Former NHL Head Coach Ted Nolan appointed coach of Latvian National Team –NHL offseason Update
Ted Nolan, former head coach of New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres, who left the National Hockey League (NHL) after facing issues which he described were due to racism and unprofessionalism, was hired as head coach of the Latvian National team on Wednesday,
August 3.
The news broke out after an official announcement was made by the Latvian Hockey Federation (LHF) president, Kirovs Lipmans.
"We were looking for a neutral, authoritative coach with lots of experience and good hockey knowledge", LHF president Kirovs Lipmans said. "This is exactly what we found with Ted Nolan".
Nolan, a former winner of the Jack Adams award for best coach during the 1997 season with Buffalo, has been working as the vice president of hockey operations for the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Rochester Americans during the past two seasons.
Since he left the coaching positions in the NHL, Nolan has been looking for another behind the bench job ever since due to his passion and interest in the field of coaching which is not just satisfied by any other appointment.
The 53-year-old terms the hiring shocking and sudden.
"I've been sending out resumes here for the last number of years and not getting a phone call back", said Nolan about trying to find another start with a coaching position. "Then all of a sudden you get a call from a (national team), which was very humbling.
I'm very honored".
Ted Nolan has not officially signed the contract just yet, but is expected to as soon as he flies out to Riga, which is the largest city and capital of Latvia, later on this month.
Olegs Znaroks, the now former coach of the Latvian national team, was fired for his low performance with the team, which ultimately led to the finishing 13th overall at the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships.
All Latvian national hockey team stakeholders have a lot of hope vested in the hiring of Ted Nolan as its coach, which makes the situation all that more exciting, to see how a former NHL coach does coaching a national level team.
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