This year’s success is welcome news to the Amerks, since it follows two dismal seasons. The Amerks were the second-worst team in the American Hockey League last season, and had the worst record the year before. So far this season, the Amerks lead the league with 25 points.The Amerks’ Vice President of Hockey Operations, Ted Nolan, says the team is enjoying the wave of success, because no one knows when it will happen again.

Attendance was down during the Amerks’ disappointing seasons the last two years. Nolan is hoping the team’s performance this year will make a difference in the stands. He says it’s tough to win back the trust of the community, but the Amerks are doing it one fan at a time.

Nolan gives credit to owner Curt Styres for turning the team around. Styres took over the team last year.  Nolan was signed on as vice president last summer. He played on the 1984-85 team that set the record of 11 consecutive wins.  Win or lose Thursday night, Nolan thinks the organization has already made a statement that the Amerks are a good team.

Kevin Oklobzija - Staff writer Democrat And Chronicle

When he coached the Buffalo Sabres, Ted Nolan could have told his players that unless they jumped over the videoboard at center ice, the team would lose.

A whole lot of his players would have broken bones trying to do the impossible.One thing about Nolan: When he’s behind the bench or addressing his team in the dressing room, he’s a master of convincing players what it takes to be a team, and what is necessary for a team to be successful.

Simply put, he could sell wooden hockey sticks to Easton.

Which is precisely why Rochester Americans owner Curt Styres hired Nolan as vice president of hockey operations July 1.

Styres needed someone to re-sell Amerk hockey; to veteran players on the free-agent market, to a jilted corporate community and to a once-loyal, once-large fan base that over the past three years found better things to do with their entertainment dollars.

“I’m out spreading the word of the Rochester Americans,” Nolan said. “We want to prove to people we’re here and we mean business.”

His mere presence in Rochester says just that. The revamped product will debut Saturday night when the Amerks open their 54th American Hockey League season at 7:05 against the Lake Erie Monsters at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.

“The organization is furthering their commitment to winning,” Amerks defenseman Jordan Henry said. “If you want to be the best, you have to surround yourself with the best.”

Nolan’s rsum carries clout. He won the Jack Adams Trophy as NHL Coach of the Year with the Sabres in 1996-97 and guided the New York Islanders into the playoffs with a far-from-talented team in 2006-07.

He rebuilt his hometown major junior team, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, into a Memorial Cup champion in 1992-93. He won a regular season championship in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2005-06 with the Moncton Wildcats.

And while coaching is what he does best, he didn’t move to Rochester just to be a figurehead.

“When I met with Curt, it was not so much where you work but who you work for,” said Nolan, whose permanent home remains just outside of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on the Garden River First Nation Reserve. “Yes, I still want to coach, but if I’m not doing that, then I might as well do what I’m next best at.”

His first task was to work with Jody Gage, the director of player personnel, to fortify the roster with quality veterans.

In the span of two weeks, they signed defenseman Clay Wilson and forwards Jeff Taffe, Graham Mink and Chris Taylor. In late August, they added forward Mike York, a 10-year NHL veteran. One of York’s NHL stops was the Nolan-coached Islanders.

“He was a big reason why I came here,” York said. “When he called, I jumped at the opportunity.”

High-quality players in place, Nolan then began knocking on doors and dialing phone numbers. He wanted to know why businesses ended their partnerships and sponsorships with the franchise. Why former season ticket holders refused to renew.

Many companies were turned off by unpaid bills. The team’s reputation took a beating during the financial crisis of 2007-08 under the former ownership group.

On the ice, the team finished in last place the past two years and fans weren’t entertained nearly enough.

Nolan’s plea as he sells Amerk hockey to the city: Give us a chance and you’ll like what you see.

“You look at what Curt did,” Nolan said. “He cleaned up the financial mess. He signed some good, veteran players (investing at least a half-million dollars in the payroll to do so).

“Your actions speak louder than words and his actions spoke volumes to me and should speak volumes to the people in Rochester. We’re selling a product that’s sustainable, something people can be proud to be associated with.”

