bleak future. If Wang is smart...and since he's a billionaire I'll assume he is....the Islanders should have NO FUTURE. The team has been run into the ground. The fanbase is terrible. They constantly compete in a futile competition for fans with two other MUCH BETTER and more successful local NHL franchises. What they need to do is look for a buyer and move the team off Long Island. There are several cities who might want an NHL team. Either that or just fold up for good. That would allow Charles Wang to bring a minor league hockey team to Long Island. A minor league team based in central Long Island wouldn't have to deal with the competition factor of the Rangers and Devils and would make a fortune.
Give it up Islanders...you have no future.
James Giorgio (Posted 2008-07-18 23:13:24)
I've been an Islander fan since high school and I am 48. I have watched a classy organization go downhill to the worst franchise one can root for. Obviously losing Torrey and Arbour was tough on the franchise but who could have expected the soap opera ownership situations: the NHL approving a crook, who did not have money purchase the franchise, the Wang fiasco. Wang somehow believed Mike Milbury knew something about hockey and he singlehandedly destroyed the franchise. The likes of Neil Smith and Pat Lafontaine fled, why? In my opion Mike Milbury still has control of this team and the GM is a puppet. This was likely not ok with Smith and Lafontaine and likely Nolan. How else does Milbury leave as GM but gets a contract to be in Wang's computer company. Look into that, Mike Milbury destroyed this franchise and continues to do so. Check it out.
Joseph DiDominca (Posted 2008-07-15 22:22:18)
Look at the facts. 4 years of NHL coaching. 2 general managers that he can't get along with. I think it is time for Ted Nolan to look in the mirror and get rid of his big ego. If he wants his extension, then he should have played nice with his boss and done the job. No big time player will sign with the Islanders until they build a good base of young players. He could have done this. It has been made very clear that Charles Wang is very loyal to employees that are loyal to him and his ideas. Look at what he did for Mike Milbury. If he did that this year, Charles would have made him a very wealthy man and at the same time been part of a big rebuild here on Long Island. They have alot of young talent to start with, a great goalie and a pretty solid defense. I hope he gets black balled for another 10 years.
Clay (Posted 2008-07-15 20:53:57)
Blessing in disguise. Nolan deserves better. If there is a smart GM out there looking for a coach then Nolan's back in the saddle promptly.
I do like Hartsburg but it is too bad the Sen's don't have that option now, because Nolan is a proven winner.
fleetwood94 (Posted 2008-07-15 15:19:17)
Hmmm....the only diff between the Isles and the Leafs-two trainwreck franchises if ever there were any- is the Isles have some superb young talent in the pipeline like Okposo who have the potential to bring them back to semi-respectability(is that even a word???). now all they need is a coach who has a strong history shaping young talent and they're on the way! Good luck trying to get a coach who's willing to deal with the most eccentric owner in sports since Bill Veeck and Charlie Finley!
jan (Posted 2008-07-15 15:10:39)
if Ted Nolan was the coach of a team (similar to Detroit) who had talented, skilled players and a GM who does his job (signs the players) and lets the coach do his job w/out interference, and an owner who lets the GM and the coach do their jobs w/out interference, would Ted be successful with that team?
sulko (Posted 2008-07-15 13:56:14)
WOW are we are talking about nolan like he is Bowman, shake your head he was band aid coach at the time and obviously talks to much on his point of view and not the good of the team for the future . My guess just like the sabres he brown nosed Mr Wang and Snow could see the Muckler problem all over again and gassed him. I believe the isles problem is Wang,sign the checks and hire your management and let them be accounted for there results . Hmmm wonder why Smith left{a hockey man]. He could see Wang as a problem and new to get out.
i would to say good luck to snow hiring a coach, but the puppett master wang will decide this one as well...
MJB (Posted 2008-07-15 13:08:07)
Hey Bruce,
I understand Mats Sundin may be available to coach. I'm not kidding. This Wang-nut owner might just do it!
