Archive for the 'Ted Nolan' Category
Not surprisingly, about 80% of Newsday readers who responded to a poll asking what they thought about Nolan’s departure said they were against it. Two-thirds said they opposed because Nolan did a good job with the little talent he had. Agreed. The rest said they opposed because the move would hurt the team’s chances of landing a big free-agent. Disagree there. The Isles pretty much had no shot at a big ticket free-agent anyway. Been a while since they have.
You can check out the poll here.
On another note, I was talking to a friend of mine who interned with the Isles recently. He’s right out of college, a smart kid. Here’s what he had to say about yesterday’s moves and how they reflect on the organization:
“It’s really no surprise when stuff like this happens. No one runs the show over there. Most of the people act like they are working for a club team, not a franchise that won four Cups in a row. The culture over there really needs to change. They expect not to win.”
Agreed.
Mike Brophy of The Hockey News might be right on when he speculates about why Ted Nolan is no longer coaching the New York Islanders:
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.
And he adds a little cold hard truth:
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.
Read the rest of Brophy’s take here. Ugh. I’m so disgusted with this team right now.
Resigning for “philosophical differences” is about as descriptive as resigning “for personal reasons.” There’s some nice words in there but what the hell does it really mean?
In Ted Nolan’s sudden departure as coach of the New York Islanders, it likely means he no longer wanted to work in a place where he was expected to produce playoff victories but was given a line-up of spare parts, has-beens and never-will-be’s. I love the OrangeAndBlue, but there’s no way I can sit here today and honestly tell you the roster during Nolan’s time with the club was anything but suspect.
Whether it was Nolan ultimately behind this or Snow or Chuck Wang, it doesn’t really matter. Obviously these guys could not get on the same page about what the Islanders are supposed to be. And I’m afraid the wrong guy lost.
The Islanders ask their fanbase to believe. They ask their fanbase to remember the good old days and use retired number nights and championship anniversaries to keep the ticket sales going but at some point management is going to have to be held accountable - and that means putting together a team with a real shot of winning the Cup. This isn’t about first-round playoff exits. The bar has been set so low now that no Islander fan ever seriously thinks of his or her team winning a championship. How did that happen? It shouldn’t be permitted. The Islander fans have been loyal. They’ve waited out more than their share of dark days. The Islanders need to provide some light. It’s time to flip the switch one way or the other here.
Big decision coming up with the new coach but I don’t expect much. Why should I? I’m just an Islander fan.
Cue the circus music. Charles Wang’s Three Ring (rink?) Circus is back in town. Citing “philosophical differences” Ted Nolan has left the Islanders.
Added Nolan: “While I am disappointed I will not be coaching the Islanders next season, there have been philosophical differences and we’ve agreed it’s a good time for me to move on. I want to thank the Islanders organization for giving me a chance to coach in the NHL again. I have tremendous respect for what the team is trying to do and I wish them well.”
You’ve got to be kidding me? Let’s recap…Isles hire coach Ted Nolan, former Coach of the Year, the move is generally applauded. Isles hire GM Garth Snow, former backup goalie, the move is ridiculed across the league and especially the hockey blogosphere. Just another punchline to the league’s biggest joke - Spano, Fishsticks, ice girls, sumo goalies, and backup goalies running the team. So when there are philosophical differences, who would YOU keep?
Dear Coach Nolan, Thanks for trying. You gave it your best with the players you had and overachieved in 2006/07. Last year, the team started down that same path until injuries took their toll. It certainly wasn’t your fault. I have the utmost respect for you and have a feeling it won’t be as long as last time before some NHL team starts calling you.
Coach Ted Nolan told Neil Hodge of Canada’s Times & Transcript that there is no truth to the rumor that he will return to coach the Moncton Wildcats in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League next season.
Nolan coached the Wildcats before joining the Islanders for the 2006-07 season.
“(Wildcats owner Robert Irving) was in New York about a month ago and we went to lunch,” Nolan told the paper. “Maybe someone heard about that and the assumptions and rumours got started there. There’s been no discussion about me coming back to Moncton or anything like that.”
Nolan also talks about the Isles second half meltdown that saw the team lose 15 of their final 20 games.
On the injuries:
“From early January until the end of the season, we had anywhere from five to 12 players out of the lineup. We lost our No. 1 goaltender, five regular defensemen and three of our top six forwards to injury. That was too much to overcome.”
On the team’s future:
“We were defeated this season and if we don’t learn anything from it then we won’t make ourselves better. Winning a championship is what it’s all about and you’re always trying to figure out what it takes to get to that level. You evaluate what you have. You look at other teams and what they have and why they are where they are.”
Newsday does a nice job today laying out the reasons for and against keeping Coach Ted Nolan. Thanks to my brother for pointing it out.
I’m all for keeping the guy. There aren’t enough genuinely good coaches in the NHL and the Isles are fortunate to have one manning their bench every night. I have issues with his strategy sometimes and the way he handles certain players but you can’t say one bad thing about how he prepares his team and has them willing to give their all no matter how bad the deck is stacked against them.
The Isles need some stability. There have been far too many coaches since the Dynasty days. To get an idea, here are some of the names: Terry Simpson, Lorne Henning, Mike Milbury, Rick Bowness, Bill Stewart, Butch Goring, Peter Laviolette, Steve Stirling, and Brad Shaw. It would be nice to have a guy stick around a while. I thought Laviolette was going to be that guy but management didn’t see it that way and he was gone after just two seasons.
They also need a coach the players can believe in and I think Nolan fits that bill. He’s a proven winner who gets a lot out of a little.
