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Nolan shows the fire still burns within

Thursday, 01.31.2008 / 2:32 PM / Columns

By Larry Wigge - NHL.com Columnist

Owen Nolan celebrates with teammate Alex Tanguay after scoring one of his three goals against the Sharks. Nolan highlights
Better than words.

That’s how Owen Nolan put it after seeing the replay of his called-shot goal against Dominik Hasek to complete a hat trick in the 1997 All-Star Game at San Jose being played over and over again 11 years later at this year’s All-Star Game in Atlanta.

It was definitely a classic memory and the 35-year-old winger from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who was the first-pick overall in the 1990 Entry Draft, is still trying to show everyone in the hockey world that he’s the same high-level athlete he always was.

A power forward with size and muscle, which helped him to a career-high 44 goals in 1999-2000, Nolan, who eclipsed the 30-goal mark six times in his first 10 seasons with Quebec/Colorado and San Jose, has struggled in recent years.

But he turned back the clock on Jan. 30, recalling his big moment in the All-Star Game when he scored a hat trick against the Sharks in Calgary’s 5-4 victory over San Jose. It was his first hat trick since October of 1999.

"I was telling the guys I felt like I was 31 again," Nolan said after beating his old teammates. "Mike (Flames coach Mike Keenan) and Darryl (Flames GM Darryl Sutter) have given me a great opportunity to regain my form."

Nolan was talking about being signed as a free agent last July 3, after a 16-goal season in Phoenix that followed more than a year out of hockey completely.

Here’s an elite athlete, trying to make up for lost time and regain the excellence he still feels within. It’s pride, passion, grit and determination.

I was telling the guys I felt like I was 31 again. - Owen Nolan

Now, Nolan has a chip on his shoulder because no one else thinks he can regain the glory. That hunger to achieve makes him an interesting player to watch.

And Sutter, who coached Nolan in his best seasons as captain of the Sharks, counts on players like Nolan to show the character and work ethic that once made them champions.

Power forwards in their 20s often don’t want to pay the price to remain a power forward in their 30s. But in addition to getting the three goals against the Sharks, Nolan won a fight with Mike Grier.

"He was a real leader for us tonight," Keenan said. "He was very vocal on the bench, very strong on the ice in all areas. He's always been a player who steps up in big games and tonight is an example of his leadership."

"You look at all the qualities he has and add them all up, and you have the prototype for a (Hall of Fame power forward) Cam Neely-type player," Montreal Canadiens scout Pierre Gauthier told me back in 1990, when he picked Nolan first overall for the Quebec Nordiques. "That's a dream for an NHL club. There just aren't too many of them around."

Back then, Nolan was one of the game’s best power forwards. He would soon become captain of the Sharks at just 26. He had three assists for Canada in its gold medal-winning triumph at the 2002 Olympics at Salt Lake City.

Larry Wigge
Larry Wigge has covered the NHL since 1969. The longtime NHL columnist for The Sporting News, Wigge is now an NHL.com columnist and a frequent contributor to the website.

Clearly a lot has happened to Owen Nolan since that memorable, called-shot goal. And not all has been positive.

Nolan hasn’t hit the 30-goal mark since 1999-2000 and his fortunes changed dramatically when he was traded to Toronto in March of 2003. The Maple Leafs thought Owen might give them their first Stanley Cup since 1967. But while Nolan had seven goals in 14 games for the Leafs down the stretch that season, he had no goals in seven playoff games and the next season he sustained a knee injury that put him out of hockey.

"I couldn’t play, but not everyone with the Maple Leafs believed me," Nolan told me last season after he signed on to play with in Phoenix. "Their doctors said I was OK. They said I didn’t need the second operation on my knee. But they didn’t feel the pain like I did.

"I was a very frustrated guy. I really felt like I was reborn when I went to Toronto. I grew up watching and rooting for the Maple Leafs. My biggest regret is that the Maple Leafs fans never got to see the real Owen Nolan play for them."