Bruce (Posted 2008-07-15 12:20:11)
Two things: the notion that Nolan wanted out and not the other way around shows a remarkable amnesia on some of your parts. Remember the "trouble with Rick" late last season? Huh? Yeah...there's your philosophical difference, not with Snow, with Nolan's "super star" goalie. Anyway, what's with your "list" Brophy? Are you working for some organization intent on decreasing Canadian unemployment? Why does every THN "short list" of possible coaches begin, end and consist of nothing but out of work Canadian bench bosses? You've got no clue who a possible winning coach from Europe could ever be? Not one? Ever?
DonK (Posted 2008-07-15 11:30:29)
Lamar -- for the record, Wang hired Nolan. Neil Smith had nothing to do with it (that was part of Neil's problem; he wanted to act like a traditional GM and Wang didn't want to set things up that way).
Lamar (Posted 2008-07-15 10:36:38)
Let's set the record straight, Snowballs didn't hire Ted, Neil Smith did, and his problems in Buffalo weren't with the GM it was with another goalie who was a problem child, Hasek. In fact the way Muckler, the Sabres GM at the time, handled the rift between Nolan and Hasek got him fired and we've been stuck with Regier and Ruff ever since. I hope he gets back behind the bench soon, he does seem to have a controversy where he coaches, but he does get results from his guys where others cannot do as well with better rosters and supposedly superior technique. My biggest problem with this is the timing stinks for that possibility now, stupid Snowballs sat on his hands so long the teams that he would have been best suited, the Sharks,the Laffs and the Sens, are already filled, but maybe that was intentional on Girth's(not misspelled) part. Guaranteed he will hire an assistant coach to replace Nolan, no other coach, especially Tortorella will want to deal with his drama queen style of going through the NY media when he feels he isn't getting enough attention from the press. All this from a guy who wouldn't even make a good goal tending coach.
Adom (Posted 2008-07-15 09:52:16)
The other thing is that you can't just "play" youngsters. Nolan is old school. If he tells them to go through the wall and they do, they will play. You can't just put youngsters out there like the game is practice. They will hopefully see that the veterans go through walls for Nolan and do the same. That is also why he played Duby instead of DiPitero. DiPitero may have been upset but the TEAM LOVED him for it.
Adom (Posted 2008-07-15 09:45:19)
It is not true that NO NHL TEAM would touch Nolan. He was "offered" the Tampa job a few years ago. Nolan is known as a GM killer because he is so good that he becomes more popular than the GM. Some teams have strong GMs and want a coach that buys into their philosophy. Some teams have strong coaches and need the GM to buy into them. Nolan is of the later. The difference is that he is good as well. Give him a team where the GM is seasoned enough to know that he must saddle his horse and hold on tight, no try to turn him in to a trick pony. No disrespect to Snow, but he should have swallowed his pride on this one.
John Frontignano (Posted 2008-07-15 08:13:02)
Way to misread a situation. I'm a lifelong Islander fan. 36 years old and have seen this franchise go from the model of excellence to current punching bag it is now. Not going to rehash past mistakes, the "experts" of the blogosphere and "talented" columnists will do that for me. To use the argument that is presented in this "analysis" to describe this situation is just lazy journalism. Just another typical cheap shot at the Islanders.Did Nolan do a good job here? Of course, the proof is in the record. Where there problems btwn Snow and Nolan? Hell yes, most of which have been presented in the comments before me. To me, the bottom line is this; Snow has a plan. Will it work? Hell if I know, but its a plan (I hope at least). He appears to be well aware that he can't draw big named free agent talent to the Island, so what is he doing? He's trying to create his own by giving his young players an opportunity. I can't argue with this thinking. Even with Hossa or Sundin this team isn't winning a cup anytime soon. The idea is to create a consistent winner, a successful franchise, not win one year and suck the next 10. Nolan wasn't down with this, and he's gone. I can't complain.....Of course, check back with me in 5 years. :)
Scott (Posted 2008-07-15 06:47:29)
Whoa. Take it easy. Let's remember that NO NHL TEAM would touch Ted Nolan three years ago. Give the Isles, Garth/Wang, credit for bringing Nolan back to the NHL. So, it didn't work. Fine. Part ways, be done with it. I don't think either side deserves bashing here.