So, I say the Isles should keep Nolan and give him a contract extension. He’s a good coach and on a team with so many question marks, why get rid of one of the few sure things?
Since the season ends today, we figured why wait on handing out the hardware. So, without further ado, some of my thoughts on who did right by us Isles fans this season, with a top choice and a runner-up. I also refrained from picking any one player for two different awards. I love making up rules for myself. Murph, let us know what you think, too:
MVP - 1) Rick DiPietro 2) Brendan Witt
Ricky was the obvious choice here. On a team with very little firepower and a no-name defense, DiPietro stood on his head a ton of times to keep the Isles in the thick of things before going down with the injury. His play and Ted Nolan’s coaching were the primary reason the Isles had a shot at the playoffs for most of the season. For that reason, I almost picked Nolan as the runner-up but then I thought it was lame to pick a coach. Brendan Witt personified the team’s toughness and did a very good job manning the backline until, he too, went down with an injury (I sense a pattern here). Honorable mention goes to Mike Sillinger, Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie, and Trent Hunter.
Hardest Worker, aka the Jason Blake Memorial Trophy - 1) Trent Hunter 2) Bill Guerin
Both of these guys leave everything on the ice every night. I know a lot of Islander fans are disappointed in Hunter’s lack of points (just 12 goals this year and 40 points), but the guy is one of the few Isles playing physical from end to end, each and every game. He’s also the type of player who would be lighting the lamp much more regularly if the Isles were fortunate to have a true sniper on the team. Guerin is exactly what we thought he’d be. The guy works hard. He’s a little older now and maybe a little slower but it’s hard to gauge when there is just so little offensive talent around him.
The Wow He’s Actually Pretty Good Award - 1) Richard Park 2) Dubie
Richard Park! I can’t tell you how many times I caught myself getting excited at something Park had accomplished and then saying to myself, “Hey, that Richard Park is pretty o.k.” Maybe not the most ringing endorsement in the world but in all honestly it can take some time to win me over and Park is slowly doing that. The guy made a host of big plays this season and was fairly consistent. He currently ranks seventh on the team in points and leads the Isles with three shorthanded goals. Maybe that’s what won me over right there. Love those shorthanded goals. Back-up goalie Wade Dubielewicz was more than solid spot-starting for DiPietro for much of the season before DP went down with the injury. Since then he’s gotten even more time between the pipes and he continues to keep the Isles in games. He’s shown that last season’s heroics wasn’t a fluke and proven he can play at this level.
The Dumbest Play of The Season Award - 1) Chris Simon
The Jarkko Ruutu play. Totally unacceptable. Simon played hard but every once in a while the guy just went off the deep end. The Ruutu play got him a 30-game ban and a ticket off of the Island. Simon won the same award last year when he hit Ryan Hollweg with his stick and was suspended for 25 games.
The Invisible Man Award - 1) Shawn Bates
Another winner without a runner-up. Bates, you know we fell in love with you in 2002 but, man, where’ve you been? For the second straight season, Bates was pretty-much a no-show. He played in just two games this season. Makes last year’s 48 seem Ironman-esque.
The Why I Can’t Wait For Next Season Award - 1) Kyle Okposo 2)Blake Comeau
The Young Guns have shown some signs of things to come in their limited action this season and should give all Islander fans some hope for the future. The Isles need to get some help from the outside if they want to take the next step, but it’s nice knowing the cupboard isn’t empty.
As always, we look to our readers to let us know where we screwed up.
Give me a “W”. Give me a “T”. Give me an “F”. And give me a giant “?”. What’s that spell?
The Islanders had one of the biggest WTF? nights of the season yesterday when the Lightning steamrolled them 8-4 in Tampa. DP’s line for the night? 36 saves on 44 shots. The team’s performance was uglier than Eliot Spitzer’s chances as husband of the year.
Coach Ted was none too pleased with the $67 Million Dollar Man after the game.
“We ask him over and over again not to play the puck as much,” Nolan told Newsday. “He’s one of the best puck-handlers in the league, but you just can’t overhandle it. When you overhandle it, you get yourself in trouble a little bit.”
“The only thing you can do is keep going through it over and over again. You can’t do that. You’ve got to let our defense handle it a little bit more. He just wants to play it. What can you do?”
The Coliseum Heroes are eight points out of a playoff spot with just 11 games to go. It’s over man. The dishes are done. The music’s dead. All that’s left is to turn down the lights.
DP is back after dealing with the passing of a family member, but according to Newsday’s Greg Logan he’ll be riding the pine tonight as Coach Nolan rolls the dice with Wade Dubielewicz versus the Rangers.
Islanders coach Ted Nolan made the boldest decision of his two-season tenure this morning when he announced backup Wade Dubielewicz will be in net against the Rangers tonight at Nassau Coliseum with franchise player Rick DiPietro fresh and ready to go on the bench.
The Oilers put three shots past Rick DiPietro in the span of about 10 minutes last night, cruising to a 4-0 win over the punchless Isles. DP just didn’t have it last night and, as happens too often with this team, there was no one around to pick him up.
Now the Isles face the tough task of playing their second West Coast game in as many days, this time going up against Roberto Luongo and the 23-14 (50 points) Vancouver Canucks. Always tough to play back-to-back games on the road, especially when you’re 3,000 miles from home base. Isles need to bounce back and generate some chances, stay out of the penalty box, and force the action if they want to skate out of Vancouver with a W.
Here’s what Coach Ted Nolan told Newsday after last night’s loss:
“We need a consistent effort from all our guys, not from 70 percent. We need them all.”
Very true. Let’s hope the other 30 percent show up tonight.
