Nolan Remains on Outside of Hockey’s Small In Crowd

Was Ted Nolan such a power-hungry monster when he coached the Buffalo Sabres that the only fitting punishment is for him to be ignored every time a coaching job opens? Did he so blatantly stab the back of John Muckler, then the Sabre general manager, that he’s untouchable?

“Hopefully, I would think not,” Nolan said Sunday. “I keep asking myself the same thing, if I did anything that bad to warrant this type of rejection. If I did, it was unintentional.

“Maybe general managers were just looking at other people and I didn’t meet their criteria.”

If that meant being pals with the right people, he flunks. He’s not part of the NHL old boys’ network, the 15 or 20 coaches and general managers who are recycled each time they’re fired. He never will be one of the guys.

“Every time I play or coach a game, I try not to socialize with the opposition,” said Nolan, who spoke to King General Manager Dave Taylor about the club’s coaching job two weeks ago and is awaiting a second call. “Hockey people are generally pretty good people, and if I start to think of them as someone’s brother or friend, I lose my edge to beat them. I’d rather just know them as number whatever they’re wearing on their back.”

Although Muckler has been around forever and has many friends, feuding with him shouldn’t have killed Nolan’s career. Mike Keenan has alienated every general manager he has worked for, but he’s rarely unemployed for long. Yet, even Keenan doesn’t stir as many divergent emotions as Nolan does.

Some of the Sabres swore by Nolan; others, including goalie Dominik Hasek, probably swore at him. When Nolan and Hasek clashed during the 1996-97 season, Buffalo executives figured it would be easier to find another coach than to find another world-class goalie. After Muckler was fired, his successor, Darcy Regier, offered Nolan a one-year contract he knew Nolan would refuse.

“I did a better job than to warrant a one-year deal. There were no negotiations and they just announced to the media that was it,” said Nolan, who guided the Sabres to a 92-point season and first place in the Northeast Division. “That’s no way to negotiate.”

The only nibble he has had since came from Tampa Bay after Terry Crisp was fired during the 1997-98 season. “They called me on a Friday and said they wanted a decision Saturday morning,” said Nolan, who is known as a better motivator than tactician. “It was too soon after what happened in Buffalo, and I didn’t feel like stepping into an unstable situation.”

The whispers about Nolan’s supposed backstabbing are often followed by claims he’s a self-promoter because he willingly discusses his Native North American heritage and impoverished childhood on a reservation in Ontario. Why that’s a flaw is mystifying. That he came through it alive and sober is inspiring, unless it’s being viewed through a prism of jealousy.

“I don’t know too many GMs in this league. For them to say things without knowing who I am, that’s wrong,” he said. “Any time two people get divorced, it’s not only the husband’s fault and it’s not only the wife’s fault. I just try to be as quiet and patient as I can, but those rumors hurt.”

The Kings need a good motivator, and Nolan may be right for the job. If not, at least Taylor is open-minded enough to give him a shot. “Hopefully, people will have a chance to interview me and get to know me as a person,” said Nolan, who has also been in contact with the expansion Atlanta Thrashers. “I hope I’ll have another opportunity to coach.”

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

When Patrick Roy said before Game 4 of the Western Conference finals that Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg had been outplayed by Dallas’ Mike Modano and Joe Nieuwendyk, he was walking a fine line. Had his teammates taken offense, Colorado’s morale might have splintered. Instead, Sakic and Forsberg agreed--and rose to the challenge, putting the Avalanche in position today to clinch a berth in the finals.

Sakic, who said Roy was “right on,” scored his first goal of the series in Game 4 and won many crucial faceoffs in Game 5. Forsberg played a brilliant two-way game in Colorado’s wild 7-5 victory Sunday in Game 5, contributing an empty-net goal and two assists.

“We played more to their style of play,” said Nieuwendyk, Dallas’ center. “We’re a tight-checking team, and we got away from that. . . . This one hurts. Five goals are usually enough for us to win.”

Colorado Coach Bob Hartley has deftly juggled his personnel to compensate for injuries. He nearly doubled Chris Drury’s ice time after Milan Hejduk suffered a season-ending broken collarbone in Game 4, and Drury responded with three goals in two games. The Avalanche’s depth has been as crucial as its relative youth: Sunday was the teams’ second game in two cities in 36 hours, and the quick turnaround may have hurt the Stars more.

“When you’re going at each other as hard as we are right now, there’s a lot of people that are pretty banged up,” Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “The rest [until today] will do us good. Our players certainly feel like we can beat this team and we’re going to have to do it twice now. They have to beat us once.”

RUFF AND READY

The most impressive aspect of the Sabres’ five-game victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference finals was they didn’t have to rely on Hasek to steal a game. He did his part by giving up only two goals in each of the last three games, but their grit, speed and opportunism were what carried them to the finals for the first time since 1975.

“We got some timely goals and we got everybody healthy,” said Sabre Coach Lindy Ruff, whose team was seeded seventh in the East. “I think we proved to everybody we’re more than a one-dimensional team.”

The Maple Leafs, seeded fourth, made too many defensive mistakes and couldn’t match the Sabres’ balanced scoring. “Hockey people realized they were a good team,” Toronto Coach Pat Quinn said. “People give credit to Dominik, and he is terrific, but they got very little credit as a team. . . . Each of the previous series, we were able to take it up in Game 3 or Game 4 and get better. In this series, they got better and we didn’t.”

BURNING MIDNIGHT OIL(ERS)

The Edmonton Oilers narrowly beat a league-imposed deadline of midnight Monday to have 13,000 season tickets sold for next season. A week-long sales push brought them to 13,036, just enough for them to qualify for a $2.5 million (U.S.) subsidy from the NHL’s Canadian Assistance Plan.

The Oilers were in a similar situation last season and sold 13,200 season seats, a figure many rivals would like to reach. However, this time they were coming off a difficult season in which they barely made the playoffs and were swept by Dallas--plus they raised ticket prices for next season.

To the Oilers, $2.5 million--which is about $3.6 million Canadian--is a hefty sum and can pay the salary of a key player.

SLAP SHOTS

The New York Islanders’ reason for trading Trevor Linden to the Montreal Canadiens for the 10th pick in the entry draft was money. He earned $2.5 million last season and General Manager Mike Milbury must pare his payroll until the club’s ownership is firmed up. A first-round pick seems a high price, but the Canadiens haven’t had a first-rounder make their lineup since Saku Koivu, the 21st overall pick in 1993. . . . Next to leave the Island could be winger Ziggy Palffy, who signed a five-year, $26-million deal last December. The Kings like him, but so would a lot of teams. . . . Ronald Corey’s retirement as president of the Canadiens follows the club’s first financial loss ($2.9 million) in history and second playoff miss in five seasons. But the courtly Corey isn’t to blame for the economic woes. He shepherded the club’s move to the Molson Centre, which is a cash cow even if it’s far less stirring than the old Forum.

With Scotty Bowman staying in Detroit at least one more season, associate coaches Dave Lewis and Barry Smith may move on. Lewis is expected to talk to the Kings this week and has drawn interest from the Thrashers, and Smith, who talked to the Phoenix Coyotes two years ago before they hired Jim Schoenfeld, may succeed Schoenfeld. . . . Mike Keenan expressed interest in the Coyotes’ coaching job, as has Phoenix assistant John Tortorella. . . . Larry Robinson’s return to New Jersey as an assistant coach is mildly surprising because he has a home in Florida and had talked to Jacques Demers about working in Tampa. As coach of the Kings, he said, “I didn’t have as much fun as I thought I was going to have.” Fans didn’t have much fun watching the Kings this season, either.