Former NHL coach heads to Poland
By Sam Laskaris
GARDEN RIVER FIRST NATION—Ted Nolan has found himself a new coaching gig.
Nolan, an Ojibwe from the Garden River First Nation in northern Ontario, was introduced this past week as the head coach of the Polish men’s national hockey team.
For the 59-year-old Nolan, a former National Hockey League player and coach, this will not be his first job coaching a national team abroad.
Nolan had coached the Latvian men’s team from 2011-14.
“I love challenges,” Nolan said in a news release after he was introduced as Poland’s new coach in Warsaw. “I’ve always been an underdog my whole life. When this opportunity came and seeing where Polish hockey has been for a while, hopefully I can make a difference and rise up to a higher level.”
In recent times, Poland has been competing at the Division 1 Group A level for International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) world championships. This is the second-highest tier of international hockey.
The IIHF annually offers a total of six different men’s world tournaments, with squads being promoted and demoted between levels each year. Poland is hoping to be promoted to the highest level, simply dubbed the IIHF men’s world championship.
A total of 16 nations participate in the top grouping. In order to join this grouping, Poland would need a Top 2 finish at the Division 1 Group A ranks.
Poland has not participated in the IIHF’s highest category since 2002. After back-to-back third-place finishes at its world championships in 2015 and 2016, the Polish team took a step back, placing fourth at its global tourney this past April in Ukraine.
Poland’s hockey officials are hoping Nolan is the man to guide its club back to the highest level of international play.
“It’s probably my biggest challenge to date and my biggest excitement to date,” Nolan said. “I looked at when they’ve been in the top division competing against the bigger nations and they haven’t been for a while so I’m really looking forward to getting to that level.”
Nolan, who won the Jack Adams Award for being the NHL’s best coach while guiding the Buffalo Sabres during the 1996-97 season, believes he has what it takes to get Poland promoted.
“You have to be very tactical,” he said. “You have to know what you’re doing, you need to be aggressive, hard-nose [and] hard-working. If you compete hard, work hard and play smart, great things can happen.”
Dawid Chwalka, the president of the Polish Ice Hockey Federation, was thrilled his association was able to land Nolan, especially because he is an esteemed coach from Canada.
“This country has been the best in the world in recent years and I’m glad we have been able to find an agreement with such a great coach,” Chwalka said in a news release.
Nolan inked a two-year contract to guide the Polish squad.
Nolan had some brief appearances behind a bench last year. He served as the assistant coach of the Ontario girls’ team that captured the silver medal at the 2016 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships, held in Mississauga.
Nolan last coached in the NHL with Buffalo – his second stint with the organization – during the 2014-15 season.
He was also the bench boss of the New York Islanders during the 2006-07 campaign as well as the following year. Nolan then returned to Buffalo, first as the interim head coach for the 2013-14 season before having the interim tagged released the following year.
Nolan spent a total of six years as an NHL head coach. He guided the Sabres during the 1995-96 and ’96-97 seasons.
As a player, during his pro career Nolan appeared in 78 NHL contests during the 1980s. He played 60 games with the Detroit Red Wings and 18 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.