There was a time after the second operation when Nolan openly admits he was totally frustrated.

"It took so long for the knee to heal, I wondered if my career was over," he said. "But then halfway through last season, I started feeling better. I got the itch again. Diana (his wife) saw my body English sitting in front of the TV watching games. She said I would never be happy unless I gave it another try. That’s when I started skating with a group of guys in San Jose near my home. Nothing competitive. But it was skating and shooting.

"At the trading deadline (in 2005), I was real close. I wasn't 100 percent, but I was close. The Sharks and a couple of other teams looking for help down the stretch began calling me. Believe me, I could taste it again. But I felt if a team was going to invest in me, I wanted to make sure I would be giving 100 percent back to them. I didn't want to come back at 90 percent, get hurt again and then it's all over. I think I made the right decision to wait."

Knowing he’s on a one-year contract gives Nolan incentive enough to want to show himself and a lot of other skeptics that he can still be productive.

"You should have seen me at the in 2005," Nolan laughed. "I was there at 6 in the morning, again in the afternoon and as late as 11:45 at night ... whenever I could get ice time. It wasn’t how many goals and assists I had in the Logitech Adult Hockey League. It was regaining the feeling, the skating, the shooting, pushing myself again."

Nolan played his 1000th game on October 22, 2007 versus the Sharks.

Nolan has shown glimpses of once again displaying that in-your-face power forward mentality. Off the ice, his personality, while abrasive at times to some, has always included a rare sense of humor. He will admit he has mellowed, gained an inner peace from the experience, plus, the birth of his daughter, Jordan.

"You reflect ... learn more about yourself ... when times are tough," he said. "I’ve had a great support system at home with my wife, my daughter and my friends."

Owen Nolan comes by his competitive nature naturally. His parents, Owen Sr., and Ellen, left Belfast, Northern Ireland, when Owen was less than a year old and settled in Thorold, Ontario, a paper mill town of about 16,000 people not far from Niagara Falls. From the time he first stepped on the ice when he was 9, his dad helped coach him.

"I remember my dad reminding me of when I started playing hockey and how I could never be satisfied being second-best, even when I could hardly skate," Nolan said.

He always had the gifted hands, however. And the work ethic was legendary. That became obvious the day he was drafted No. 1 by the Nordiques in June of 1990.

I’ll never forget Owen, then just 18, saying how he was still working at the same service station he had for the last few summers for $50 a week -- honoring a commitment he made to the owner.

"There’s a little more to it than pumping gas," Nolan winked. "If it wasn't more of a workout than that, I would have done something else to prepare myself for the NHL."

I’ll never forget seeing Owen Nolan limping from one side of the locker room to the other in obvious pain while playing for the Sharks in the 2000 playoffs against St. Louis. The intense hurt, however, wasn't so clear to the fans 15 minutes earlier, when Nolan continued to drive to the net and pound in the corners in the Sharks' heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss.

"He wouldn't stay on the bench," Sutter told me at the time. "He didn't want to let his teammates down. ... A lot of people wondered why I chose him the captain of our team. They said, at 26, he was too young. Or he wasn't scoring the number of goals he was expected to get for us. But I didn't pick him because of his goal scoring, I chose him because of his intestinal fortitude.

"As quiet as he is off the ice, he's a stubborn, bullheaded Irishman when they blow the whistle to start the game. And I hoped others would show that same stubborn attitude he does."

Now you know why Darryl Sutter still has a soft spot in his heart for Owen Nolan -- and why Nolan wants to repay his friend and boss in Calgary.

Today, the fiery Irishman hopes he is getting bite and production back in his game. He’s got 12 goals as we start the stretch run and his minutes are climbing.

If you look into his eyes, you’ll see the same fiery competitiveness Owen Nolan showed in Quebec, Colorado and San Jose. The gray in his hair is just a sign that some of the size, strength and skill may not be there anymore.



 

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