[Isles2279]

Finalists announced today DO NOT include Ted Nolan. In my mind, that is ridiculous. Nolan is the ONLY reason we made the playoffs and he brought a team together that was riddled with dissension for years.

[MJHMarc]

Ridiculed with Dissension? That a bit exaggerated.

Nolan definitely helped the team, but I would've still slotted them as contenders.

He was basically insurance.

[Isles2279]

Not an exaggeration at all....Infighting between players and between players and management was a constant 2002-this season. Players second guessing coaching decisions in the media and coaches that lost the team early on also. Nolan put an end to all that.

[ThePundit]

Originally Posted by MJHMarc

Ridiculed with Dissension? That a bit exaggerated.

Nolan definitely helped the team, but I would've still slotted them as contenders.

He was basically insurance.

Marc, what are you talking about? The Islanders were supposed to be one of the worst teams in hockey this year. Once again, you must be watching some other Islanders team in a parallel universe.

[Lefty Noob]

Just to further drive home the point, check out this 2006-07 Islanders preview from ESPN.com: "Let's forget for a moment the boardroom fiasco of this offseason and look strictly at the hockey operations, and the results are the same: The New York Islanders are a team without a clue... The Islanders haven't won a playoff series since 1993. The fact that owner Charles Wang fired former Rangers GM Neil Smith a little more than two months after hiring him and then installed backup netminder Garth Snow as the new GM before signing netminder Rick DiPietro to an NHL-record 15-year deal will set the team's development back years. The one good thing about such colossal mismanagement is that the Isles will almost certainly be a lottery team."

[ThePundit]

From Newsday:

How is Islanders coach Ted Nolan not a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year? Despite an aging defense, mostly nothing from Alexei Yashin and the loss of Rick DiPietro to a pair of concussions, his team didn't quit......Is there some conspiracy against Nolan among the NHL Broadcasters Association? One voter with no allegiance to the Islanders told me his ballot included Nolan and was surprised that more of his colleagues didn't vote for him.

Why isn't Islanders' Nolan up for coach of year? - Newsday.com