A scribe’s OHL scribbles
Coaches come and coaches go and one coach who I would like to see return to the Ontario Hockey League is 1993 Memorial Cup champion Ted Nolan.
Nolan is a still-young 57-years of age and has coached with success, not only as a major junior bench boss and four combined Memorial Cup appearances with the Soo Greyhounds and Moncton Wildcats but in the National Hockey League where his Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders teams were overachievers.
To me, a good fit for Nolan would be a return to the OHL, be it in Saginaw where the underachieving Spirit could use a coaching change and high-profile motivator or in Guelph, where he just might be the perfect Storm for the worst team in the league.
Meanwhile…
Speaking of Guelph, it occurs to me that recycled general manager Mike Kelly is again overseeing a Storm team that is having a disastrous season. As of this writing, Guelph has a woeful record of 2-27-1. And it was back during the 1991-1992 season when Kelly was GM and Guelph finished with a simply-awful record of 4-51-11. Just saying.
Seems to me that the reigning Western Conference champion Erie Otters are doing just fine without former blow-hard owner-general manager Sherry Bassin calling the shots. Erie is in first place overall in the 20-team OHL with 55 points from a record of 27-3-1.
The monsters of the Midwest Division are Erie, Kitchener and London and they also have the three-best records in the entire OHL. Following the Otters and their 55 points are the Rangers with 50 points from a record of 23-3-4 and the Knights with 48 points from a record of 23-5-2.
PHOTO: Career coach Ted Nolan just could be a good fit for an OHL team looking for a turnaround.