Nolan entering the Canada Sports Hall of Fame

Ted Nolan says his first reflection was on his parents and what they taught him at a young age.

“The one thing they instilled in us was the power of work. If you want things in life, you have to work for it,” Nolan said in a recent media article about being inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame. “Certainly, there were some barriers in a way, but you just had to overcome somehow and keep fighting, and don’t give up.”

Nolan will be inducted into the hallowed Hall on 29 October, when he’ll be awarded the Order of Sport, the country’s highest sporting honour, in the Builder category. The national award recognizes Canadians “who have achieved the highest level of sporting accomplishment and who have the purpose and passion for going beyond their sport success, educating all Canadians on the transformative power of sport” according to the Canada Sports Hall of Fame.

“When you get recognized by your country, I think it’s powerful. It really is,” said Nolan. “You know, coming from where I came from — Garden River First Nation — and being recognized with the Order of Canada is just a special feeling.”

Nolan grew up in the Garden River First Nation in northern Ontario as the third youngest of 12 children raised by his parents Stan and Rose. He played minor hockey in Sault Ste. Marie and left home for junior hockey in Kenora when he was 16 years old. He spent two seasons with the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds from 1976 to 1978 and was taken in the fifth round by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1978 NHL draft. Nolan played pro hockey from 1978 to 1986, spending time in the AHL and NHL, but his career ended at age 26 due to a serious back injury.

Determined to stay in the game, Nolan entered the coaching ranks and took over as head coach of his hometown Greyhounds in 1988, staying in that role until 1994. Nolan’s Greyhounds qualified for three straight Memorial Cups – Canada’s Major Junior National Championship – and won the title in 1993.

He jumped to the NHL from there as an assistant coach with the Hartford Whalers in for the 1994-95 season and was Buffalo’s head coach from 1995 to 1997. Nolan would return to junior hockey with the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats for the 2005-06 season and then head back to the NHL with the New York Islanders as head coach in 2006-07 and 2007-08. He returned as the Buffalo Sabres’ head coach…