Sam on Sports: Jordan Nolan

By Sam Laskaris

LOS ANGELES – Jordan Nolan’s playing days officially ended a couple of years ago.

But Nolan, a member of Garden River First Nation in Northern Ontario, continues to remain involved in the sport and is doing his best to inspire Indigenous hockey-playing youth.

Nolan joined the Los Angeles Kings’ organization in the fall of 2021, mere months after his playing days ended, to serve as a community relations consultant and ambassador for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise.

Nolan was no stranger to the organization, having spent six seasons playing with the Los Angeles squad. And he was a player with the Kings when they won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and then again in 2014.

Nolan won his third Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.

Nolan’s current responsibilities with the Kings will include making appearances at their Native American Program sessions, that will be staged throughout this month and in June.

The free program is designed for Indigenous youth, aged 5-9, that have never played hockey before. And by free, we mean there are no registration costs involved. And what’s even better than that is that program participants will receive all of the necessary equipment, from head to toe, required to step out onto the ice for free.

And to top it off, Nolan, who appeared in 405 NHL contests during his career, will be on the ice instructing the youth.

Even if these children have no idea who Nolan is or what he accomplished during his career, no doubt they will be inspired.

The fact Nolan himself is also Indigenous will in all likelihood result in some of the program participants setting their own goals for the sport. And believing if Nolan can make it to the highest levels in hockey, then maybe, just maybe, they too might go on to find some success themselves in the sport.

The program will offer six one-hour sessions. That might not sound like a lot. But who knows? Those 360 minutes youngsters spend on the ice with Nolan just might convince them to stick with the sport.

There’s a good chance of that happening for some, especially considering they will already have all of the equipment they need should they choose to play during the next hockey season.

The Nolan-led sessions will start on May 20. They will be held on six consecutive Saturdays and end on June 24.

Nolan was also involved with a similar camp that the Kings operated last spring, but that was held over five straight days in May.

And though that camp was also primarily geared towards those who were brand new to hockey, it was restricted to those aged 14-18.

Nolan was especially proud to take part in that Kings’ initiative since it specifically included just Indigenous youth.

That’s basically what he does for a living now. The 33-year-old is part of the 3NOLANS program along with his brother Brandon, also a former NHLer, and their father Ted, an ex-NHL player and coach.

3NOLANS run hockey schools/camps primarily for Indigenous youth in Indigenous communities.

Though he no longer plays hockey at the highest levels, Nolan is certainly doing his best to make sure others, especially Indigenous youth, have an opportunity to possibly follow in his footsteps.