dave (Posted 2008-07-15 05:02:52)
well one again the isles have gotten rid of another talent it just wasn't on the ice. doug weight bill guerin and whoever else they pick are going to do nothing to solve whats wrong with that organization and this is comin from a leaf fan and look at how messed up we are.. even if the isles manage to get the first overpick next june with the way they run their club theres still no garauntee that they'll pick tavares he might not fit into their gameplan whatever that is????
Lawrence (Posted 2008-07-15 02:30:51)
Rob you have'nt understand anything. Brophy rights about the situation of NYI. At least whit Nolan gone they'll maybe could be bad enough to get couple of top draft choice in the next few years to be able to rebuilt something as long as they don't give all their prospect like they done whit Luongo, Redden, Chara etc.
Phillip Grana (Posted 2008-07-15 00:16:35)
I think Nolan would be a great fit in L.A. I'm a long time Kings fan and I think he just might be what the team needs. Lets see if the kings jump on the opportunity.
Herman (Posted 2008-07-14 23:52:22)
Time to dig up Al Arbour and Bill Torrey. This franchise makes the Leafs look like a classy well run machine. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA to Stan Fischler.
Thomas (Posted 2008-07-14 23:49:10)
My first reaction involved disappointment.. Then i remembered that Ted Nolan played Richard Park on the Power Play. His idea of getting the most out of Blake Comeau and Kyle Okposo was to play them on a line with a career 4th line center.That quickly remided me that he doesn't know what he is doing. So fine.. new coach then. The bigger shock is the someone pays Mike Milbury to speak on television about hockey. Maybe someone should look into that. He has to have secrets about some important executive. It's the only explanation.
Just please hire a coach with head coaching experiance. Mike Dunham should not be the guy because he at one point was a backup goalie for the Islanders. I'd prefer Kelly Hrudey.
paul constantinou (Posted 2008-07-14 22:47:26)
I have been an Islander fan since I was a kid. Now I am 39. I can tell you one thing. The talent that the Islanders have let go have been ridiculous. From Palffy, to Redden, to Chara, to Connelly, to Torres, to a list of other homegrown talent. I am not talking of the players we let go that were acquired from other trades. The pick that would have been Spezza. Etc etc etc. Where would the team be if we just kept 1/2 the drafted talent and let them play and grow together? Who knows. What I do know is that the Dynasty was built just as Snow is trying to now. Young talent and let them grow and play together. This young core of guys need to play and play and learn. Maybe we finally got a GM that would be willing to take all the heat and do what he knows needs to be done. Get enough talent on the ice and have a couple vets show them what grit is and see what happens. Damn the martini's full steam ahead Garth.
DonK (Posted 2008-07-14 22:22:35)
Mike: You obviously haven't been paying attention to the doings on the Island.
This has been festering for months. Nolan wants to go with vets and scrape into the playoffs at all costs. Players play hard for him, and he got far more out of the talent on his team than he had any right to.
But Ted overemphasizes grit and experience at the expense of talent. Snow (and, by extension, owner Charles Wang, who hired both of them independent of the other), wants to go with kids and build up the talent base while ownership tries to get a remodeled arena as part of the Lighthouse Project.
There really is a philosophical difference, as evidenced down the stretch when Nolan would not give substantial ice time to kids, especially Jeff Tambellini, even when the playoffs were no longer an issue. Ted also PO'd Wang in the final week or so by going public with the fact that he hadn't been given an extension -- and Wang went on TV to say that he was perfectly content to do just that. He wasn't happy with Ted.
