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Y’know, Ted, maybe it’s you.

Ted Nolan won the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach Of The Year in 1997 with the Buffalo Sabres. And then was promptly escorted to the nearest exit. And while that came as a bit of a shock, and led to no small amount of speculation as to the “why” of it, when the smoke cleared it was obvious that Nolan infuriated some particularly powerful NHL people; not the least of whom was John Muckler. Following his turfing, Nolan couldn’t find a job as a professional hockey coach. Anywhere. “Black-balled” was the term that began to surface; not ironically a Masonic term that comes from an order of people as tight as the NHL’s old boys. And then the race issue was raised; Nolan being Ojibway.

Ted eventually resurfaced in Moncton, New Brunswick, coaching the local QMJHL team all the way to the Memorial Cup finals. That in itself is no small accomplishment. If you look at the coaching changes in the NHL this off-season you’ll see that the pro teams snatch coaches from Canadian Major Junior quite often. You could make a very good argument that Ted Nolan went back and paid his dues, as it were, and merited further consideration. What doesn’t get said is that Ted Nolan ruffled a lot of feathers in Moncton and throughout the QMJHL. Among other indiscretions, he battled publicly with Quebec Remparts owner/coach Patrick Roy; a nasty spat that played out in the media and on the ice. And yet he seemed to have re-established himself as a first-class hockey coach. A decade after being fired by the Sabres, Ted Nolan found himself as the head coach of the New York Islanders. General Manager Neil Smith lasted a mere 40 days trying to work with Nolan. Neil Smith was promptly replaced by Garth Snow who just happens to be the guy that fired Nolan this week.

Ted Nolan had a winning record on the Island. His team was 13 games over .500 which, by Islanders standards as of late, is not that bad at all; given he had relatively little to work with.

Both Garth Snow and Ted Nolan cited “philosophical differences” as the reason that Nolan was out. We rarely learn the true events that go on in an inner sanctum; at least not immediately. But it’s safe to assume that they weren’t involved in a disagreement over Plato versus Socrates.