Nolan, 51, expects anyone buying a ticket this season to believe their money was well spent.

“I want people to walk away from our games saying, ‘Did you see that guy hitting, did you see that guy’s shot, did you see this, did you see that,’” he said.

During his time out in the community, Nolan has been told the affiliation divorce from the Buffalo Sabres in 2008 was a mistake. The NHL’s Florida Panthers now supply most of the players.

Nolan disagrees. He says the team’s vision is to restore pride in Rochester, that the parent team is secondary.

“We want to be a community-based team because it’s amazing what sports teams can do for the city,” he said. “We have to build a team that Rochester is affiliated with, that says this is who we are as Rochester Americans, as Rochesterians.

“Fans have to feel it’s their team and we just happen to be a place where Florida puts its players or Buffalo puts its players. Why can’t we get our own civic pride?”

(July 21, 2009)… Ted Nolan’s circuitous career in the NHL – one which he’s experienced incredible success as a coach albeit in only four seasons – has brought him nearly full circle.

Some 25 years after being the captain of the Rochester Americans, Nolan has returned to the Panthers’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate to help restore the team’s history and excitement.Nolan, the NHL’s Jack Adams Award winner while coach of the Sabres in 1996-97, called the Amerks “one of the most storied franchises in American Hockey League history,” recently after being named July 1 the team’s VP of Hockey Operations.

And Nolan aims to bring that tradition back to the Amerks. “It was a great place to play, and now we want to give them (the fans) something to cheer about and get that excitement back,” he added.

Nolan is another step in the right direction for the Amerks. While he’s been described by some as an enigma, he’s also a winner. Although he’s coached only four seasons in the NHL since 1995, he led the Sabres and Islanders to the playoffs in two of those four seasons while producing three winning records. And in his only season coaching in the minors, he led Moncton of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) to the finals of the Memorial Cup.

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The Rochester Americans announced today the hiring of former Amerk Ted Nolan as the team’s Vice President of Hockey Operations for the 2009-10 American Hockey League season.

“Today I’m filled with great pride and honor to be working for the first, First Nation owned professional hockey organization,” said Nolan. “I’m looking forward to the challenges of helping put Rochester back on top. Working for one of the most storied franchises in the American Hockey League is an honor.”Nolan, 51, returns to Rochester for the first time since the 1984-85 season. Since his days in the Flower City, he has enjoyed success as a player, coach and humanitarian. His resume includes four seasons as a head coach in the National Hockey League, the 1996-97 Jack Adams Trophy as NHL Coach of the Year, a Calder Cup championship, a Memorial Cup title and numerous honors for his philanthropic efforts.

“Ted Nolan has been an inspiration for First Nations/Native American youth for many years. His drive and determination to be a professional hockey player and play in the NHL was realized through plenty of hard work more than natural ability. He continued to use that drive to succeed in hockey at both the GM and coaching level in the OHL, QMJHL and at the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and most recently the New York Islanders. Ted is known as a ‘player’s coach/GM’ and we are excited about having him join the Rochester Americans organization as our Vice President, Hockey Operations. We will work together to continue to re-build the championship tradition that we all know as Amerks hockey here in Rochester,” said Amerks Owner and CEO Curt Styres.

“We are excited to have Ted Nolan join the Amerks and head up our hockey operations. Ted is a proven winner at everything he has been involved in, both on and off the ice, and we are confident that his leadership and management skills will be an asset to our entire organization,” added Amerks President Lewis Staats. “As many of you know Ted has worn the Amerks crest on his jersey during his playing days so he knows what it means to be an Amerk and what it takes to be a winner in both the AHL and NHL. We look forward to him working closely with our hockey department personnel and also with the Florida Panthers to make the Amerks an improved and competitive team in the very near future.”

