Updated:
Ted Nolan said last week that his contract extension was in the hands of his representative.
Nolan said that he was hopeful that his new deal, believed to be a three year contract, will be finalized shortly.
Nolan is 15-33 in his second stint as Sabres head coach. He replaced Ron Rolston on November 12.
Last month, questions swirled about around Nolan after his close friend Pat LaFontaine resigned from his gig after 140 days on the job as Sabres President of Hockey Ops. Nolan was asked repeatedly about his contract status and all he would say about it was that he was only focused on coaching 22 players and putting his contract on the back burner. When the Sabres jetted off to Dallas-Tampa-Sunrise, it gave Nolan time to clear his head and to give serious thought to his future as the Sabres' bench boss. Sabres GM Tim Murray joined the team in Sunrise and then moved on to the NHL GM meetings in south Florida. Perhaps Nolan and Murray had a pop and talked about the most talked about coaches contract extension in Buffalo Sabres history.
When the team returned home from the three game roadie, Nolan commented that the contract was in the hands of his rep, pending the dotting of the "I's" and crossing of the "T's".
Nolan's players, young and old, have his back. He has their back.
Nolan is the perfect coach to guide the Sabres through this re-build. TSN's Bob McKenzie tweeted that Nolan's new deal is close, but not done yet.
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Never a dull moment in Pegulaville.
The Sabres are stabbing westward with three goalies in their midst.
Sadly, Jhonas Enroth is not one of the goalies on the trip.
The goalie carousel is spinning in Buffalo right now.
It started with Michael Neuvirth's injury which prompted Nathan Lieuwen's call-up on Sunday. Then, it gained momentum when Jhonas Enroth was wiped out and had to leave the game on Sunday night.
In all, this wholesale goalie swap is affecting not only the Sabres' roster, but also that of the Rochester Amerks and two ECHL clubs as well.
Ted Nolan broke the news early Monday afternoon the team would be recalling another tender from Rochester to replace Enroth, who was replaced by Nathan Lieuwen on Sunday night after the scrappy Swede was injured in a collision with Montreal winger Brendan Gallagher. The Habs forward was shoved into Enroth by Sabres defenseman Jamie McBain. Gallagher made no attempt to avoid Enroth. Lieuwen made 10 saves on 10 shots and performed admirably under the not so ideal circumstances that surrounded his NHL debut.
Enroth posted this pic on Instagam on Monday afternoon.
Matt Hackett (13-17-2, .898 save % and 3.07 GAA) was recalled and will accompany the team to Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Lieuwen may well start the game against the Flames as and Neuvirth is still bothered by a lower body ailment and will be the re-evaluated on Tuesday. In the event that Neuvirth cannot play in Calgary, then my guess is that Lieuwen will get the start and Hackett will wear the ball cap as the under study.
So, who will play net for the Amerks? That would be recently promoted ECHLers Andrey Makarov and Connor Knapp.
Props to Darcy Regier for stocking the cupboards with quality goaltending depth the past few years.
The Sabres will also leave Myers, Girgensons, Stewart, and Myers back in Buffalo.
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Imagine an NHL where there will be no incentive for teams to "Fail For Nail".
Losing for the sake of losing in order to score a lottery pick may become a thing of the past if the NHL passes new legislation that prohibits "tanking".
Elliotte Friedman from Hockey Night In Canada has his finger on the pulse of this intriguing and noteworthy story...
I like this proposal. How do we get it enacted this season?
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