NHL comes calling for Ted Nolan (Updated)

Ted Nolan is back in the National Hockey League.

Not only that, the former NHL coach of the year is back with the Buffalo Sabres.

The NHL club announced a major shakeup this morning that saw General Manager Darcy Regier and coach Ron Rolston relieved of their respective duties, effective immediately.

The Sabres brought on former NHL player Pat Lafontaine has been brought on at the Sabres new President of Hockey Operations while Nolan has been named interim head coach of the team.

Nolan spent two seasons with the Sabres from 1995 to 1997. During his second season with the team, the former Soo Greyhounds coach posted a 40-30-12 record and won the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year as he led the Sabres to the Northeast Division title.

“It was one of those shocking phone calls you didn't think would ever come, and it did,” Nolan told NHL.com. “It's probably the shortest flight I ever went through in my life going from Frankfurt, Germany, over to Toronto and thinking about what I was going to do in the first practice and so forth. It's going to be great.”

Nolan has been coaching the Latvian national team since 2011 and will coach the team at the upcoming 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Nolan’s NHL experience also includes two seasons as head coach with the New York Islanders from 2006 to 2008 in which he posted a 75-68-21 record.

Nolan said assistant coaches Teppo Numminen, Joe Sacco and Jerry Fortin would remain in their roles with the organization.

Sabres captain Steve Ott told NHL.com he’s “only heard great things” about Nolan.

“I looked at my phone after practice real quick and I had players from all over the League texting me right away saying how great of a guy he is and how you want to work for him,” Ott said. “If that gives any motivation to the guys in this room is you want to go through the wall for your coach, and he's one of those guys.”

Rolston was hired by the Sabres last spring after the Sabres fired Lindy Ruff in February. Rolston finished the season with a 15-11-5 record as interim head coach at the time before having the interim tag removed from his title in the spring. The team has struggled out of the gate this season with a 4-15-1 record through 20 games.

Regier was hired by the Sabres in 1997.

Sabres owner Terry Pegula told media in Buffalo the decision to make a change had been made Tuesday night  after the Sabres 3-2 shootout win against Los Angeles.

File photo courtesy Donna Hopper