Driven

Driven: (of a person) relentlessly compelled by the need to accomplish a goal; very hard-working and ambitious:

Ted Nolan is driven, there’s no other way to put it. He has always been relentlessly compelled by the need to accomplish a goal. Nolan’s goals have changed throughout his journey in life and hockey. His life and goals changed a year ago when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

“In hockey, I faced many battles on the ice, this is one battle I’m hoping others can avoid,” Nolan said.

“When I was diagnosed, it was the toughest thing I ever went through in my life. If I look back on my career there were some obstacles that I had to get over, nothing compared to this,” he said.

“I think I developed a skill at very early age, the power of the mind, you have to be able to set your mind, because it’s an amazing thing, just to concentrate working on things that I could control and that’s I could do.”

“Everyone wants to win, they want to win all of the time, but not everyone is willing to do those things on a consistent basis all of the time to win, and not a lot of people are able to do that, so I took those words I used to use with a lot of players and applied them to myself one day at a time, and hopefully get to the next one, and if you put enough of those days together, boy oh boy you win,” Nolan said.

Did Nolan ever have to give himself a pep talk or motivation speech during his treatment for the disease? “Yeah, I did, I had to kick myself in the rear on a few occasions, especially when self-pity arrives once and awhile, I learned that wasn’t going to serve you very well at all, I had a great support system in place with my wife, friends and family, so I kept battling and battling.”

“I tried to exercise as much as I could and eat as properly as I can and good Lord willing it will keep me around a lot longer,” said Nolan.

“Research is critical to help cure and prevent myeloma,” stressed the former NHL player and longtime coach.

Nolan returned to a place that rejuvenated his life and coaching career on Thursday March 14^th to raise awareness and funds for the disease. “It’s great to be back in Moncton. I still remember when Mr. Irving called me about coming to here, before I went to meet with him, I knew I wasn’t going to come to Moncton.”

“I really didn’t want to coach,” admitted Nolan.

“I hadn’t coached for 10 seasons, and to be honest I didn’t know if I even knew how to coach.”

All it took was a half hour conversation with the President of the Moncton Wildcats to change his mind. “I called my wife right after that meeting and told her that we were going to Moncton,” Nolan said.

That conversation impacted Nolan on many levels.

“Talking with him that day, I admired how much he loved this city and province and much he wanted to bring a championship to this city, which really sold me on the idea to come to Moncton,” Nolan added.

The decision and opportunity to return to the coaching ranks wasn’t lost on the former Jack Adams winner. “Coming to Moncton made a world of difference on my personal life, he was one of the first people that believed in me and gave me an opportunity,” said a reflective Nolan.

Nolan’s time in the Hub City has left an indelible mark on his heart. The Wildcats hosted the Memorial Cup in 2005-2006 season, they had set many goals that season, one of them were to enter the tournament as QMJHL Champions and that’s exactly what they did beating the Remparts in the President Cup finals. Unfortunately, they came up short in the all QMJHL Final losing against Patrick Roy’s Quebec Remparts.

“I was in Sault Ste. Marie for six years and went to three straight Memorial Cups winning one in 1993, was with the Sabres, Islanders and coached in the Sochi, Olympics, but the best place I have ever been associated with is here in Moncton with Mr. Irving and the Wildcats.”

Nolan would return to the NHL coaching ranks for the 2006-2007 season with the New York Islanders, where he coached for two seasons. He would eventually return to Buffalo for the 2013-14 and 2014-2015 seasons. Nolan’s dream and goal ever since his NHL debut has to been to give back to indigenous communities and help kids reach their full potential.

“It means the world to me,” Nolan said of the speaking engagements and programs he and his sons Brandon and Jordan deliver to indigenous youth across Canada.

“I think of the first game I played in the National Hockey League way back when, the one thing I really wanted to do was to give back and go into the communities to let the kids know that this skinny kid from Garden River First Nation could make it to the NHL.”

Nolan’s first pair of skates were size 8, his foot size at the time was size three. That certainly didn’t matter or affect his drive and determination to reach his goal and aspirations. The words resiliency, persistence and perseverance get thrown around quite frequently, especially in the hockey world, but there’s no question Ted Nolan’s path in life and hockey is the epitome of those words.

“I played recreational hockey back then, so any one can do anything,” said Nolan.

“I just really wanted to be an inspiration and a sign of hope that anyone could do it if you put your mind to it.”

The impact of his book Life In Two Worlds: A Coach’s Journey From the Reserve to the NHL and Back Again, his message and his story, what does reconciliation mean to Ted Nolan?

“To me, reconciliation means understanding,” said Nolan.

“Understanding where people are coming from, I think we are so quick to judge someone that looks different than you. You don’t know their story, you don’t know their circumstances. There has to be some compassion and understanding that we are all human beings and that we all deserve an equal opportunity and not be judged by the way you look.”

“All this stuff that we have talked about the Residential Schools, we have been talking about forever in our homes, and finally Canada just found out about exactly what happened at those schools.”

“Now we can understand a little bit more about the trauma issue, mental health is a real thing. I went through day school, but I lived with people that went to the Residential Schools so it’s a real tough thing, the more understanding and knowledge we have, the better off we will be,” stressed Nolan.

What about the game of hockey? What about the treatment of players from the past, present and future? “Well, it’s getting better, I think there’s a long way to go,” said Nolan of the state of game.

Photo Credit CBC News

“Now, it’s not so much the racial thing, it’s the cost thing.”

“These kids are using $300 to $500 dollar sticks, some families don’t have that for groceries all year, so the equipment costs, it’s hard to keep up with all of the programs as well, they don’t have elite programs now they have super elite programs now, sticking handling schools and skating lessons.”

“A young Ted Nolan now would never have been able to play, I came up playing house league hockey, but now I’m not too sure, now with the cost, understanding and being more accepting is the way we go, and hopefully people that are a lot brighter than will try to figure out a way to it.”

The drive to succeed and help people in every avenue of life continues to fuel Ted Nolan’s journey.

“Anyone that is a parent, is a very proud parent.”

“I’m very proud of my two boys, they worked extremely hard they both played in the National Hockey League, Brandon’s career ended way too soon because a very serious concussion, Jordan was able to be a part of three Stanley Cup winning teams and for them to come back into First Nation communities, we go into the a lot of remote communities, the travel is very difficult sometimes, but we wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“We go there, and the kids are just so appreciative of us being there, Jordan and Brandon get to share their stories about growing up in similar communities and environments to theirs.”

“They talk about going to bed early, not staying up late, getting exercise, eating well and paying attention to school is the most important aspect that they learned growing up and that the hockey took care of itself.”

Nolan and his sons aren’t out trying to develop the next great hockey sensation or star, they want to lift up all of the communities and their youth.

“We want to develop good citizens for our great country we live in.”

“We really like sharing our stories, and hopefully inspire kids that are thinking about living home and how to overcome some of those barriers that there is.” 

Ted Nolan has faced barriers his entire life. The passion, resiliency and dignity in which he took on those barriers and obstacles have and continue to inspire.

Driven: (of a person) relentlessly compelled by the need to accomplish a goal; very hard-working and ambitious:

Ted Nolan continues to redefine the word driven. Driven: (of a person and for other people and causes), relentlessly compelled by the need to accomplish a goal; very hard-working and ambitious.

Ted Nolan is a driving force for life, positivity and hope.