Nolan continues as Latvian coach

Ted Nolan, who as a player made it to the National Hockey League, where he stood on the ice 78 times for the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins in the early 1980s, came to Latvia for the first time in August 2011. Before he had coaching experiences at the junior level as head coach and assistant of the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds - with whom he won the 1993 Memorial Cup - and the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats. At the professional level he had four rather succesful years as head coach behind the bench of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders with a pretty even balance of wins. The second-round playoff-run with Buffalo in 1997 even brought him the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year. In addition he worked as assistant coach for the Hartford Whalers in the 1994-95 season. From 2008 to 2010 he was in charge of the Hockey Operations of the Rochester Americans from the American Hockey League.

In his first World Championship with Latvia he led his team to a 10th place after failing to qualify for the quarters in the Stockholm-based group. Of the seven games Latvia only won against the this year weak teams of Germany and Italy while they lost all the other five games in regular time - with especially tough losses against the direct competition of Denmark and Norway. In total Latvia had a bilance of 8 wins and 10 losses with Nolan as a coach, including a strong performance during Euro Hockey Challenge in early 2012.



Nolan during a press conference as Latvian coach

Should Latvia win the qualification tournament in Riga (7-10 February 2013) and make it to the Olympics in Sochi 2014 his contract automatically will be extended for another year. In the World Championship Latvia is going to play in the Helsinki based group next year where it hopes to qualify for the quarters. Nolan is also going to work as a consultant for the Latvian junior national teams.

 

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