The Sabres have had a dismal season and are in dead last in the entire NHL. However, the team is well aware of their situation and Ted Nolan knew he was joining a rebuilding squad when took the job as interim head coach. Today, the Sabres announced that they will give Nolan more time to work with the young talent at the NHL level, signing him to a three-year contract extension.
“I said back in November that it was a dream to be able to come back and coach the Sabres, and that’s still true today,” Nolan said. “I’m excited by the challenge facing our team and our organization. And I’m truly thankful to have this opportunity.”
The team has been in turmoil all season, as general manager Darcy Regier and head coach Ron Rolston lost their jobs when Ted Nolan was brought on board. The Sabres were 4-15-1 at the time. The man who hired Nolan was the new team president Pat Lafontaine. Lafontaine lasted just two months on the job before resigning in a reported power struggle with new general manager Tim Murray. The team has also seen two captains, Thomas Vanek and Steve Ott, traded this season and franchise player Ryan Miller is now in St. Louis. Through of all of this Ted Nolan has been praised for his communication skills with the players, for running a tight-knit locker room, and for the development of future Sabres stars like Zemgus Girgensons.
The Sabres are 16-30-8 under Ted Nolan, and there was some question if he would be kept with the team after Lafontaine left. Murray said this wasn’t an issue.
“I don’t know if there was one ‘Eureka moment,”‘ Murray said. “But I certainly got to the point where I knew I wanted him back, and I wanted him to be our head coach. And that wasn’t yesterday or the day before.”
“We have to get him better players,” Murray said. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”
It will be Murray’s job to improve the team on the personnel side, and then it will be up to Ted Nolan to lead the Sabres back to the playoffs, a place they have not been since 2011.
Nolan won the Jack Adams as NHL coach of the year in his first stint with the Sabres in 1997. He also coached the Latvian national team at the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi, Russia.
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