So you have a vet-loving, grit-loving coach and a GM who wants to build up the talent base with kids. The owner, who surprised the hockey world with both hires, backed his GM (the one he hired after running off the one he hired six weeks earlier).
Frankly, if the Isles are lucky, they'll finish with the worst record in the NHL this season, win the draft lottery and get John Tavares. Meanwhile, the issue of who's the coach is far less important than the question of whether the arena/Lighthouse Project gets the OK. Without that, the franchise will be gone anyway (not necessarily off Long Island, but certainly out of the Coliseum).
Players who come to Long Island find it's a great place to live -- you're close to New York City but still in a less-stressful setting. The arena, not the coach, is the biggest hurdle toward upgrading players' attitude toward playing on the Island. Ted Nolan did a fine job, but given the circumstances, a separation was best for both parties.
Gerald (Posted 2008-07-14 22:14:42)
The Islanders are a joke. They dumped the best thing they had going for them...their coach. Don't expect much from the rest of the team, owners, magangement, or players. How pathetic.
Kevin (Posted 2008-07-14 20:49:35)
Can someone tell me how nolan is a proven winner. unfortunately his ego is bigger than his talent. he does this everywhere , butts heads with people and leaves, it will happen again. we all make him out to be this magical hockey man well guess what, nolan is a great motivating coach, but he is not an strategist, and the isles were outcoached plenty of times last year with matchups and lines, but we look past it because the islanders are garbage. i like nolan, but he isnt one of the best coaches in the game.
Kevin (Posted 2008-07-14 20:18:14)
Sad. Which was worse? Yashin for 10 years or cutting Nolan? Losing Nolan will cost them longer. Garth needs to go back to Wayne's World, one to many pucks to the head.
Joe Willix (Posted 2008-07-14 20:13:07)
It would be easy to say that the Islanders have been a joke since they put the Gorton's fisherman on the front of their jerseys, but their problems go back a few more years than that. In 94 the Rangers knocked them out of the first round with a goal total of 22-3. The Isles haven't recovered from that since! With Nolan gone they'll be bottom feeders for sure.
Walter (Posted 2008-07-14 20:01:01)
Nolan is a great coach but given the history in Buff. it seemed as though we were heading down the same nasty road. Some people keep mentioning Niel Smith but if he's such a great GM why hasn't anyone picked him up. I think Nolan's short coming is in the development of the younger players. Veterans seem to thrive under him but the rookies seem to struggle. I wish him luck but I think he needs to become more of a team player himself rather than pouting when he doesn't get his way.
Steven Buckingham (Posted 2008-07-14 19:38:25)
Nolan is a good coach, he achieved reasonable sucess with one of the worst rosters in the league. Snow is a lousy GM. Charles Wong is to blame for all this mess and what a mess it is. Hire Neil Smith then fire him for your back up goalie. Now fire Nolan. A once proud franchise that has become a laughingstock.
Sean (Posted 2008-07-14 19:13:38)
I guess what I meant was "Other than the Jack Adams, what in the NHL has he ever won?"
Derek Arrowsmith (Posted 2008-07-14 18:47:19)
Nolan to LA !! What a perfect fit !!
Patrick M (Posted 2008-07-14 18:21:57)
You ask what he has ever won?
He won a Memorial Cup with the Sault before the Buffalo job came up. The Sabres became competitive under him and he won the Coach of the Year award. He then was hired by the Moncton team in the QMJHL and led them to the Memorial Cup Final three seasons ago - by winning their league even though they were tournament hosts. Then he made the Islanders respectable. I have always admired how Nolan gets the most out of players.
Sean (Posted 2008-07-14 17:20:31)
Why is everyone so in love with Ted Nolan? What's he ever won?
Robert Englert (Posted 2008-07-14 17:08:25)
This team has gone downhill since they hired Mike Milbury. Then they hire Garth Snow as a GM. How is he qualified. He is best known for wearing the largest goalie equipment in the league. It was the only way he could stop a puck.