Nolan was born on the Garden River First Nation just outside Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and played for the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League. The left winger was selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the fifth round (78th overall) in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. His pro career spanned eight seasons, most of them in the American Hockey League (1978-85). He played in 374 AHL games with teams in Adirondack, Rochester and Baltimore. During that time, Nolan also appeared in 78 NHL games between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins.

He broke into the pros with the Kansas City Red Wings of the Central Hockey League in 1978-79, before spending the next five seasons with the Adirondack Red Wings. In 1980-81, he was a member of the Red Wings’ Calder Cup championship team. He appeared in 299 games with the Red Wings from 1979-84 and recorded 84 goals, 126 assists and 455 penalty minutes. Nolan played in 60 NHL games with Detroit and scored five goals, added 15 assists and collected 71 penalty minutes. While with the Detroit organization, he befriended another rising star, Jody Gage. The two played together for five seasons before Nolan departed for the Buffalo Sabres/Rochester Americans in 1984-85.

Nolan, former captain with the Amerks finished his only season in Rochester sixth on the team in points (62) and third in penalty minutes (152). He ended his playing career in 1985-86 as he split time with the AHL Baltimore Skipjacks and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

He returned to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds as an assistant coach and then became head coach in 1988, as a mid-season replacement. He remained with the Greyhounds until the end of the 1994 season. Nolan led the Greyhounds to three consecutive Memorial Cup tournament berths, winning the Memorial Cup in 1993.

Nolan was promoted to the NHL following the 1993-94 season, taking an assistant job with the Hartford Whalers. The next season, he accepted the position of head coach of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, where he had his best success. In his second season in Buffalo (1995-96), he led the team to the Northeast Division title and a berth in the conference finals. After helping the Sabres to a 19-point improvement in the standings and the team’s first division title in 16 years, he was rewarded by being named the NHL Coach of the Year.

After working behind the Buffalo bench he returned to competitive coaching after an eight-year absence as the head coach and director of hockey operations for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In 2005-06, he led Moncton to its first-ever President Cup as QMJHL champion, finishing first overall in the regular season at 52-15-0-2. The Wildcats advanced to the finals of the Memorial Cup where they finished runner-up to the Quebec Remparts. For his efforts, he was named the QMJHL All-Star head coach and the league’s General Manager of the Year.

He returned to the professional ranks in 2006 with the NY Islanders after a nine-year layoff from coaching in the NHL and confounded experts by leading the team to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In a March 2008 Sports Illustrated player survey, he was rated second to only Detroit’s Mike Babcock as the coach players would most like to play for. In two seasons on Long Island he guided the Islanders to a record of 73-68-0 to improve his lifetime record to 147-140-40 as an NHL head coach.

Away from the rink, Nolan has devoted himself to First Nations causes, including teaching hockey to First Nations children. His work in this area earned him numerous awards, including the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Sault Ste. Marie Medal of Merit, the Order of Ontario 1991, Sault Ste. Marie Kiwanis Citizen of the Year and in 1986 he was chosen as a role model in the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program. He has also received an honorary diploma for human relations from Niagara College (1997) and accepted an honorary doctorate degree in law from Laurentien University (2002).

Nolan is an active member in the Aboriginal community and in 2003 established the Ted Nolan Foundation in honor of his late mother, Rose. The Ted Nolan Foundation mission statement is “through our philosophy of healthy lifestyle, the Ted Nolan Foundation is committed to the healing process to renew and revitalize the mind, body and spirit of our young people. We will explore to help us train a new cadre of Aboriginal leaders today, to take their rightful place in Canadian society tomorrow. We will help develop programs at the community level for First Nations youth in communities no matter how isolated or poverty stricken. We will raise scholarship funds for First Nation women wishing to complete their education.”

In addition, the Ted Nolan Foundation and Tim Horton’s Children’s Foundation recently agreed to a five-year commitment to sponsor a first nation leadership camp this coming October in St. George, Ontario.

Ted and his wife Sandra reside in Garden River First Nation and are the proud parents of Brandon, a former player with the Carolina Hurricanes organization; and Jordan, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League.

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