Ted Nolan was a great motivator and developer of young talent which this team doesn't have. Instead of firing Nolan they should have fired Snow.
Jordan (Posted 2008-07-14 16:57:23)
Though I know its not the reason, I just cant help but think "man, the Isles really want to get Tavares"
John Chamulak (Posted 2008-07-14 16:08:15)
I find it funny how people on the outside like to bash the Islanders. First off Nolan had a say in to this rag tag of a team. He wanted the vets. The team is rebuilding & mr ego wants to play the vets who stunk. He played Hilbert on the 1st line & burried Tambellini. Would not even give this kid a sniff but burried him on 4th line checking line. He would have put Okposo on 4th line. Nolan may be a great motivator but if you watched the isles like I did painfully he s*cks as an x's & o's coach.
Bill (Posted 2008-07-14 16:01:33)
Nolan did a great job with the islanders, but it obviously was never going to work out between him and Snow. Its better for both the islanders and Nolan that they part ways now rather than go through more turmoil during the entire 08/09 season. Best of luck Teddy!
bostongm -I will write this in your native tongue so you can understand.
Yaah teem ain't so wicked awesome eether.
EmtheMad (Posted 2008-07-14 15:29:51)
I completely agree about the amazing fact that Nolan has a winning record with this team. I also like the suggestion of Nolan in LA. LA needs a dynamite coach, that team is gonna be fun.
bostongm (Posted 2008-07-14 15:24:39)
Long Island needs to get rid of their team. Dismantle it and draft the players into the other clubs. Oh yeah,i forgot. Nobody would want their players. Send the team and all the players down to the AHL.
Jim (Posted 2008-07-14 15:23:49)
What doesn't pass the smell test?
Rewind to the end of last season. The Islanders are obviously out of contention, a bunch of prospects are called up to get some ice time. Nolan is told to give these players ice time, and what does he do? Not give them ice time. Then he spent the whole off season crying about not getting a contract extension. It was pretty obvious Nolan wanted no part in rebuilding and would rather put Richard Park and Andy Hilbert on the top line and try to scrape into the playoffs.
Matt (Posted 2008-07-14 15:05:04)
my daddy sez don't trust anybody who lives on an island ..
Brian P (Posted 2008-07-14 15:00:16)
Considering how ugly things got between Nolan and the Sabres at the end of his time there it's probably just as well he and the Isles cut ties now if there are problems. And considering that history, I find it hard to believe Nolan is blameless here. It's certainly not going to do his rep of being a hard guy to work with any good. Interesting timing, what with the season long over and most of the coaching jobs around the league filled. Not exactly ideal for the Isles or for Nolan, if this was going to happen it should've been a month ago.
Mandy S. (Posted 2008-07-14 14:59:37)
Plain and simple: Dipietro's got Snow in his pocket....for the next 13 years and the two had a past playing together on the Isles. The way things were headed towards the end of the season, DP probably felt threatened by the bench with Dubie being a secure backup (anyone remember Rick's tempertantrum when Ted put Dubie in during the Ranger game??).
Isles loss, someone else's gain.
Bob Allisat (Posted 2008-07-14 14:41:08)
When I read the rumblings of Nolan on his way out and then heard it was a done deal I was wondering where he would fit best. And Brophy's suggestion of the LA Kings is great. Also the Chicago Blackhawks would be a good fit. Two young, talented, explosive teams who would thrive under Nolan's amazing skill set and interpersonal abilities. While you can't under-estimate the insularity and sometimes stupidity of the NHL old boys network I have a feeling Nolan will be back in the thick of things pretty quick. And much better off contending with opposing teams than crazy ownership, an incompetent GM and a vastly overpaid goalie for life who might just be calling the shots for all of the above.
Jordo (Posted 2008-07-14 14:39:20)
I still cant figure the New York Islanders out! Just another weird move after another. When is something going to click in with this franchise so they can finally start moving forward in a positive matter. Instead of always seeming to take one negative step back all the time.
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